Health Benefits of Bitter Kola

Fri, May 31, 2019 | By publisher


Featured, Health

By Benprince Ezeh

TO Rita Ezeh a grandmother, consuming bitter kola is a daily routine. She consumes at least three seeds of bitter kola daily for her health. She takes bitter kola to reduce malaria and cough effects due to her age, ‘63years’.

Rita Ezeh
Rita Ezeh

According to her, consumption of bitter kola prevents intake of poisons. “Whenever I am going for a public function like burial or wedding ceremony, I take bitter kola to avoid eating or drinking poisonous substance,” she said.

Like Ezeh, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine once admonished: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” According to him, modern medicine tends towards disease prevention through foods, but majority of people who wish to eat healthy food may also miss out on the fact that cooking sometimes destroys or reduces certain elements that should nourish the body.

Nutritionists say that while some foods are better eaten when cooked, some others such as fruits and certain vegetables are better eaten raw in order to get the most of the nutrient.

Bitter kola is one of such fruits which can be eaten raw and still benefit from its high nutritional content. Eating a piece of bitter kola daily can help in the treatment for low libido, low sperm count, erectile dysfunction, arthritis, reduction of eye pressure, treating hangover, improving lung function and knee osteoarthritis among others.

Medical experts at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, OAUTH, Ile Ife, in a study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, said that bitter kola has a significant analgesic/anti-inflammatory effects in knee osteoarthritis patients.

Bitter kola is a potential osteoarthritis disease activity modifier with good mid-term outcome. Another study on bitter kola published in Science Journal of Microbiology showed that seed and leaf of bitter kola have antibacterial activity on clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Streptococcus pyogenes.

Bitter kola has been shown to be a popular treatment for diarrhea and fever. The seed extract is antiseptic and is active mostly against gram-positive bacteria, while the leaf, is active mostly against gram-negative bacteria. It is also very efficacious for hepatitis.

In West Africa, bitter kola is now being harnessed as a cure for the Ebola virus infections and also against flu. The stem, bark and the seeds are used for acute fever, inflammation of the respiratory tract and throat infections. The seeds are also chewed to relieve hoarseness of voice, sore throat and cough. In folk medicine, the seed is used for the treatment of liver disorder and it’s also used in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea.

The leaves are used for stomach-ache and pains and they also serve as good remedy for typhoid fever.

Generally used as a social snack and offered to guests in some cultural settings, bitter kola has been indicated in the treatment of laryngitis, general inflammation, bronchitis, viral infections and diabetes.  Realnews gathered that some Igbo medicine-men prescribe the fruit for arthritic conditions and is eaten raw and not prepared as food because it has medicinal attributes. It is also taken dry as a remedy for dysentery and is said to provide an antidote against Strophanthus poisoning.

Some medical experts have said that regular intake of bitter kola has little or no side effect on human health.

Felicita Ogbu
Felicita Ogbu

Felicita Ogbu, a doctor said that bitter kola is a wonder nut that many neglect, but its effects are enormous. “I can count the ones now which are curing sexual impotence: it does not only increase sex drive, it also improves the sexual preference of man who consumes it.

“You can chew the seed some minutes before the intercourse. It helps in strengthening and stabilising lung tissue and maintain respiratory tract and also assist in weight loss. It also cures cough and stomach aches,” Ogbu said.

Jennifer Ani
Jennifer Ani

Jennifer Ani, a nutritionist and herbal specialist, said that bitter kola is a perfect fit for a good health. “It’s a natural hunger suppressant and increases the urge to drink more water, repels and also can be used to chase snakes away.

“When eaten regularly, poisonous snakes won’t have effect on the person when bitten and it cures cough and stomach aches”, she said.

 

BE

– May 31, 2019 @ 17:20 GMT |

 

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