- Health
No evidence that “Dr. Sebi” could cure AIDS and other diseases using natural remedies or change in diet
Key takeaway
The herbalist known as “Dr. Sebi” didn’t have medical qualifications and was taken to court by the New York state attorney general in 1987 over false claims to treat a range of diseases, including AIDS and leukemia. An alkaline diet doesn’t affect the body’s pH and shouldn’t be used as a replacement for effective medical treatment for serious diseases.
Reviewed content
Verdict:
Claim:
Dr. Sebi could cure a wide range of diseases using natural remedies or change in diet.
Verdict detail
Incorrect: Dr. Sebi’s approach is based on the false premise that all diseases are caused by excess mucus. This is an incorrect understanding of biology. Diseases can have various causes, including infections, genetic mutations, environmental exposure, and lifestyle. In some conditions, excess mucus is a symptom of disease, but not the cause.
Inadequate support: The alkaline diet is based on the idea that a change in diet can reduce the acidity of the body and prevent disease. However, the body carefully controls pH within a narrow window that can’t be changed by diet.
Inadequate support: There is no evidence that Dr. Sebi cured AIDS in multiple people. There is no effective cure for HIV/AIDS.
Full Claim
Dr. Sebi could cure a wide range of diseases using natural remedies or change in diet.
Review
Numerous viral posts on social media have promoted herbalist “Dr. Sebi”’s claims that there are natural cures for all diseases, including AIDS, cancer, and arthritis. As this review will explain, Dr. Sebi’s approach is based on a misunderstanding of biology. There’s no evidence that his supposed cures work.
“Dr. Sebi” had no medical background
Dr. Sebi’s real name was Alfredo Bowman and he didn’t have any medical training. He set up a company to sell herbal mixtures and was sued for consumer fraud in New York in 1987. The agreed settlement with the New York State Attorney General’s office prevented him from making claims about treating any disease, including AIDS, herpes, and leukemia.
Bowman claimed that diseases are caused by excess mucus, which comes from eating acidic foods. This led him to promote the idea that alkaline foods can raise the pH (a measure of acidity) in our body to cleanse the body of mucus.
Although changes in diet can alter the pH of urine, the pH of the blood is carefully controlled to remain within a narrow window between 7.35 and 7.45, which barely changes[1,2]. A more acidic or alkaline diet would have no impact on the body’s pH.
Despite a lack of evidence, the alkaline diet has persisted as a fad diet. However, its general approach of eating more fresh vegetables and less processed food is in line with healthy diet recommendations from health bodies, such as the World Health Organization. That said, it can be a cause for concern when presented as an alternative treatment for serious conditions, as it may dissuade patients from following evidence-based medical treatments.
Claims of sea moss’s benefits are unsupported by clinical evidence
Among Bowman’s herbal remedies, he was particularly known for promoting sea moss. The website of Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food, a company he founded in 2014, claims that sea moss is neuro-protective, removes heavy metals from the gut, promotes sexual function, prevents arthritis, and much more.
While sea moss contains many minerals important for health, such as potassium and iodine, it is not a cure-all. There are no clinical trials to show sea moss’s benefits and it can potentially cause harm when consumed in large quantities, since this can inadvertently lead to excessive consumption of heavy metals and iodine.
Speaking to the New York Times, Melinda Ring, executive director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said:
“Like all of the superfoods that have come and gone, there’s some truth to it […] It’s just not a magical thing that everyone should be taking.”
In the same article, Mary Ellen DiPaola, a senior outpatient dietitian at the University of California, San Francisco, highlighted that the nutrients in sea moss are also present in a healthy diet that includes leafy greens like kale, arugula or Swiss chard.
The supposed cures by “Dr. Sebi” lack scientific evidence
In recent years, many different claims have circulated online promoting Bowman’s claims that he could cure a variety of diseases through changes in diet and herbal supplements.
As explained in a previous review by Science Feedback, mucus is an important part of the body’s defense against disease. It protects the linings of the respiratory and digestive systems, and traps bacteria and small toxic particles from polluted air[3].
While some diseases, like respiratory infections, can lead to excess mucus, this is typically a symptom of the disease, not the underlying cause. However, a previously viral social media post wrongly claimed that excess mucus causes bronchitis. In bronchitis, the airways are inflamed and produce more mucus, which needs to be cleared with coughing. It’s important not to confuse the original cause that triggered the inflammation with the resulting mucus.
This post and another viral post also claimed that arthritis is caused by excess mucus in the joints. However, the most common forms of arthritis are caused by either inflammation or a breakdown of cartilage.
Bowman also claimed that he cured at least 13 people of AIDS. However, there is no evidence to support this claim, given that there is no known effective cure for HIV/AIDS.
Finally, USA Today fact-checked a false claim that Bowman cured former basketball player Magic Johnson of HIV. It found no evidence that the two men ever met and that antiretroviral drug therapy was responsible for managing Johnson’s HIV.
Conspiracies about the death of “Dr. Sebi” are baseless
Bowman was arrested in Honduras for money laundering after carrying a large amount of money into the country. He died from pneumonia in prison in 2016 at the age of 82. Since then, social media posts have claimed that there was a conspiracy to “silence” Bowman’s promotion of his supposed “cures”, but without providing evidence to support this claim.
Similar conspiracy theories have spread about the deaths of rapper Nipsey Hussle and basketball player Kobe Bryant. These theories connect the deaths of Hussle and Bryant to that of Bowman.
Hussle was working on a documentary about Bowman when he was shot in 2019 by a fellow gang member in a dispute over accusations of snitching. There was no connection to the proposed documentary mentioned in news reports on the case.
Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020 due to pilot errors. This led to baseless online conspiracy theories that pharmaceutical companies killed him. One social media post claimed that Bryant sued pharmaceutical companies for ignoring Dr. Sebi’s research. This appears to refer to a case settled outside of court with a dietary supplements company in a dispute over the use of the name “Black Mamba”, a nickname for Bryant.
While Bowman had several celebrity clients, including Michael Jackson and John Travolta, we couldn’t find any indication that Bryant believed Bowman’s claims.
Conclusion
The claims made by “Dr. Sebi” regarding the alkaline diet and natural cures for various diseases lack support from scientific evidence and medical research. Parts of his dietary recommendations, like eating fruits and vegetables, can be part of a healthy lifestyle. However, they are not a cure-all approach.
REFERENCES
- 1 – Remer and Manz (1995) Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urine pH. Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
- 2 – Koeppen (2009) The kidney and acid-base regulation. Advances in Physiology Education.
- 3 – Fahy and Dickey (2010) Airway Mucus Function and Dysfunction. N Engl J Med.
