Nayanthara Posts Cryptic Note After TheLiverDoc Calls Her Out For “Misleading” Post

TheLiverDoc took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) to shed light on South Indian actress Nayanthara’s “misleading” post promoting hibiscus flower tea. Keep reading to learn what he said and Nayanthara’s response.

nayanthara theliverdoc called out hibiscus tea claims

Cyriac Abby Philips is an Indian hepatologist and clinician-scientist who is also known as “TheLiverDoc” on social media. He is well known for using his platform to debunk misinformation surrounding natural medicine and calling out celebrities with big platforms for promoting falsely advertised products. TheLiverDoc took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) to shed light on South Indian actress Nayanthara’s “misleading” post promoting hibiscus flower tea. Keep reading to learn what he said and Nayanthara’s response.

TheLiverDoc Calls Out Nayanthara For “Misleading” Post Promoting Hibiscus Tea

TheLiverDoc took to X to call out south Indian actress Nayanthara for a “misleading” post promoting hibiscus flower tea. Sometime back, Nayanthara posted a picture of hibiscus flower tea on Instagram with the caption, “HIBISCUS FLOWER TEA. This has to be my most favourite Tea. And the most exciting one in the meal plan curated by the genius @munmun.ganeriwal. It has long been used in Ayurveda. It is high in antioxidants and is helpful in diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart related ailments. It is very cooling for the system hence it is great for those who have acne, heat boils on skin etc. Hibiscus tea is great for the monsoon season as it is rich in vitamins and keeps our immune system in equilibrium. It has antibacterial effects that protects from seasonal infection/ illness.”

nayanthara caption hibuscus flower tea

TheLiverDoc debunked all the claims in this post with a lengthy thread on X that read, “This is cinema actress Nayantara who has more than twice the following of the other actress Samantha miselading her 8.7 million followers on a supplement called hibiscus tea. If she had stopped at hibiscus tea is kind of tasty, that would have been ok. But no, they have to go ahead and blow their health-illiteracy trumpet and also claim that hibiscus tea is helpful in diabetes, high blood pressure, acne, antibacterial and protects against the flu. Well, none of the above claims have been proven.” He further added how that post may have been an advertisement for Nayanthara’s celebrity nutritionist, and he continued to scrutinise her credentials as he mentioned, “It also seems like the post was an advertisement for her "celebrity nutritionist" who has a masters in science degree in diet and nutrition who describes herself as "the only gut microbiome specialist in the world who combines traditional Indian foods, ancient Indian yogic practices and Ayurveda principles with gut microbiota study to understand and fight obesity and other diseases," - which literally translates to "absolute BS," bordering on "quackery." I know this, because I have expertise in modulation of gut microbiome and my department at the Liver Institute where I work, is the only one in the world that caters to stool transplant and microbiome modulation for patients with severe alcohol-related liver diseases.”

nayanthara hibiscus flower tea

He then debunked each claim made by Nayanthara in her original post, as he wrote, “Coming to the point, be very careful about having hibiscus tea on a daily basis. Firstly, to clarify, Hibiscus tea is made from Hibiscus Sabdariffa or Roselle. Do not confuse it with Hibiscus Macranthus which is a herb claimed to promote male fertility and increase testosterone, which has been shown in at least one rat study; overall, understudied. The influenza does not clear this aspect. So Roselle (Hibiscus tea) supposedly has anti-diabetic and blood pressure lowering effects as per the post claim. First, the blood pressure lowering effects: A 2021 meta-analysis conducted by the Cochrane hypertension group concluded that currently the evidence is insufficient to establish if roselle, when compared to placebo, is effective in managing or lowering blood pressure in people with hypertension, so that claim from "Dr." Nayantara is false.”

He then debunked Nayanthara’s claim of the tea having anti-diabetic properties as he wrote, “Second, anti-diabetic properties: Studies are low grade (D) and analysis of presumably well-designed studies show that it has no blood glucose lowering effect. Most of the positive studies were in animals other than humans and hence "benefits" skewed.”

He further added, “There are no studies to prove that hibiscus tea prevents acne or is antibacterial or prevents seasonal infections in humans. Evidence, or it did not happen. To claim otherwise, is delusional and disservice to public health. One concern that does exist is damage to testes in males, which occurs fairly reliably at 200mg/kg or above in animals (= 2.2g dried flowers in 68kg human) but has not been investigated in humans. Roselle appears to be anti-fertility in men, inducing abnormal sperm morphology. In females, there was a series of studies suggesting Roselle could cause abnormal (higher) birth weights in offspring with a delay of pubertal onset; for the most part these are attributed to the appetite suppressing effect causing maternal malnutrition.”

Lastly, he warned his audience about the potential adverse effects of hibiscus tea, noting that there isn't enough research on its safety and effectiveness. As he mentioned, “So men and women in reproductive age groups, PLEASE DO NOT consume hibiscus tea on a regular basis as there is insufficient evidence on its safety. Better to be safe than sorry. And lastly, "Vaidya" Nayantara quotes "Ayurveda" as the guiding principle to these claims. She also talks about "cooling" effect of the "food." Well, Ayurveda is pseudoscientific garbage and "hot and cold" foods principle is an absurd and unscientific theory on diet and nutrition put forth by Ayurvedic practitioners which @krishashok and me have debunked long before. As always, please follow real doctors advise for bettering your health. Take care.”

Nayanthara’s Response To TheLiverDoc’s Criticism

In response to TheLiverDoc’s criticism, Nayanthara has now deleted the post but has not made any direct statements about the incident. TheLiverDoc expressed his disappointment in her actions as he wrote as a continuation to that thread, saying, “Post deleted. But no apology. No accountability. Like a surgical strike on public health. Need laws to curb this kind of behavior from celebrities community and empower and support registered medical practitioners (non-Ayush) to provide evidence-based scientific education to improve informed public health choices.”

Nayanthara has also just posted a cryptic note on her Instagram story that says, “Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

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nayanthara cryptic story

TheLiverDoc Previously Called Out Samantha Ruth Prabhu

TheLiverDoc has previously called out other big stars, like Samantha Ruth Prabhu, for spreading misinformation under the guise of natural remedies.

In a world where every new hairstyle or outfit sported by an actor becomes a trend in seconds, it's essential for those with a huge platform to be mindful of what they are promoting.

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Image Credits: Instagram/@nayanthara & theliverdr

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