Claims:
● If consumed everyday, the leaves of the giloy plant prevent all types of disease for 80 years.
● The leaves have the ability to cure life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, within a few days.
● The giloy plant will be sold for the price of gold.
● Eating the leaves burns excess fat and helps with weight loss.
● Consuming the giloy plant’s root reduces cholesterol and helps strengthen the heart.
● The plant helps remove waste material from the blood and aids in the production of fresh and healthy blood cells.
● Consuming the plant reduces blackheads. Blackheads result from the buildup of waste material in the blood and constipation, and the plant combats these issues.
Fact:
● The giloy plant may have some therapeutic qualities but it is by no means a panacea capable of curing every ailment.
● The plant contains Terpenoids which are beneficial for cancer patients, however, it cannot completely cure cancer within a few days.
● Consuming the leaves of the plant does not help with weight loss.
● The plant does not aid in removing waste from blood cells. It also has no direct effect on the production of new blood cells.
● Blackheads are not caused by waste in the blood and/or constipation. The plant does not help reduce blackheads.
● The giloy plant is not more valuable than gold.
On 28 October 2021, Facebook page Sanam Tv shared an article published by a website named jnnewz. The article was published on 29 September 2019 with a headline that translated from Urdu to English reads as: “Remedy for coughing to cancer, this one step will not let you get sick for eighty years! Pakistanis used to throw this leaf in trash but now it will be sold for the value of gold.” The article discussed the alleged health benefits of giloy plants.
Soch Fact Check found that the claim in the headline is false. Further, the content of the article contains false information and exaggerations.
Scientifically named Tinospora cordifolia of the family Menispermaceae, giloy is a plant found in different parts of Pakistan. The plant is used in Ayurvedic medicines, with the stem of the plant considered the most effective component for herb based medicines.
Ayurvedic practitioners claim that all parts of the plant have been traditionally used to treat many ailments including fever, diarrhea, skin infections, diabetes and jaundice.
However, the website’s claim that this plant is a panacea (one cure for all types of diseases) is not true.
The plant does not have qualities that can protect a person from all types of disease, even if used everyday for eighty years. Soch Fact Check could not find a modern scientific study that suggests otherwise.
The plant does have Terpenoids that have therapeutic benefits for cancer patients. However, these compounds are found in numerous other plants and fruits as well, and there are no scientific studies that suggest that consuming giloy plants can completely cure cancer within a few days.
Studies, which are currently limited to animal testing, suggest that the giloy plant reduces blood sugar but there is no definite verdict on reducing cholesterol. Furthermore, since the studies have not yet been expanded to include human participants, clear conclusions cannot be drawn.
Soch Fact Check could not find any studies that suggest that the giloy plant reduces fat and aids in weight loss. One related study has been conducted on rats, but the test subjects did not experience weight loss.
Giloy plants have antioxidant properties, meaning they may help protect cells against damage. However, this quality is not unique to blood cells and there are no studies that suggest that the plant helps produce new blood cells.
Black heads are not a product of waste material building up in the blood or constipation as claimed in the article. Rather, these tend to arise when open hair follicles are clogged by sebum (oil produced by glands in the skin) and dead skin. Thus, there is no connection between giloy plants and the prevention of blackheads. Soch Fact Check found nothing in its research to indicate the plant is traditionally used to cure black heads.
Finally, it has been over a year since the article was first published and the value of giloy plants remains far below that of gold.
Conclusion: The claim in the headline is false. Some information in the body of text is partially true. However, the article also contains false information and hyperbole.