No, there is no ‘miracle recipeʼ that

cures diabetes
Researched by Hyppolite Valdez Onanina

A Philippine doctor claims to have discovered a recipe – consisting of sweet

peppers, eggs and sea salt – that eliminates diabetes “in five minutes”. But
it has not been scientifically proven.

A picture showing a solution for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia that may occur in diabetes
and a stethoscope for display. Hundreds of millions of people live with the condition. Photo:
AFP/Franck Fife

“Dr Jaime Dy-Liacco has finally found a remedy for diabetes […] He created
a mixture containing the minerals required to fight against diabetes. The
ingredients: 12 pieces of sweet pepper, 2 raw eggs, ½ teaspoon of sea salt,”
an online Senegalese newspaper recently reported.

“Dice and crush the peppers in order to combine them with the eggs. Then
add ½ a teaspoon of sea salt. Lo and behold, your remedy is ready and you
can drink it,” the publication added. It was relaying an article published by
protegetasante.net, a news site which claims to provide natural methods for
curing oneself.

Is it possible to be cured of diabetes using such a recipe? We checked.

What proof is there?

We found a video on YouTube in which
Dy-Liacco talks about his recipe that
“cures diabetes in five minutes”, but
were unable to find his contact details to
request proof of this claim.

Africa Check also tried in vain to get in

touch with the department of health of the Philippines. However, its website
does not contain any information about Dy-Liacco or his anti-diabetes
recipe.

He also has not published anything in a scientific journal, Dr Gojka Roglic

from the World Health Organisationʼs department for management of
noncommunicable diseases, disability, violence and injury prevention, told
Africa Check.

“I couldnʼt find any trace of a scientific evaluation of this ‘miraculousʼ

solution for curing diabetes,” Roglic said.

“Thereʼs nothing more to say. No trace of any scientific proof.”

‘Be careful of fortune tellersʼ

Director of the Mark Sankalé Diabetes Centre in Dakar, Professor Seydou
Nourou Diop, told Africa Check he has not heard about such a cure.

“If he says so, maybe itʼs true for him. However, be careful of fortune tellers.
The truth of this assertion canʼt be proven by one patient who has been
cured in a year, but by 1,000 patients cured over the same period, for
example.”

Diop pointed out that “rarely a month goes by without at least one congress
or meeting on diabetes taking place around the world. So if it were as easy
as that [to cure diabetes] weʼd be aware of it.”

“You cannot treat something that you donʼt understand. This is a chronic
disease which springs from a genetic disposition. Today we still do not
know what it is that triggers the disease at a specific moment. This is not
the first time, and it probably wonʼt be the last, that someone claims
something like this,” he emphasised.

Curing diabetes in 5 minutes is ‘utter nonsenseʼ

The director of the department of diabetology, endocrinology and metabolic
disorders of the Paris Saint-Joseph Hospital in France, Dr Dominique Huet,
unequivocally refutes this claim.

“The answer to your question is no! There is, to date, no cure for this
disease which is a chronic disorder. Every six months someone presents a
new plant or a new miracle treatment [for diabetes].

“But until now, no treatment – even the sophisticated treatments of medical

science – has succeeded in curing a single case of diabetes,” Huet told
Africa Check.

The diabetologist added that “if it were true and scientifically proven, weʼd
know about it and weʼd naturally administer it, because weʼre obviously
searching everywhere for ways and means of finding a treatment that would
make diabetes disappear […] and for now, it doesnʼt exist.”

“To say that a combination of stuff can cure diabetes in 5 minutes is utter
nonsense. I find all this charlatanism and giving false hope to patients
dangerous,” he added.

Conclusion: the effectiveness of Dr Dy-Liaccoʼs

recipe is not scientifically proven
Diabetes is a major public health concern. Around the world, 422 million
adults were living with the disease in 2014, WHO figures showed.

A Phillipine doctor nevertheless claims that he has created a recipe –

consisting of sweet peppers, eggs and sea salt – which eliminates diabetes
“in 5 minutes”.

We were unable to track down the doctor, Jaime Dy-Liacco. However, the
diabetologists we contacted declared that they were unaware of this cure.
In fact, they refuted it, saying that if this recipe had been proven, it would
have been known.

Moreover, a WHO specialist told Africa Check there is no scientific proof

that this method is effective.

To conclude, the WHO recommends “healthy eating habits, regular physical

activity, maintaining normal body weight and no smoking” to reduce the
burden of this disease which, for now, remains incurable.

Edited by Assane Diagne. Translated by Hannelise Brand. The original

French version of this report can be read here.

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