Fact check: Don’t fall for this WhatsApp message pushing lemon as cancer cure

Completely false message, says expert; Dr. Vikas Amte, to whom the post was attributed, has denied making the claims

May 24, 2022 05:10 pm | Updated May 25, 2022 11:03 pm IST

A WhatsApp message claiming lemons can cure cancer is false.

A WhatsApp message claiming lemons can cure cancer is false.

A message attributed to Dr. Vikas Amte, a physician known for his work with Anandwan, an ashram and community rehabilitation centre in Maharashtra, has gone viral on WhatsApp.

The long post, in Marathi, makes a series of claims about the utility of lemon and lemon peel in treating cancer which, The Hindu found, were not borne out by the facts.

We sent the English translation of the post to Dr. Jayachandran P.K., Associate Professor and Senior Consultant, Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), who provided a point-by-point rebuttal of the key claims made in the post.

The entire post, with Dr. Jayachandran’s responses marked in bold, is given below:

The Claim:

Amazing results of chilled lemon🌹

Keep freshly washed lemons in the fridge freezer ..When the lemons are completely cold and frozen like ice, usually after 8 to 10 hours, take a kiss and grate all the lemons along with the peel .. then put the grated lemon on whatever you eat.

It can be eaten on vegetables, salads, ice cream, soups, pulses, noodles, spaghetti, pasta, pizza, sauces, rice, and many more. All food will have such an unexpected nice taste ..Most importantly, you only know the properties of Vitamin C in lemon juice. You do not know more properties than that.

If you use whole frozen lemon without wasting any part, you will get a different taste, but what are its other benefits??

Lemon peel contains 5 to 10 times more vitamin C than lemon juice .. and this is the part we waste ..Lemon peel is good for health as it helps in removing all the toxins from the body

“Vitamin C is one of the antioxidants. Antioxidants are agents which will help the cells in the body against oxidative stress due to various external toxins,” said Dr. Jayachandran.

Second Claim

One of the amazing benefits of lemon peel is that it has a miraculous ability to destroy all the cancer cells in the body. This lemon peel is 10,000 times more effective than chemotherapy

Categorically refuting this claim, Dr. Jayachandran said: “No evidence that lemon peel or Vitamin C is as effective as chemotherapy in killing cancer cells.”

Then why don’t you know all this??

Because there are laboratories in the world today that are involved in artificial creation because they make a lot of money from it.

You can now tell your needy friend how useful lemon juice and peel is to cure or cure incurable diseases like cancer. It tastes very good and has no horrible side effects like chemotherapy.

Dr. Jayachandran added: “Lots of people use lemon in their food and drink lemon juice; if that is the hypothesis, those who drink lemon juice should not get cancer, and cancer patients who drink lemon juice should be cured. But unfortunately, lemon juice has no effect on cancer patients.”

Think about it, how many people have lost their lives so far without knowing this very simple, easy but very effective solution and how many lives can we save from now on???

Lemongrass has a miraculous ability to cure all types of cancers. It can also be used for bacterial infections and fungi. It is also effective against parasites and viruses in the body. Lemon juice and especially peel regulates blood pressure and mental pressure. Controls mental stress and diseases of the nervous system.

The source of this information is astounding: The company, which is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, has published this report. They say that after research in more than 20 laboratories since 1970, it has been shown that lemon peel destroys more than 12 cancer cells - “I could not find any evidence from the published literature on this statement,” he added.

The medicinal properties of the lemon tree have been shown to be 10,000 times more effective than that of the commonly used chemotherapy drug Dramycin on cancer. Lemon peel slows down the growth of cancer cells “There is no such drug called Dramycin in the treatment of cancer.”

And more surprisingly, this lemon medicine only kills cancer cells, it has no adverse effect on healthy cells.

So wash well ripened lemons, freeze them and use Kisuni on Kisni in daily diet. Your whole body will thank you for that.

- Dr. Vikas Baba Amte, Anandvan

Please spread the word. There is nothing wrong with trying.

“This is a completely false message to the public, which would compromise cancer care in patients.”

The claim that lemon could help in the treatment of cancer was also debunked by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on its web portal.

“The hope that lemons could help treat cancer is mostly based on a molecule called limonene. Limonene is found in the oils in the peels of lemons and other citrus fruits. It can affect how some cells grow in the laboratory, so it has been studied to see if it can help treat cancer. However, there is no consistent evidence that people with cancer who consume limonene—either in supplement form or by eating citrus fruits—get better or are more likely to be cured,” it explained.

We reached out to Dr. Amte, who clarified that he had nothing to do with the claims made in the WhatsApp message. He gave the following statement:

For the last 10 years or so, “lemon curing cancer” Whatsapp post has been spread among innocent citizens of this country. It is unfortunate that my name is being used in such a way to spread false information. I would like to clarify that I never said anything related to the information in the post. Cancer is an extremely serious illness and one should adhere to their doctor’s recommendation. My salute to the cancer survivors, fighters and their families.”

Fact check: False

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