Actor Nayanthara recently landed in hot water after promoting supposed health benefits of hibiscus tea on her social media, where she called the beverage a cure for everything from diabetes to acne. However, she deleted the post, when it was was debunked by a doctor on social media. 

Hepatologist Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as The Liver Doc on social media, was the one to call her out for the post.

Nayanthara’s post

In a now-deleted social media post, the actor was sharing the alleged benefits of hibiscus tea, while crediting her health care expert Munmun Ganeriwal.

She wrote, “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. P.S. anyone who needs the recipe can check with @munmun.ganeriwal. Stay healthy. Stay happy,” she added.

Debunking the post

Criticising Nayanthara for misleading her millions of followers, The Liver Doc took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam her.

“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,” the post read.

In the post, the doctor shared that the post by Nayanthara seemed like “an advertisement for her celebrity nutritionist”.

“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 [https://munmunganeriwal.com/about-munmun/] 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,” added the note.

After the backlash

Nayanthara has deleted her post from her Instagram account, but social media users shared their worry around celebrities putting out such posts. Sometime back, the Liver Doc had taken on actor Samantha’s post that suggested inhaling hydrogen peroxide to prevent and treat respiratory viral infections, following which the actor had shared a clarification note explaining her side of the story.

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