Is Food Medicine? Lessons From a Household Survey on Plants Used to Manage Anaemia in Kilifi County, Kenya

Abstract

The phrase “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, " coined by Hippocrates over 2500 years ago finds its way into our lifestyles today. In this study, a cross-sectional household survey of the most frequently mentioned nutri/medicinal plants that are used in anaemia management in Kilifi County of Kenya was done. The results obtained show that anaemia is a notable intractable nutritional disorder in the malaria-endemic region of Kilifi County. Out of the 541 households that were sampled, 92.8% mentioned that they had experienced an episode in the past 3 years. Most of the households (95.7%) that used herbal medicine to treat anaemia reported 78.1% complete recovery (self-reported recovery) from anaemia. Most of the nutri/medicinal plants mentioned are either fruits or vegetables that are used to manage anaemia. Collectively, extracts of Morus alba L. and Moringa oleifera Lam. were mentioned to be safe supporting their application for use as novel food ingredient or product. It is therefore evident that food can be used as medicine. More clinical studies need to be carried out to establish the safety and efficacy of different nutri/medicinal plant extracts.