No, Dr Sebi’s alkaline diet does not cure AIDS or Cancer

Context

Social media posts on TikTok and Facebook claim that self-proclaimed natural healer Dr. Sebi could cure cancer and AIDS with his methods and alkaline diet. These posts further assert that Dr. Sebi was killed by nefarious forces to silence him and prevent him from sharing such cures. Similar claims state that the musicians Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Nipsey Hussle were also assassinated for associating with Dr. Sebi.

According to Forbes, Alfredo Bowman, also known as Dr. Sebi, was not an official doctor and did not hold a Ph.D. Instead, he was a self-taught herbalist that claimed diseases resulted from acidic bodies and mucus buildup. He created and promoted a restrictive plant-based alkaline diet that would allegedly decrease disease-causing mucus and alkalize the body to prevent bodily acidity. Dr. Sebi was also sued for practicing medicine without a license and the subject of a consumer fraud lawsuit for claims he made about his diet’s curative capabilities.

In Fact

While vegetable consumption is generally beneficial to health, there is no evidence that Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet can cure AIDS or Cancer.

Cancer Research U.K., an independent cancer research institution, states that researchers found a lack of evidence that an alkaline diet can prevent or cure cancer. They noted that the diet attempts to change the pH – how acid or alkaline a substance is – of the body through alkaline foods. A value of less than seven on the pH scale is acidic, and above seven is alkaline. However, the pH of blood is about 7.4, and research demonstrates that an alkaline diet can only change the pH of urine, not the entire body. Food and diet do not affect blood pH levels, so the alkaline diet does not reduce bodily acidity, as claimed.

According to the CDC, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system and can cause Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Although there is no widespread cure, with only three reported cases of HIV being fully cured through stem cell treatment, advances in medicine mean the condition can now be managed. As outlined by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), scientific evidence now overwhelmingly supports the undetectable=untransmittable (U=U) treatment in HIV, whereby taking daily antiretroviral therapy means the viral load is suppressed so that it cannot be detected, nor can it be sexually transmitted.

The BBC reports Dr. Sebi was arrested in 2016. Later that year, he contracted pneumonia and died in custody. The same report also states that rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot outside his clothing store in Los Angeles. Social media users claimed his death was linked to Hussle making a documentary about Dr. Sebi’s 1980s trial. Rapper Lisa Lopes died in a car accident in Honduras after meeting Dr. Sebi in 2002. There is no evidence that any of these deaths were planned or connected to Dr. Sebi.

The Verdict

There is no evidence that Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet can cure AIDS or Cancer, nor were any associated celebrities assassinated. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.