Lilongwe man touts Mvunguti herbal cure for diabetes

JB ignored set process on sc After a long bout of suffering from diabetes, Yotamu Mziya Phiri, a Chilinde Township resident in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, says he is glad to have found a cure. He expresses further happiness to know that the cure is locally found.

Phiri, who comes from Chavukuka Village, Traditional Authority Timbili in Nkhata Bay District, says he got healed from diabetes after taking a concoction made from a mvunguti tree fruit.

Yes, I have been cured after taking the mvunguti fruit juice, he says. As he explains, a dark liquid he calls mvunguti is on his table.

I chop the fruit into smaller pieces that are later mashed and mixed with water to come up with the liquid, he says, adding: mvunguti helps to replenish the body with blood.

Phiri says he had been spending painful moments because of his condition.

He adds: Diabetes has been giving me sleepless nights. A diabetic person loses a lot of water because of frequent urination. The person also gets thirsty and has huge appetite for food.

But Phiri claims after taking mvunguti juice, he now feels healed. He says he no longer urinates frequently, his throat is wet and he claims to have recoiled to his normal appetite.

In addition to the Mvunguti juice, Phiri says he also uses bwemba fruits. This is another indigenous fruit. Bwemba is known in the botanical sector as Tamarind.

You find that diabetic patients are fond of eating sweets. In my case, instead of the sweet, I use bwemba. It keeps the throat wet.

An open bowl of peeled bwemba fruits were by his side in his office at Kanengo.

Phiri works for Yam Construction as an operations manager. He admits that he knew of this herbal medication after a woman who works at her office claimed to have been helped by the mvunguti juice.

Her condition was bad, she had been to hospitals, but after taking mvunguti, she is fine. When she told me, I tried it and right now I am healed. Even my lost sexual performance is back. You know that diabetes has, in some instances, led to family breakdowns after the spouse complains of lack of sexual gratification, he adds.

Inspired by the woman’s experience, Phiri says he loves reading health books. He says it was particularly after reading a book from the Seventh Day Adventist Church titled Family Medical Guide to Health and Fitness and other books that he knew of the power of herbal medicines.

He also says even for people suffering from stomach ulcers, there are local solutions such as eating uncooked rice soaked in water and just eating raw cassava.

Simply by doing that, you will be alright, he adds.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) website, diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels, reads the website.

It further explains, in the short term, hyperglycaemia causes symptoms of increased thirst, increased urination, increased hunger and weight loss. However, in the long term, it causes damage to eyes (leading to blindness), kidneys (leading to renal failure), and nerves (leading to impotence and foot disorders/ possibly amputation).

If the mvunguti, as Phiri claims, is really a cure for diabetes, it means a step ahead for the diabetes treatment. As of now, he has not had the concoction tested in a laboratory though he says he is ready for the exercise.

Phiri has used the mvunguti for three weeks, guaranteeing him to blow a trumpet that he has the diabetes cure.

I was advised by a doctor that my condition has improved and he said go and continue drinking whatever you have been drinking. A person can take it three times: morning, afternoon and evening, says Phiri

Apart from Phiri, Faith Malenga, also living in Lilongwe, claims she has herbal cure for diabetes.

I have the herbs to cure diabetes, people are being healed and I want to challenge that when they fail to be healed elsewhere, they must come to me and they will get cured, she says.

Dr. Victor Singano, a district medical officer at Nkhata Bay District Hospital, who chose not to comment on the herbal cure, gives general advice.

Those with the disease go through different stages before we give medication; we recommend the person to be on diet that doesn’t increase sugar levels in the body, to exercise, to stop smoking and taking alcohol,he adds.

Singano says the patient is counselled on how the disease starts, progresses and how to behave.