Taiz Hospital Sees Surge in Diabetes Cases After Patients Quit Medication for $1.60 El-Tayebat Diet
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jul 3
Taiz Hospital Sees Surge in Diabetes Cases After Patients Quit Medication for $1.60 El-Tayebat Diet
1 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jul 3
Summary
Taiz’s Republican Hospital has seen a sharp rise in severely ill diabetes patients after they stopped insulin or pills and arrived needing emergency stabilisation and specialist care.
Doctors say many were persuaded by the viral el-tayebat diet, promoted by former Egyptian doctor Diaa el-Awadi, who claimed diabetes could be cured through restrictive eating rather than medication.
Murad al-Adimi, 67, stopped treatment for 10 days to save money on prescriptions, then fainted and was hospitalised; physicians say poverty and weak health literacy are driving similar cases.
The diet’s influence is spreading beyond hospitals into local markets: a tray of eggs in Taiz has fallen to $1.60 from $3.50, while one shopkeeper said chicken sales dropped to five a day from 20.
Nutritionists say the regimen has no scientific basis, risks nutrient deficiencies, and may briefly ease symptoms like heartburn only by removing triggers—not by curing chronic disease.
After a discredited doctor's death, why are Yemeni patients choosing his deadly diet over life-saving insulin?
With a deadly diet now shaping local markets, how can authorities stop this health crisis from escalating?
The El-Tayebat Diet Disaster: How Misinformation Sparked a Diabetes Emergency in Yemen
Overview
Taiz, Yemen is facing a severe health crisis as a surge in diabetes emergencies overwhelms hospitals. This crisis began when many people adopted the El-Tayebat Diet, abandoning their prescribed diabetes treatments in favor of unproven dietary claims. The diet, which lacks scientific evidence and encourages the exclusion of essential nutrients, has led to uncontrolled blood sugar and life-threatening complications. Social media rapidly spread the diet’s claims, fueled by distrust in conventional medicine and economic hardship. Medical professionals urgently warn the public to seek evidence-based care, as the spread of misinformation continues to endanger vulnerable patients and strain the fragile healthcare system.