Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Wu E-yang’s (吳萼洋) remarks about the health benefits of honey lemonade drinks do not convey the complete picture, medical experts said.
At a televised debate on Saturday that involved the five Taipei mayoral candidates, Wu said that a lump underneath his left eye and a skin condition had cleared up after he stuck to a vegetarian diet for a month and drank honey lemonade.
Following the debate, online searches for “Wu E-yang” and “honey lemonade” rose significantly, according to Google Trends.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
However, Tsai Tsen-fang (蔡呈芳), a dermatologist at National Taiwan University Hospital, on Sunday said that while some types of honey have antibacterial properties and help wounds heal faster, not all honeys have these properties.
Furthermore, the honey must be pure and applied to the skin to achieve the results, Tsai said, adding that there is not sufficient evidence to support benefits linked to taking honey orally.
While some people think that lemons can help lighten and improve skin quality as they are rich in vitamin C, more research is needed to support this, Tsai said.
He said that he has not seen research supporting the claim that honey lemonade can treat lumps or pityriasis versicolor — the fungal infection Wu claimed was eliminated, which causes small patches of skin to become scaly and discolored.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Dental Association council member Chiang Hsi-jen (江錫仁) said that lemons are acidic and can erode teeth.
Failing to rinse after drinking honey lemonade could damage your teeth, Chiang said.
However, brushing after drinking honey lemonade can reduce residue on the teeth and help prevent damage, he said.
Comments in response to Wu were rife on Professional Technology Temple, the nation’s largest online bulletin board system, with some asking: “Was honey lemonade the biggest winner” at Saturday’s debate?
One netizen called Wu’s comments the “best sponsored content they have seen this year.”
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS