JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Viral videos on TikTok show people eating the seeds of a tropical fruit claiming that it rids people of parasites in their stomach.
The fruit in question is a papaya. When you cut one open, you'll find dozens of pea-sized black gooey seeds.
The flesh of the fruit is sweet. The seeds... not so much.
But do they have health benefits like the viral videos say?
One video by user @Nataliataylorofficial has more than 290,000 likes last checked and more than 2.5 million views. In the video, the TikToker eats the seeds and tells people about the claim.
We went to the expert. Dr. Jason Ross is a gastroenterolofist with Borland Groover in Jacksonville, FL. When we called to ask him about this, he says he started asking his colleagues.
He says this claim is false... well mostly, false. Papaya seeds might have some benefits for your digestive health, but he says they are not proven to kill parasites.
“I did a little research and there was apparently a study in 2007 in Africa where they looked at 60 children with parasitic infections," Dr. Ross said. "(They) treated them with papaya seeds (and) papaya seed extract. They said they had decent results that there was a difference between that and placebo, but at this point the FDA has nothing to do with this."
The study concluded that papaya seeds are a harmless, cheap, and readily available preventative measure.
However, the study said “Further and large-scale intervention studies to compare C. papaya with standard antiparasitic preparation are desirous.”
"At this point, I wouldn’t recommend papaya seeds as treating a parasitic infection," Dr. Ross said.
Are the seeds good for anything? They are edible, but they are not known to be tasty.
Healthline.com says the seeds are full of fiber and therefore can be good for your digestive health, but they do have side effects.
Dr. Ross says if you are pregnant, you should not eat the seeds. He says they may cause nausea and abdominal pain.
Healthline.com says side effects of eating the seeds may include negatively affecting fertility if eaten in large amounts.
