“Mama, can I get fifty naira worth of agbo-jedi”. This single statement was what got me into trouble last Saturday. I used my own money to buy and bring distress into my life. Permit me to share my experience of the alleged stomach-washer called agbo-jedi in my local language but, before I start with that, let me introduce the concept of jedi.
Agbo-jedi the “stomach washer” is an herbal drink prepared by the Yoruba people in Southwestern part of Nigeria. It’s supposed to “clear” the body off jedi-jedi totally when used. This condition called jedi-jedi is described as an “excess of sugar” in the body (not in the blood) and its symptoms associated with it are “limitless”. My people link that condition to almost “any non-infection” complaints.
Some of its common symptoms are backache, “unnecessary and smelly farts” during urination and defecation, and perceived lack of “sexual power”. Once you experience a little backache and you complain to a typical Yoruba man or woman, a sure diagnostic response is “that must be jedi-jedi”. They reply with an hundred percent confidence as if they ran a test to confirm the same. This herbal drink however, has had a lot of people testifying to its “goodness”.
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Okay, back to myself. I was experiencing backache and smelly farts (Oh! you need to be present when as I was doing my thing). So I set my cultural practice into play, diagnosed myself of jedi-jedi. And I decided to get the only treatment I knew, agbo-jedi.
Oh, I forgot to add that a known side effect of the herbal drink is diarrhoea, both “simple” and “complex” ones. This should be included in the second paragraph but I am feeling a little lazy to place it there. Will you kindly help me with that in your mind? Thanks! And let’s continue.
Local herbal drinks (Agbo-jedi) are mixtures of whole or powdered plant parts including roots, barks, seeds, leaves, underground stems among others. The active components of these materials are usually extracted with either ordinary water or alcohol. So there are basically two types of the drink. The aqueous (water) and the alcoholic type.
“I do not want the type that will make me visit the comfort zone more than thrice in a day” I could remember telling the woman hawking the drink. “Oh! No problem with that, I do not sell such. Which do you prefer, the water type or alcoholic?” she asked. “Alcoholic” I answered in a low tone contemplating whether it is religiously right for me to take alcohol even on herbal grounds. Well, I have always wanted to taste that thing called gin alcohol but, for scientific reasons ONLY!
However, I got the drink, drank it (like an hour after lunch), and after four hours I could easily define and write an extensive article on DIARRHOEA. It was so frequent I had to pitch my tent near the comfort zone. It was like my weight dropped to zero kilogram. After experiencing the suffering that accompanies frequent diarrhoea for the whole day, I got the scientific me to work.
The alcoholic type is said to be more potent as a “sugar-washer” than that extracted with water. However, what people meant was that it causes more pronounced diarrhoea especially when it is taken after a meal. But why is this?
I have a habit of trying to provide explanations to concepts or problems by cross-linking various thoughts. It keeps me active! But consumes my foodstuffs (brain devours more). Anyways, I will attempt to explain this one too. However, let us do this together!
For us to be on virtually same page, let me answer the question “what is diarrhoea?”
I prefer its definition as stated by the World Health Organization; “the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day (or more frequent passage than is normal for the individual)”source.
There are different types of diarrhoea based on its duration, and the mechanism involved which is a direct consequence of the causative agent. Considering this, I must then first identify the most probable type of diarrhoea that I experienced. Equipped with that knowledge, I may then go ahead and identify the cause of the same.
During digestion, water is secreted in the small intestine to aid the process of selective absorption of nutrients form churned food materials undergoing digestion. This water is reabsorbed in the large intestine. When either of the secretion or absorption of water in the two intestines respectively are tampered with, such as a case of excess secretion and little or no absorption, watery stool (diarrhoea) results. This type is called secretory diarrhoea.
In case of diarrhoea caused by one of the conditions mentioned above, that is excess secretion of water into the lumen of the small intestine, arising as a result of osmotic imbalance, the type is called an osmotic diarrhoea.
- The other types of diarrhoea include exudative diarrhoea (characterized with blood and pus in the stool)source,
- inflammatory diarrhoea (as a result of mucosa lining damage hence a problem with absorption of water in the large intestine)source
- and dysentery (also characterized with blood which is a result of bowel invasion by pathogens)source.
I had no visible blood in my stools (WAIT! Do not try to imagine how I knew this, especially if you are “eat-reading” this post). I am also quite sure there was no mucosal damage neither since I did not experience any other symptom that could point to pathogen invasion. So let us rule out the last three types of diarrhoea as mentioned earlier.
It had to be either secretory or osmotic diarrhoea, meaning it was a problem of excess secretion of inhibited absorption. But which of these two was the actual one I experienced. First let us talk about the most probable cause of the watery stool which is the alcoholic extract type of agbo-jedi.
Mahoob and Haleem in their research titled “Effect of Ethanol on Serum Electrolytes and Osmolarity” explained how that ethanol was a cause of increased hyperosmolarity in rats’ serum. They reported an acute drop in the concentration of serum ions like sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium following alcohol administration source.
This knowledge about alcohol-driven hyperosmolarity, please hold it in thought, we will get back to it soon.
Water is secreted into the lumen of the small intestine and absorbed in the large intestine in an attempt to maintain osmotic balance between the cytoplasm of intestinal cells and extracellular fluids.
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On initial entrance into the small intestine, chyme’s osmolarity (the concentration of an osmotic solution – Merriam-Webster Dictionary) is normally not as high as when it has undergone few digestive processes. That is its osmolarity increases after larger molecules have been broken down. Because of this increase in osmmolarity of chyme, water is secreted by intestinal cells to mix with chyme. This follows the definition of osmosis (liquid movement from region of low concentration to one of high concentration through a permeable membrane).
However, alcohol from the herbal drink (as discovered in the research highlighted above) ensures that the osmolarity of chyme in my intestine is not raised as it should by decreasing the concentration of active ions. And so, little or no secretion of water by intestinal cells. This affects uptake of nutrients or supposed osmotically active molecules. Because of this, chyme sent to the large intestine has a “higher” osmolarity than it should since nutrients that ought to be taken care of in the small intestine still exist in the chyme.
Higher osmolarity than the cellular fluids in the large intestine means little or no absorption of water but more of secretion, as water moves from low region of low concentration to that of higher concentration. Your guess is as right as mine. A watery stool is the result, the duration of which depends on when the alcoholic herbal drink wears off completely from the digestive system.
The active components of the plant extracts that makes up the drink must be well researched before clear explanations can be made about their contribution to the usual aftermath which is diarrhoea. I however made effort to know some of the plant materials used in making this drink. They include;
- konafuru (clove - Syzygium aromaticum)
- cafra pelebe (camphor)
- ata ile pupa (turmeric - Curcuma longa)
- ayu (garlic - Allium sativum) and
- alubosa elewe (shallot - Allium ascalonicum) among many others.
Due to the activity of alcohol in the intestine, Alcohlic agbo-jedi is considered a more potent type of the herbal drink, as it results to more frequent washing away of the contents of the stomach and intestine, hence a better "sugar washer" as my people would rather refer to it.
This is just an attempt to provide a "scientific" explanation to what I experienced. You have other explanations for this condition? Kindly share below in the comment section.
Thanks for reading!!!
REFERENCES
You are a Nigerian, and you write STEM posts, you can also use the #stemng tag.
Hum. This concept of presenting diarrhoea is classical. 👍 @harbayomi. Meanwhile, all those local herbs should be taken with care. The type they used ethanol for it extraction is refer to as ethanolic extraction while the type they used water for is refer to as aqueous extraction. What those people try to do is to extract phytochemicals from these plants and give it to the public without adequate laboratory screening to ascertain the dosage to be taken. Btw no one even know under what condition are those agbo jedis are prepared from.
Yes Sir. Thanks for the added terminologies. I agree with the need to be careful with those herbs. An uncle of mine almost died from continuous diarrhoea after consuming overdose of "agunmu jedi". However, if these concoctions can be prepared following appropriate standards, they could be more effective than synthetic drugs.
Thank you so much for your time Sir.
" classic" hmm... You motivate me more!
I love your creativity. 👏. Traditional medicine needs proper checks
Thank you Sir! Yes, it sure does!
Nice work! Really creative.
I always hear that it improves sexual power. How true is that please?
Incredible write up. Thanks for sharing!!
Yes, there are some prepared specifically for increasing how long a man lasts on bed. But I will advise that one should go for those prepared under standard conditions by registered companies they are "safer" and effective.
Thanks for stopping by @starrichie I am grateful
Countless people have lost their lives thanks to their carelessness in taking whatever comes their way in purse of health balance. While we have those that take ethanolic extraction 'cause of the alcohol using
Jedias an excuse, we have those that are just ignorantly consuming what their body might have allergy for.This post has opened my eyes. In fact, I am not going to any agbo joint no more. I cannot come and go and kill myself.
Thanks @herbayomi for giving us this. Will you now take my sister for free or you don't want her?
I am @teekingtv and I write STEM.
We should be mindful of whatever we intend to consume whether herbal or not.
These herbal concoctions has caused some to suffer adverse allergic reactions.
Thanks so much for your time. I am glad you will refrain from agbo joint,lol.
Now about your sister, its a week since you promised me. I am well ready to receive her bro...lol
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@herbayomi. Nice write up, bro. Very expository and detailed.
Buh make I no lie u, me dey take dat agbo wella oh but na d aqueous extraction sha according to @steepup. May God help us cos na hin dey take breast feed us for pikin oh... Lolzzz.
Nice concept, bro. Great work. Thanks.
Thanks man!... Our system was exposed to a lot of phytochemicals courtesy of the many jedi drinks we were forced fed when we younger. Many of us survived that stage though, hence we should be grateful as some never survived.
The aqueous type doesn't cause much diarrhoea like the ethanolic one.
Thanks for stopping by bro... I really appreciate it.
Some topics are questionable... ;)
Thanks for stopping by Sir @lemouth
Have you noticed any error sir?
Kindly point me to it.
I am ever ready to learn.
Hu? I was just joking about the topic. Nothing more. I am by far no a Diarrhoea expert :D
Haha... Okay!
Its a privilege to have you comment on my blog sir
If you say so... Thanks ;)
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Wow! Quite an explicit write-up and easy to relate with.
You have really brought me "home" with this. I don't do alcohol thought but i can relate as one is bound to share same experience even when the ingredients are soaked im water.
Thanks for this scientific explanation. It never ocurred to me before now.
Thumbs up!
@abumaryam
That shows you're a true Yoruba man, lol.
The extracted phytochemicals are very potent, active even at low concentrations. So similar experience will likely occur with water (aqueous) extract.
I really appreciate you stopping by sir