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## Introduction

Bitter kola with Scientific name Garcinia kola is a species of flowering plant belonging to the genus, Garcinia and family, Clusiaceae. It's a common sight to see people hawking Bitter Kola at traffic lights, holdups at the gates of businesses premises. This is because of its health benefits. In fact, right now, five medium size of the seeds go for two hundred Naira (N200) which is about 1steem here in Uyo. Bitter Kola are mostly eaten raw and are known for their characteristic bitter taste that leave behind a slight sweetness in the mouth after some time.

## Wonders of Bitter Kola

Bitter kola has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, and almostly all parts of the plant has some medicinal value.

## Bitter Kola Boosts The Immune System

Bitter kola has been known to boost the body's immune system, so some traditional herbal medicine practitioners usually advises their patients to take it before they start treatment.

## Has Cancer Preventive Abilities

It rids the body of all kinds battle unfamiliar toxin including those that cause cancer.

## It boosts fertility

In Africa, Bitter kola are sometines given to women with infertility problems to improve their fertility.

## Bitter Kola Treats Malaria

Bitter kola contains Kolaviron which is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemical, and has high antimalarial properties. This makes Bitter Kola in combination with other herbs very effective in curing malaria.

## Bitter Kola Cures Glaucoma

Bitter kola sliced into tiny pieces and water added to extract some vital chemicals from can be used as eye drop to cure glaucoma. Slice like seven medium size Bitter Kola into thirty-five cl container ( Coca-Cola bottle) and fill it with water, and leave it for three days and use the water as eye drop.

## It Suppresses Hunger

Bitter kola is a natural hunger suppressant. If you are hungry and you chew just two seeds of bitter kola, the hunger will vanish for the next two to three hours!

## Lose Some Weight With Bitter kola

So if you are trying to check your weight, you can reduce how you eat by taking bitter kola when you're hungry instead of eating.

## Bitter Kola Relieves Ulcer Pains

Since Bitter Kola suppresses hunger by nuetralising the digestive juice in the stomach, it therefore takes away the stomat acids that bites at the walls of our interstines when we have not eaten and helps reduce ulcer pains. That is why it is used with other herbs in the treatment of ulcer.

## Bitter kola Helps Reduce Blood Sugar Levels

Bitter kola also help reduce blood sugar by eating too one a day for about a month.

## Bitter Kola is a Detoxifyer

Bitter kola has been know to neutralise poisons and even drugs in the body. So it is adviced that you don't take it while you are on drugs as it will neutralise the effect of that drugs or any foreign substance in the system. So if you have eaten poison or contaminated food, it's advisable that you chew Bitte Kola immediately. ## Bitter Kola Cures Cough If you have cough, just chew two two seeds of Bitter Kola a day for three days and the cough will vanish. It's most effective if the cough is in its early stage. For me the best is to chew it, last thing, right on your bed before you fall asleep. The particles on you throat all through the night will go a long way to clearing your throat by morning.

### Other Benefits of Bitter Kola

Besides the health benefit, Bitter kola has been known to have some other benefits.

## It Scares Evil Spirits away.

It is believed in Africa that Bitter Kola scares away evil spirits. I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that just carrying a seed of it in your pocket is enough to neutralize evil spirits around you.

## It is Used as a Snake Repellent

Bitter kola has been used as a snake repellent for centuries in Africa, this is why Hunters always carry Bitter kola with them. To make it more effective you can crush it into pieces, but I only do this when you see a physical snake if you just want to keep them around for present preventive measures it's okay to just slides into two and keep them in the area I'll replace them with fresh ones every week.

## Conclusion

Because of the diverse uses of Bitter kola, it is advisable to always have a few seeds of it at home in case of emergency. CC: @focusnow @steemalive @ngoenyi @ijelady @mesola