1933-2016
Notable accomplishments
-Treated celebrities such as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez, Michael Jackson, Brother Polight
-Married five women having as many as three wives at one time
-Fathered seventeen children
-Had homeopathic health clinics in Los Angeles, New York, and Honduras
Biographical Information
Dr. Sebi an African Herbalist, Dietitian, and holistic health specialist was born Alfredo Darrington Bowman in Honduras in 1933 and was raised by a single mother. Sebi says that this was a good thing. He did not have to worry about being pulled in different directions by different parents. Sebi credits his success to the focused leadership of his mother.
School was also a non-issue for Dr. Sebi. He stopped going to school when he was eleven years old. The only information in his head comes from Africans. Not clouding his mind with foreign ideas keeps Sebi in alignment with God. His clear thinking led to his success.
Sebi began as a merchant seaman stationed out of New Orleans. Sebi used his experience as a sailor to get a job as an engineer in his thirties while living in Los Angeles. At the time he was 291 lbs at 6’2”. He was impotent and suffered from mental health issues. His mental health concerns led to a stint in an insane asylum for paranoid schizophrenia. Sebi decided to seek a cure for his mental health problems from a homeopathic doctor in Mexico.
The Mexican doctor asked him where was the land of Sebi’s origin. Sebi replied that he was from Honduras. The doctor responded that cannot be true, black people do not come from Honduras. Sebi then corrected himself and said he was from Africa. The doctor explained as an African he had to cleanse his body and return to the original African diet. Sebi agreed to a 94 day fast. The doctor predicted that he would never go back to his original life. The Mexican doctor was correct, Sebi learned from the doctor and began practicing homeopathic medicine.
Dr. Sebi quit his job once his holistic medical practice began to thrive. When he left the boss admitted that he hired Sebi thinking, he would fail. The boss did not understand how an uneducated black man could be successful as an engineer. The boss asked, “Are all black people as smart as you.” Sebi replied “No, I am the dumbest. The others can do more than me. They do not because they are afraid of white people. I ‘m not afraid.”
Dr. Sebi came to America and started a practice in New York. He had been practicing seven years before the arrest that would make him famous. The New York Attorney General accused Sebi of practicing without a medical license and making false claims. The arrest happened February 10, 1987.
According to Sebi, he had to prove that he had cured three patients with AIDS, Cancer, and Diabetes. He was required to bring nine people; seventy-seven came to defend the doctor that cured them. Dr. Sebi defended himself. He claims to have asked the judge three questions:
- Is it a fact that the Bible teaches herbs are for the healing of the nations?
- Is it a fact that the body is a carbon based system and only carbon based substances have the chemical affinity to absorb into the system?
- Is it a fact the father of medicine, Hippocrates, cured every disease known to man with herbs?
Dr. Sebi claims to have won his case in front of the New York Supreme Court. He credits the success to not defending a theory. He defended what he knows. He represents Africa, and being rooted in his African identity gave him the strength to defend his claims against any accusers.
Dr. Sebi gained considerable notoriety from his Supreme Court win. He gathered many new clients over the many decades he practiced medicine. One of the clients was the singer/rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez from TLC. Lisa began her treatment with Dr. Sebi in 2004 when she flew to Honduras. Lopez died during her second trip to Honduras. Many speculate that the elite assassinated Lopez to prevent her from promoting Dr. Sebi’s work.
Dr. Sebi died after an arrest by Honduran officials for carrying over $30,000 in cash. He passed away while in custody in a Honduran jail. Many speculate the elite conspired to kill him. The authorities claim Sebi died of Bronchitis.
Sebi’s Medical Philosophy
There is only one disease, mucus. The accumulation of mucus leads to bacterial growth that causes diseases. Having a diet that is not natural for your body causes food to digest improperly and the body makes the mucus as the result of food not digesting.
The Bible supports Dr. Sebi’s herbal healing philosophy. Revelations 22: states “Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.” The verse proves Sebi’s methodology is following G-d’s plan. The use of pharmaceuticals is in direct violation of biblical law. Pharmaceuticals will always cause more problems than they solve.
Sebi begins treatment by having the patient fast to cleanse their digestive system. After the digestive system is cleansed the person follows a strict diet of plants that are natural and native to the land of their origin. African people need African food.
There are five things Sebi tells Africans to avoid, Lactose, Uric Acid, Starches, Meat, and Carbonic Acid. The foods he repeatedly tells blacks to avoid staple grains such as corn and rice. Acidic herbs are also prohibited. Acidic herbs include comfrey, rose hips, goldenseal, and licorice root. Hybrid fruits and vegetables are the last food group black people are told to avoid. Examples of hybrid fruits and vegetables are cassava, spinach, bananas, and carrots.
Starches were particularly bad because they have cyanide. Cyanide can kill in large dosages and can induce insanity is small dosages. The ingestion of cyanide explains many of the psychiatric pathologies in the black community. Removing cyanide from your diet will reduce chaos from a person’s life.
The four compounds that Sebi recommends are phosphate, carbonates, iodine, and bromides. Foods recommended repeatedly are moringa, quinoa, mushrooms, and sea moss. Alkaline herbs such as burdock, yellow dock, and red clover have many health benefits.
Hydration is another major component of Sebi’s nutritional philosophy. Drinking water should be at or above room temperature. Cold water removes energy from the body. Water should always be tested to verify it has an alkaline pH. Natural spring water is the best. There is a hot spring in Honduras that has water at a pH of 8! Do not drink distilled water; it has a pH of 7 making it neutral.
There is no difference between raw and cooked foods. Many herbalists and homeopathic medical practitioners promote a raw food diet. Sebi points out if you eat an acidic food raw or cooked it will still poison the body. An alkaline food will nourish the body regardless of preparation. Concentrate on what the food, not preparation.
Dr. Sebi does not support many other herbalists because other herbalists recommend acidic herbs. Herbalist mentioned by name are Jethro Kloss and Alma Hutchens. Black people should also not follow Non- African homeopathic medicine systems such as Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine. There are foods Asian people can eat that are not compatible with African physiology. One example of this is dairy. Dairy can be processed by Europeans and Indians because cows are native to India and Europe.
Women are the healers according to Dr. Sebi. There is a nurturing aspect to women that is essential to healing that only women possess. Men have a role in healing as it pertains to the growing of herbs and building of clinics. However, the actual healing must be done by a woman. Dr. Sebi only had female apprentices and refused to train men to heal.
What a person consumes will also have an effect on mental health. Starchy foods break down to become cyanide in the body and reduce cognitive function. Sugar breaks down to glucose and inhibits the function of the hypothalamus. Chemical hair care products, such as relaxers, will also reduce cognitive function. The cranium and brain will absorb chemicals from relaxers. Sebi repeatedly cites a case of a couple that came to him because their marriage was falling apart and they were always sick. He quarantined them and gave them alkaline foods, and it resulted in them realizing that they loved each other.
Relationships
Dr. Sebi talks about how important his mother was in his life. He tells of the reverence he has for the women in his life. He comes from a long line of single women that lived well past their nineties and never married.
Sebi claims to have had a good relationship with his mother. However, his brother felt that his mother was emotionally withdrawn. Sebi said his mother showed both of her children the right amount of love. Sebi did not want his mother close and interfering with his early dating life. His brother owned a very successful business and pastored a large church. Therefore his mother must have done a good job. Sebi concludes that a mother knows what to do and should not be criticized.
Sebi says self-love is the key to happiness. When one learns to love themselves, everything else falls into place. A person can not depend on the love of a romantic partner. He found his first wife in bed with another man and was not angry. Sebi just got up and left the relationship.
One of the most trying times in his life was the marriage to his third wife. At the time he had two wives and got a third woman pregnant out of wedlock. The mother of the third woman encouraged her daughter to leave Sebi and get an abortion. The woman did not get the abortion and had a baby girl a few months later. The little girl grew up to follow in her father’s footsteps and cure her grandmother’s cancer.
When Sebi was married to three women, he got a fourth pregnant out of wedlock. At this time he was treating Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. Lopez was able to give Sebi advice on how to handle this situation. Lopez and Sebi became close personal friends during this very trying time in Sebi’s life. When Sebi spoke of Lopez’s untimely death, he always said how she had a loving soul.
Relationships with other Races
Sebi’s is known for saying: “You have to feed a gorilla the food of a gorilla. If the gorilla eats polar bear food, the gorilla will die. If you try to teach the gorilla in a method suitable for polar bears, the gorilla will not learn.” The quote sums up Sebi’s view on relations between races.
What black people call racism is simply other races practicing self-preservation. It is only natural for people to hoard resources for themselves and people that look like them. Other races do not hate black people. They simply understand what is best for themselves and go through life working in their best interest.
Black people do not practice self-preservation because we have become disconnected with our ancestry. Once black people reconnect with themselves, we can begin to understand what we need and go after it. One of the biggest things that separate us from ourselves is organized religion. Organized religion causes us to worship and external God. God is within yourself. Black people must connect with their divinity.
Once black people reconnect with their ancestral roots, many of today’s problems will dissolve. In pre-colonial Africa, there were no hospitals because no one was sick. There were no grocery stores because the food was abundant in the forest. The Africans were naked because they could walk naked safely with no one taking advantage of them. Africans are naturally moral and intelligent. Blacks need to revert to their native ways.
Dr. Sebi is against romantic relationships between black and white people. If the relationship produces a child, the child will not be grounded in any tradition. Black and white are fundamentally incompatible.
Black Misleadership
Black leaders are not interested in the health of black people. Dr. Sebi has made numerous attempts to work with black leaders, and no one wanted to unite with him. In the 1990’s, Sebi did a tour of Africa to get Africans on board with his plans to expand clinics to Africa. Only one country was willing to work with Sebi, Guinea. In some speeches, Sebi will not name Guinea to ensure that whites will not retaliate against this country. Guinea bequeathed Sebi with 5,000 acres of land and five hot springs. Unfortunately, the government of Guinea was not aware that Sebi planned to grow cannabis on the land and they had to renege the offer.
Sebi claims to have been afforded the opportunity to work with black government leaders in the United States. Michael Jackson recommended Sebi’s work to numerous government officials he knew. Jackson was treated for insomnia in 2004 by Sebi and wanted other people to know his work. Jackson secured a meeting between Sebi, then President George W. Bush, Shelia Jackson-Lee, John Conyers, and Jesse Jackson Jr. Also, to the American politicians, there were seventeen African ambassadors and Leonard Muhammad of the Nation of Islam. POTUS Bush was the only one to give Sebi a grant to expand his practices to Africa. Sebi credits George W. Bush with doing more to fight AIDS in Africa than any other president. There is currently no Africa clinic run by Dr. Sebi or his foundation.
Black leaders in Africa or America are not concerned with the healing of their people. Most are simply interested in gaining more power. That is why many of them ally with whites and white organizations. The black leaders also use their followers for economic gain.
Sebi believes women are the rightful leaders of society. Men naturally are egotistical and power hungry. Male leadership leads to power grabs. Female leadership also corresponds to the laws of nature. In the forest, the cubs follow their mother, not their father.
List of Foods Recommend and Forbade by Dr. Sebi
RECOMMENDED
Sea Moss, Mushrooms, Nopal, Amaranth, Fonio, Quinoa, Spelt Pasta, Almonds, Sarsaparilla, Moringa, Red Clover, Burdock, Yellow Dock, Marijuana
FORBADE
Aloe, Vera, Tofu, Peppermint, Dairy, Meat, Rice, Corn, Comfrey, Cassava, Spinach, Carrot, Licorice Root, Eggs, Tobacco
Dr. Sebi’s Critics
Dr. Sebi has a questionable knowledge of science. Sebi says in numerous interviews that the brain produces electric charges due to friction between carbon and copper in the brain. He says friction between carbon and copper produces electricity and electric generators utilize this mechanism. Electric generators produce electricity by spinning a magnet in a coil. The magnetism from the magnet excites electrons in the coil, and that generates electricity. There are carbon brushes in generators, but they do not produce electricity. They reduce arcing between the magnet and coil. A person that worked in a steam plant as an engineer would know how a generator works.
The mechanism that body uses to make and send electrical signals is completely different and has nothing to do with copper rubbing on carbon in the brain. Ions produced by reactions that involve sodium and potassium make electric signals. The brain does not generate electricity, and the brain is not an electrical generator for the body. A man that is using electrical food as the basis for his nutrition theory does not explain how electricity works in the body. The sodium-potassium gate is not a scientific theory; it is an observable phenomenon.
Protein is another area of nutrition Sebi does not feel to be important. Sebi repeatedly says no one knows what protein is and that is not true. There are numerous books on protein and there have been studies on what protein can do and the consequences of not having protein. A low protein diet can result in the loss of muscle tissue. The loss of muscle tissue as a result of insufficient protein is not a theory; it is an observable phenomenon that has been tested by science numerous times.
Traditional western medicine has cured numerous diseases. To list a few diseases: smallpox, polio, measles, yellow fever, and malaria. Modern science has mitigated the effects of HIV/AIDS. In the 1980’s HIV was a death sentence, now many people live with the disease for years. Dr. Sebi repeatedly says that traditional western medicine has cured nothing and the statement is simply not true.
Many of Dr. Sebi’s critics believe he is misleading people on the outcome of his court case. There are documents online that appear to be from the Supreme Court of the State of New York that show Sebi pleaded “not guilty.” The document details a temporary restraining order issued to Dr. Sebi on February 9, 1987. Dr. Sebi pleaded “not guilty, ” and the judge ordered him to do the following things:
- Stop claiming his products or services cure diseases specifically AIDS, Herpes, and Lupus.
- Stop advertising that he had the cure of these disease in any publication.
- Stop diagnosing or treating diseases
- Stop selling products with the claim the product cures disease or enhances the body’s function.
- Post an advertisement in the New Amsterdam News offering full refund to dissatisfied customers
- Payout plaintiffs in this case that were dissatisfied with the services rendered by Sebi.
On Dr. Sebi’s new website all products are described as treatments, not cures. Under the “Nutritional Guide” tab the following statement can be found.
“WE ARE NOT MEDICAL DOCTORS: therefore, we do not diagnose illness or prescribe pharmaceuticals. We are nutritional consultants and make suggestions relating to nutrition. None of the information offered here is intended to replace any program that your medical doctor has prescribed for you, nor does it conflict with any pharmaceutical medication you are taking. It is recommended that you take your products at least one hour prior to taking your medication so that the minerals offered can be fully assimilated.
The State of New York Supreme Court classified our products as “natural vegetation cell food” in 1988. As a result, when you take them you will have fed your cells and will not have much of an appetite.”
If Dr. Sebi had won his court case and proved his medical claims, this disclaimer would not be on his website. All of Dr. Sebi’s speeches claim pharmaceuticals are against God’s plan. The website disclaimer says that these are dietary supplements and are not substitutions for traditional western treatments.
It is important for the reader to remember Dr. Sebi was on trial for practicing medicine without a license. A court case cannot prove or disprove a scientific or medical claim, such as Dr. Sebi curing AIDS. Therefore, even if he won the case it simply shows he did not practice medicine as it is defined by the state of New York. Once the reader understands the issue in question during the trial, Sebi’s retelling of the story begins to be unbelievable. Sebi claims to have brought in seventy-seven witnesses to testify that they were cured. If this happened, then Sebi would have gone to prison for practicing without a license. It is doubtful that Sebi can back up his claims.
Dr. Sebi claims to have used a herb to remove Michael Jackson’s son’s brain tumor. Sebi alleges that after the boy had inhaled fumes from a bag of herbs, the boy sneezed 52 times and sneezed out the tumor.
Dr. Sebi treated Jackson and his family in 2004. Jackson lived for another five years and never mentioned his treatment from Sebi or his removal of his son’s tumor in an interview. Dr. Sebi had to sue Michael Jackson for back payment of $380,000 and lost business of $600,000 according to E! News. Jackson died of a drug overdose of big pharma meds in 2009.
Sebi names many celebrity clients including, Eddie Murphy’s mother, Steven Seagal, Wendy William’s son, Cecily Tyson’s brother, Teddy Pendergrass. None of these stars verify any of these stories. None promoted Dr. Sebi. Sebi claims most did not pay him.
The site Ripoff Report shows an anonymous testimonial from a patient dying of AIDS and various other diseases. The author details they spent $1500 for the first week and $800 for each following week for a minimum of twenty-five days of treatment. The testimonial lists numerous cases of poor customer service, difficulty in consistently receiving herbs, and a nursing staff that did not speak English. Dr. Sebi’s daughter, Saama was running facility at the time. Dr. Sebi did not give any personal treatment to the author of the testimonial. The other patients at the Honduras facility were not being treated either. Many were in agony. Once at the facility, the staff began back peddling on the claims to cure disease. Sebi’s medical staff started saying it is a lifestyle change and there are no guarantee that the lifestyle will cure a disease. The author claims Dr. Sebi’s system is a glorified detox.
Sebi concentrated on an area of black empowerment often overlooked, diet. Proper diet will improve physical and mental health. The growing of herbs can make a community more cohesive and help to build a strong work ethic. The overall health of the black community is poor. In addition to poor health, we have limited access to health care. Proper diet is an excellent way to prevent serious health problems.
One significant issue with Dr. Sebi’s diet is most of the foods he recommends are not readily available in stores. A person would even have a difficult time finding some of these items in health food stores. Sebi’s plan would need to be connected to urban farming or moving into a large commune. Sebi’s followers would have to grow this food themselves and remove temptation from the outside world. Following Sebi’s diet is not a casual activity.
However, diet will not fix every problem in the black community. The most troubling aspect of Sebi’s philosophy is that poor diet is the sole cause of mental illness. Mental illness is a very complex subject. Diet is a factor, but past experiences, physiology, and spiritual development are also factors in mental health. A person must analyze all aspects and causes of their emotional pathologies and determine what corrective actions are needed. Trying to solve the problem with the only diet is far too limiting. Nothing can be off the table to improve a person’s mental health. Healing can not exclude pharmaceuticals.
The prohibition of male healers Sebi is a healer, but he believes other men can do the same thing or should do the same thing. He repeatedly says that his mother is the only God he knows.
Sebi prohibits the use of western medicine.
He focused on black people building a separate identity linked to their African heritage. He says, “Beans are from Britain, Cassava originated in Portugal, and Carrots are from Holland.” Anything originating in Europe is automatically wrong. When he speaks to his audience on why these foods are bad, he simply mentions they originated in Europe. Their European origin should be enough to prove these foods are bad.
In Dr. Sebi’s case, the myth is pre-colonial Africa was Utopia. There were not many records from pre-colonial Africa made by Africans, so ultimately no one knows what happened in pre-colonial Africa. The few records we have of Africa show they did grow rice and other staple grains before Europe invaded. One well-known example of native African grain production was in Egypt. Harvesting of grain was the basis of Egyptian culture. It is not realistic to believe these methods did not propagate to or originate from Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Sebi uses the myth of Pre-colonial African Utopia as the foundation of his truth.
The reader should view the Youtube playlist SD Dr. Sebi and SD Anti-Dr. Sebi. For more on Dr. Sebi check out his official website below.