Quick Fact Check: Fake Post Claiming Two Handfuls Of Cashews Equivalent To A Prozac Dose Resurfaces

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A post that has resurfaced on social media claims that cashews are anti-depressants and two handfuls of cashews are the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of PROZAC. Vishvas News investigated and found that the viral post is fake.

Claim

The post doing rounds on social media reads: “CASHEWS are natural anti-depressants. 2 handfuls of cashews is the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of PROZAC.”  The archived version of the post can be checked here.

Investigation

Vishvas News investigated and found an article online published on the website doctoryourself.com. The article titled “An alternative to Prozac” read: “one big handful of cashews provides one to two thousand milligrams of tryptophan, which will work as well as prescription antidepressants… but don’t tell the drug companies.”

On searching the details of the author of the article, Vishvas news found that Dr. Andrew Saul who related Cashews and Prozac for tryptophan content is a Nutritionist and not a Psychiatrist.

As article on Medical Daily states that although Cashews can help in natural mood-lifting to reduce depression, the claim that two handfuls of Cashews can become the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac in treating depression is questionable. We researched and found no medical documentation supporting the viral claim.

The detailed fact check on the report can be checked here.

We spoke to Dr. Anil Yadav, who is a Psychiatrist at AIIMS, Delhi. He said, “Prozac is an anti-depressant and cashews cannot replace them. This is not true that two handfuls of cashew can replace Prozac.”

The post is shared on Facebook by a user named Desiree Hall. We scanned the social profile of the user and found that the user is followed by 1,402 users.