Photo Credit Goran Hoglund (Kartlasarn)

Tibet has a lot of things going for it in the collective mind of the Western world. It’s the place where Tibetan monks find tranquility in their inner being and where the highest mountain sits surrounded only by the sky and the eternal winds. For the last couple of decades, very prominent people like Richard Gere began to advocate different Tibetan causes, and with the media’s attention, so did the wider public became increasingly interested in this exotic culture.

The Tibetan elixir of youth is the name of a recipe which supposedly originated in this region more than 2000 years ago. As the urban legend goes, it was discovered written on a clay tablet (in other words, not the Apple kind of tablet) and is used in cases of high cholesterol levels and other blood-heart issues, weak immune system and/or digestive tract. It should also improve the skin’s complexion and reduce wrinkles. Other sources claim that it also helps in the prevention of carcinoma formation and can improve eyesight

When you look at it, it’s no wonder that it’s called an elixir of youth, because as far as we can tell, it only doesn’t increase concentration, bone density and sexual desire – pretty much everything else is covered. At the same time, there are only three ingredients in this wondrous elixir, and those are lemon juice, honey and olive oil. These should be mixed and every morning a person should take one tablespoon of the mixture before eating anything else.

Well, it’s pretty much safe to say that the Tibetan Magic Elixir of Youth is total nonsense. These ingredients, although healthy individually, don’t produce any cumulative effect which would grant the mixture additional properties. This notion is something which can be regularly seen in the thought processes of small children, who reason that two individual good or tasty things (like, for example, watermelons and fried bacon) will be even better when they are combined. Here, the same philosophy can be seen.

Lemon juice contains vitamin C, honey is an anti-inflammatory agent (when applied locally, on the skin) and olive oil includes many health benefits. Regular consumption of honey means that it will be quickly turned into glucose, raising the sugar blood levels – this means more weight unless you’re an active athlete. On the other hand, using lemon juice on a regular basis, especially on an empty stomach can gradually lead to the development of gastritis. Too much olive oil consumption will produce a lot greasier stool (because a sizable proportion of olive oil won’t be absorbed through metabolism) and can produce diarrhea. The elixir isn’t dangerous in the short-term, but its use definitely brings problematic side effects like these ones.

Because of this, it’s best to steer clear of homemade Tibetan Elixirs of Youth all together.