At 86, Johnston Lidambidza often jokes that he is still “firing on all cylinders”. Lidambidza, a retired truck driver, boasts he does not need Cialis or Viagra – aphrodisiacs – to “kick-start life after the sitting room” – a euphemism for virility – a feature in matrimonial life that has received a battering as Kenyan families pivot more towards more towards western foods at the expense of their indigenous diets health-workers and nutritionists prescribe for patients with lifestyle diseases.

Virility is revered in western Kenya, where it is claimed – without empirical evidence – divorce rate is relatively low compared to the rest of Kenya. Virility deficiency can cause divorce, though.

Biotechnologist and food scientist Silvester Anami concurs there is “some” evidence of “men who fire on all cylinders” late into old age are in polygamous families, where bedroom energy is nearly revered.

“There is a correlation between diet, longevity and virility. Men and women who consume indigenous foods and munyu mfume are known to live longer and remain free of lifestyle diseases like hypertension, cancer, obesity and the like. Indigenous salt, munyu mfume, for instance has a higher concentration of alkaline, which is a known blood vessel relaxer compared to ordinary table (industrial) salt that is a known blood vessel constrictor,” Dr Anami, a biotechnologist and food scientist, explains.

He is quick to point out that the subject needs comprehensive research so that any conclusions are incontrovertible.

Dr Anami, currently a senior research fellow at Institute of Biotechnology of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) credits what he describes as low incidence of lifestyle diseases among older generations of Luhyia people in western Kenya to indigenous foods, in which he is currently leading consumption and cultivation campaign in Shinyalu, Kakamega.

 “But why is there low incidence of cancer (and hypertension) in western Kenya? It could be due to munyu mfume,” he says.

The biotechnologist is also leading a team of researchers from several Swedish and British universities in a research programme that focuses on indigenous crops and foods in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

So far, munyu mfume remains intriguing.

Lidambiza, a resident of Kakamega town in western Kenya is an avid consumer of munyu–mfume – an indigenous salt that is rich in potassium and in which a research done by Egerton University in Kenya has revealed plays a key role in the management of hypertension, cancer and obesity.

“We use munyu mfume as a spice in a food to give it taste. We also consume it as a pastime. It has no known side effect even if you ate it all day,” the octogenarian explains.

Munyu-mfume is derived from an indigenous reed endemic to western Kenya – Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia and Siaya – and thrives in marshland and riverbeds. The grass, research shows, is rich in potassium, which is alkaline in nature and opens up blood vessels for efficient flow of blood and oxygen, researchers say.

Research on people who consume munyu–mfume in food instead of the ubiquitous sodium-based table salt found nearly in every household in Kenya are less vulnerable to lifestyle diseases. While sodium has been found to constrict blood vessels, potassium has a dilation effect – widening arteries and veins to hasten blood and oxygen circulation. In addition, the research found, potassium breaks and mops up negative cholesterol, discharging it from the blood system and giving the body a youthful look.

Even more ominous is the realisation that the ecosystems in which the grass species from which the salts are extracted in western Kenya are facing extinction as demand for land for commercial agriculture and settlement rises.

Known also as or esalu among the Luhyia, kat kamsingli among the Luo or omusaala in Luganda, the salts that grow in wetlands or lagoons have virtually lost their cultural value among indigenous communities that once believed that eating the salt enabled one to live longer, hence the saying kula chumvi nyingi (eat a lot of salt) – a metaphor for live long.

Dr Josephine Ojiambo urges caution and warns that it is not conclusive that indigenous spices are a panacea to lifestyle diseases. Such research, she explains would need to be “controlled” for fool-proof evidence of the efficacy of munyu-mfume and indigenous vegetables in preventing early onset of cancer and hypertension.

“Cancer and hypertension incidence in Kenya today affect every part of the country, every age-set and community. It is possible munyu-mfume has lots of health benefits, but this has to b established through scientific evidence,” Dr Ojiambo, a research scientist in the department of chemistry at University of Nairobi and an adjunct lecturer at the School of Public Health, told Tell Media.

An upsurge of lifestyle diseases – cancer, hypertension, diabetes and obesity – has led to many hotels and restaurants in Kenya putting indigenous foods on their menus as literature on exotic processed foodstuff becomes more accessible, thanks to online publishing.

In a past interview, Prof Ward Mavura of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, who has researched extensively on the plant-based indigenous salts for their cultural, nutritional and commercial value, observed that indigenous knowledge used in the making of the salts risks being lost as refined spices with high sodium content replace them.

“The munyu mfume has low sodium content, but has more potassium. The salt derived from the reeds is recommended for hypertensive people.

The indigenous salt made by the Luhyia people of western Kenya and eastern Uganda – generally by people who live in the Lake Victoria basin – is better than refined low sodium salts (lona),” Prof Mavura said from his base at JKUAT’s Arusha campus in Tanzania.

The researcher notes that the high potassium content in munyu mfume gives the salt therapeutic qualities that are equally critical in neutralising some cancers and related tumours that scientists associate with high acidity.

In 1883-1970, one of the greatest biochemists and medical scientists of all time, Dr Otto Warburg, discovered that inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues and acidic cellular environment are the primary causes of cancer and tumours.

Dr Warburg found that most cancers can be controlled by maintaining optimal alkaline pH at the cellular level along with sufficient oxygenation and providing essential nutrients.

The theory has since been disputed.

In a review of Warburg discover published in in Radical Remission, Dr Kelly Turner, notes; “It is well known that current cancer treatments often leave the TME acidic, resulting in poor therapeutic efficacy and severe side effects. Therefore, our alkalisation therapy aims to change the acidic TME to an alkaline…. As our bodies are made from the food that we eat, we believe that the act of alkalising the body via food is a logical approach. A method to measure the pH of the TME has not yet been established to date, and hence we use urine pH as a surrogate indicator. The reason for this is that through our clinical practice, we have experienced that the urine of most patients who have achieved radical remission has an alkaline pH of 7.5 to 8.”

Nutritionists regard potassium, the third most abundant mineral in human body, as the “health insurer” of a human body. Notes gleaned from online publications indicate that besides the mineral being an electrolyte, it is important in keeping the heart, brain, kidney, muscle tissues and other important organs of human body in perfect functioning condition.

Salt deficiency precipitates fatigue, muscles weaknesses, inactive reflexes, abnormal heartbeat, heart palpitations, anaemia and severe headaches. It is this qualities that enabled people who ate the salt to live longer and healthy lives.

• A Tell Media report / By Juma Kwayera