January/February 2003
HEALTH BYTES

 Lemons for birth control, AIDS protection

Lemon juice may be helpful as a contraceptive and also a killer of the AIDS virus, according to Australian researchers. According to Roger Short, a reproductive physiologist at the University of Melbourne, laboratory tests found that lemon juice kills both sperm and the AIDS virus itself. “We can show in the lab that lemon juice is very effective in immobilizing human sperm and also very effective in killing HIV,” Short told Australian Broadcasting Corp television on a show that aired on October 10, 2002.