Ààbò àti ìlera: health&protection (Aròn àti kòkòrò) Germs and Worms.

Yorùbá medicine  has major similarities to conventional medicine  in the  sense that its main thrust is to kill or expel from the body tiny, invisible "germs" or insects (kòkòrò) and also worms (aron) which inhabit  small  bags within the body.

For the Yoruba, however, these insects and worms perform  useful functions in the healthy body, aiding digestion fertility , etc. However, if they , become too powerful in the body, they must  be controlled, killed or driven out with bitter tasting plants contained in medicines.

Buckley claims  that traditional Yorùbá ideas of the human body are derived from the image of a cooking  pot, susceptible  to overflowing. The female body overflows dangerously but necessarily once a month;

insects  and worms in the body can overflow their "bags" in the body  if  they are given  too much “sweet” (tasty)  food.  The household is understood in a  similar  way. As agents of disease overflow their bag, menstrual blood in the female body tend to overflow, and palm oil in the cooking  pot is given, so women in the marital household tend to overflow and return to their natal homes.