Fact or fiction: 10 health trends circulating on TikTok – News – MM+M

TikTok is full of beauty, health and personal care tips. Often it is difficult to analyze which are legit and which are based on myth, especially since many videos are often filtered and doctored.

To help consumers and marketers understand fact from fiction, here are several of the top TikTok health trends that have been making the rounds along with what experts are saying about their usefulness, effectiveness, and safety.

1. Rice Water Hair

A common trend in personal care is to soak rice in cold water for a few days and then spray the resulting “rice water” on your hair to stimulate “extreme hair growth”.

With over 600 million views, the tag “rice water for hair” is quite a popular search on the platform.

Interestingly, there may be some validity to rice water hair.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, rice water contains inositol, an ingredient that has been linked to hair growth, although the evidence is a bit lacking. At the very least, rice water does not contain any toxic chemicals, so it is safe to try it.

Other videos under the tag, however, warn users to be careful with the rice water trend, arguing that it can also cause hair breakage depending on your hair type.

2. Benadryl Challenge

Among the more nefarious trends that have also been circulating is the Benadryl challenge. This phenomenon encourages people to take high doses of Benadryl to get high and hallucinate.

Taking too much medication, which is an over-the-counter drug used for allergies, can lead to an overdose or even death.

Several hospitalizations and even one death among teens trying the trend prompted health officials to make announcements warning people to stop taking too high doses.

In September 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged parents and healthcare providers to be aware of the trend and asked TikTok to remove videos associated with it.

Johnson & Johnson, which makes the drug, also released a statement responding to the challenge, noting it was “extremely concerning” and “should be stopped immediately.”

3. Nature’s Cereal Recipe

Among the millions of fad diets and recipes on TikTok, a few stand out as quite healthy.

One is called “Nature’s Cereal”, and it’s a pretty simple trend. A person takes blueberries, raspberries, or other berries from a bowl, pours coconut water over them, and eats them with a spoon, thus having cereal, without the cereal.

This one is undeniably healthy and harmless – although it might seem strange to eat fruit with coconut water from a spoon.

4. Sunscreen contour

For those familiar with makeup, contouring is a way to sculpt your facial features using light or dark highlights or contouring.

However, instead of the typical way of buying makeup products for this purpose, some people are engaging in a trend on TikTok which is to use the sun to shape your face for you.

In other words, they only use sunscreen on certain parts of their face so that other parts become more tanned.

Still, the results can be questionable, and experts stress the importance of using sunscreen on all parts of your skin to protect it from UV rays, which are linked to cancer and skin aging.

5. Workout 12-3-30

A trend on treadmills encourages people to try a workout for 30 minutes, with an incline level set at 12% and a pace of three miles per hour.

While that may not seem like much, users say the workout is pretty intense – and can be a great way to start a weight loss journey.

Cleveland Clinic experts note that the trend can be quite healthy if done the right way, as finding ways to increase physical activity can be helpful for weight loss or simply to increase endurance and improve overall health.

However, it’s important to check with your body – and reducing the incline or shortening the start-up time is a good way to get used to it.

6. Chlorophyll

Last year, some TikTok users were trying to drink liquid chlorophyll – the green pigment that gives plants their color – in hopes it would help brighten their skin and provide anti-inflammatory properties.

However, evidence for chlorophyll as a health supplement is lacking. Although not harmful if used in moderation, it is not scientifically proven to help you in any way.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, supplements as a whole can be a dubious industry, with evidence often lacking to support claims about various vitamins, fish oil or melatonin and other products.

7. Chicken NyQuil

The FDA recently flagged another dangerous TikTok trend dubbed “NyQuil Chicken” — a challenge that involved people cooking chicken in cough syrup.

“Boiling a drug can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways,” the FDA noted.

Unsurprisingly, health experts are urging people not to participate in the NyQuil Chicken Challenge, noting that it could be very dangerous.

8. Proffee (Protein + Coffee)

Combining protein in coffee drinks is another big trend on TikTok, with people touting its nutritional benefits.

The #profee tag has over 27 million views on the platform and is filled with videos of people making their own versions of the drink – whether with ice, cream or milk and sugar-free sweeteners.

The idea of ​​the drink is quite simple: just combine a scoop of protein powder or protein shake into your favorite coffee drink for both an energy boost and protein.

For people who skip breakfast, proffee might actually be a helpful supplement to balance out caffeine jitters.

Still, other health experts warn people to drink the brew in moderation because most Americans already get enough protein — or too much protein — in their diets. Most Americans already eat twice the recommended amount of protein per day.

9. Dry Drive Powder

Most people use pre-workout protein or powder mixed into a shake or smoothie, but a new trend on TikTok is to eat the powder… dry.

Although it may not seem like a big deal, health experts warn of its potential risks.

According to Healthline, dry picking is dangerous and can lead to heart palpitations, lung infections if the powder is accidentally inhaled, and digestive issues. Use the powder as directed on the label, mixed with water.

In fact, when searching for “dry pickup” on TikTok, the platform redirects users to an online challenge resource page. He urges people to stop and think about a challenge before doing it: “If a challenge is risky or dangerous, or if you’re not sure if it is, don’t do it,” says TikTok .

10. Lemon Coffee

Touting weight loss, some users promote drinking lemon coffee – or coffee mixed with lemon juice in the morning. The trend is for people to drink the mixture on an empty stomach, hoping it will help them lose weight.

Lemon juice mixed with coffee is not inherently dangerous or unhealthy, and may be safe to drink. But this will not necessarily lead to weight loss.

Weight loss is a promise often linked to TikTok diet trends, but many are not accurate or show no clinical benefit. A recent study published in PLOS One found that dieting trends on TikTok can have a detrimental impact on eating disorders and body image. In other words: take TikTok trends with a grain of salt.