2020 was the year of TikTok as its popularity soared and its users set trends that went viral around the world throughout the pandemic.
But increasingly worrying trends are also making their way onto the social media platform that can have serious consequences.
Recently, a mother warned of the danger of the “tongue-piercing” trend, where children place two ball-shaped magnets above and below their tongue to make it appear like they have a piercing. The risk of swallowing the small magnets is high and can require surgery to remove them.
Now, another trend, “dry-scooping”, has made its way onto the social media site, leading to the hospitalisation of one TikTok user, Briatney Portillo, who tried it and said she suffered a heart attack as a result.
The 20-year-old said: “I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. Especially because I’m so young.”
But what is dry-scooping, why are people doing it and why is it so dangerous?
What is dry-scooping?
Dry-scooping is when a person eats a dry scoop of pre-workout powder without diluting it with water.
Pre-workout powders typically contain performance-enhancing ingredients such as caffeine, amino acids, vitamin Bs, creatine and beta-alanine.
The ingredients are often there in high doses and are intended to be diluted by around 200ml of water before being consumed to boost a person’s performance during a workout.
Why are people doing it?
The trend has been around for a while, with Reddit threads about the topic dating back around five years.
People have begun consuming the workout powder in its concentrated, undiluted powder form supposedly to enhance its effects during exercise.
But, some of the ingredients in the powders can be dangerous to consume in such high quantities, if undiluted.
Why is it dangerous?
Some pre-workout powders can contain as much as 500mg of caffeine - approximately over five cups of coffee worth.
They can also contain high levels of other artificial ingredients including sweetener, dyes and emulsifiers. Experts warn the risks of consuming these ingredients in concentrated doses can increase blood pressure.
Victoria Taylor, Heart Health Dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, told The Independent: “Pre-workout supplements often contain more caffeine per serving than a cup of coffee or energy drink, as well as other stimulants.
“Some people are more sensitive to caffeine and can experience palpitations,” she added.
Some people are more sensitive to caffeine and can experience palpitations
According to the NHS, drinking the equivalent of more than four cups of caffeine-rich drinks can increase blood pressure. In addition, there is also the risk of choking on the powder substance.
Doctor and YouTuber, Bernard Hsu, posts educational videos and in April he posted a video about a patient who dry-scooped for a TikTok video and was hospitalised with a brain injury after taking eight scoops. The patient was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious.
Hsu explained: “The combination of huge amounts of caffeine and beta phenylethylamine in eight scoops of pre-workout swallowed all at once, with heavy lifting, all together could have increased [the patient’s] blood pressure so high that it caused his brain to start to stroke in the form of a bleed.”
TikTok has approximately 689 million monthly users and dangerous trends can spread quickly.
