A dangerous weight loss trend circulating on Chinese social media has prompted doctors to warn people not to try it after hospitals reported treating several emergency cases. According to the South China Morning Post, the viral method claims people can lose up to 4kg in just two days by drinking a mixture of sugar-free tea and a glycerin enema, a medicine that is meant only for external use to relieve constipation.
Videos shared online show influencers squeezing the contents of a glycerin enema into bottles of sugar-free tea before drinking the mixture. Many users claimed the frequent trips to the toilet helped them lose weight quickly. However, doctors say the apparent weight loss is caused by severe dehydration and bowel emptying rather than fat loss, according to the South China Morning Post.
One woman, identified only by her surname Ma, said she tried the drink after seeing it online. She said it tasted slightly sweet, but within 30 minutes she began feeling unwell. She tried drinking warm water to ease the discomfort, but later developed repeated diarrhoea and vomiting.
“I went to the toilet once an hour. I could not sleep for the whole night,” she said.
A major hospital in central Henan province said earlier this month that it had received several emergency patients who became ill after trying the slimming method.
Doctors explained that sugar-free tea contains ingredients such as theophylline, polyphenols and tannic acid, which can already trigger diarrhoea and stomach pain in people with sensitive digestive systems. Mixing the drink with a glycerin enema greatly increases its laxative effect, putting extra stress on the digestive system.
The hospital stressed that glycerin enemas are for external use only and should never be swallowed. It also said there is no scientific evidence that drinking the mixture helps people lose body fat.
Nutritionist Sun Hailan from Chongqing Women’s and Children’s Hospital warned that swallowing a glycerin enema could damage the digestive tract, upset the body’s electrolyte balance and injure the intestinal lining.
She said any weight lost after drinking the mixture is mainly water and waste, not body fat. Once the body is rehydrated, the lost weight quickly returns.
China has seen several cases of people harming themselves by following extreme weight loss methods. Earlier, a 25-year-old woman in Zhejiang province developed acute pancreatitis after following a diet in which she binged once a week and ate very little for the remaining six days.
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