'Lost 4 kg in two days': China's enema-in-tea diet trend sends people to the ER

A dangerous diet trend is spreading across Chinese social media, with influencers claiming to have lost up to 4 kilograms in two days by mixing topical enema solution into tea — a practice that has triggered a wave of emergency hospital visits.

According to the South China Morning Post, the trend involves dissolving glycerin enema solution — a product intended for treating constipation through rectal use — into unsweetened tea and drinking it as a so-called "rapid weight-loss" method.

Videos circulating on Chinese social media show influencers pouring an entire bottle of enema solution into a tea drink and consuming it, then claiming to have shed as much as 4 kilograms in two days. They attributed the weight loss to frequent trips to the bathroom after drinking the mixture.

But some users who tried the method reported serious side effects, including severe abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

One woman told local media that intense stomach cramps began about 30 minutes after she drank the mixture. "I tried to push through by drinking warm water, but the diarrhea and vomiting went on for hours," she said. "I ended up going to the emergency room."

Experts say the apparent weight loss is not the result of burning fat but rather a rapid expulsion of intestinal contents and bodily fluids, producing only a temporary drop on the scale.

A major hospital in Henan Province said earlier this month on social media that it had been seeing a notable number of patients linked to the trend, and urged the public not to blindly follow unverified diet methods.

"Glycerin enema solution is for external use only and must not be ingested," the hospital said, adding that there is no evidence it promotes weight loss even when mixed with tea.

Sun Hailan, a nutritionist at Chongqing Women and Children's Hospital, warned that oral ingestion of glycerin enema solution can cause electrolyte imbalances and irritate the intestinal lining, potentially causing serious harm to the digestive system.

Meanwhile, a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Nutrition found that commercially available diet teas and detox teas lack scientific evidence supporting weight-loss claims and have been associated with a range of adverse effects, including dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, cardiovascular irregularities and liver damage.