Hydrogen peroxide is most often used to treat cuts — you've probably poured some on a cotton swab to clean away dirt and bacteria from scrapes. It's also an active ingredient in detergent, and can be used to bleach your hair. Strangely, it's currently being used by some to treat headaches, allergies, and even Alzheimer's, something doctors urge you NOT to do.
Videos floating around social media promote drinking the liquid for these ailments, and recommend a type 10 times stronger than the three percent version most commonly found on store shelves, CBS reports. But according to doctors, ingesting hydrogen peroxide can lead to confusion, strokes, heart attacks, and clots in your lungs.
"Hydrogen peroxide, even a small amount just enough to take a sip, can release hundreds of millimeters or liters of oxygen in the human body," a doctor told CBS. "If you were to ingest hydrogen peroxide, that air can get into the blood vessels and gravity rises it to the top, can go to your brain, heart or the lungs."
According to the CDC, ingesting hydrogen peroxide can also lead to mild to severe gastrointestinal effects. Regardless of what YouTubers may say, it's best to sit this trend out and leave the liquid in the medicine cabinet.
Follow Delish on Instagram.
