‘I ended up in the hospital’: Woman says she burned her esophagus following wellness influencer’s recipe
A TikToker is sharing her experiences after a wellness content creator's digestive health recipe reportedly landed her in the hospital with a burned esophagus.
In a video with over 2.5 million views, Lutinii (@lutinii) breaks down how the strange recipe landed her in the emergency room.
"Y'all better be careful about listening to those 'health and wellness' influencers," Lutinii begins. "Otherwise, you might just end up in the hospital like I did."
Lutinii, who had been following the "well-known health and wellness creator" for six years, says the creator was "in the process of healing her body from a chronic illness," a situation Lutinii resonated with.
"I started leaning into her content and listening to some of her tips," Lutinii says.
Then came the fateful day when Lutinii came across a video with a particularly interesting recipe from the unnamed influencer.
"I stumbled across one of her videos talking about how you could help your digestion by coating an orange with cinnamon and cayenne pepper and eating it, peel and all," Lutinii explains.
Aside from the concoction being "absolutely not pleasant going down," Lutinii says it made her so sick that she ended up in the hospital.
The results were worse than just an upset stomach, however.
"I had to see a specialist. I got an endoscopy, and it turns out that I did, in fact, burn my esophagus," Lutinii says as the text, "I suffered for MONTHS," flashes across the screen of the video.
Lutinii says her medical nightmare was a few years ago, but she recalls seeing the creator repost the video recently. "It just makes me upset because there are now [millions] of people looking to her for information," she says.
"I'm not saying that the holistic route is not the way to go for most cases … but it is not one size fits all. Everyone has different bodies, genetics, and health histories," Lutinii shares.
As the video ends, Lutinii reminds viewers to be cautious and responsible when trying out hacks they see from influencers online.
"While I do think it's the content creator's responsibility to be mindful, I think we have even more responsibility to discern and take everything we see with a grain of salt," she says.
She concludes with one final declaration: "That is the last time I will listen to a health and wellness influencer."
@lutinii A reminder not to believe everything you see on the internet in any and every case. Just because someone has a large following does not make them equipped to give advice to on anything. No one body is the same and there is no one size fits all!!!! Be careful out there #chronicillness #storytime #healthandwellness
♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
Who is she talking about?
While Lutinii conceals the name of the influencer whose recipe she followed, viewers quickly identified Lilsipper (@lilsipper_official), a popular health and wellness content creator whose videos include holistic recipes and hacks that focus on improving digestive health, as the likely influencer.
In May of 2022, Lilsipper shared a video with a recipe that promised constipation relief "in about five minutes": A navel orange generously coated with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, eaten with the peel.
The comments on that video are full of viewers referencing Lutinii's medical scare.
"Coming from the video of the person who was hospitalized," one viewer wrote.
"Do you cover the ER costs from doing this?" another quipped.
@lilsipper_official just posted a full description on my IG ???????? #constipated #constipationrelief #constipation
♬ original sound - Lilsipper
Can the hack be helpful?
While Lilsupper's recipe proved disastrous for Lutinii, its ingredients—oranges, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon—individually have quite a few benefits for digestive health.
According to registered dietitian Alexis Supan in an article for Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, cayenne pepper is "really helpful" for digestion.
"It increases gastric juices and enzyme production in the stomach, which helps us break down food," Supan says.
Navel oranges, which are full of vitamin C and fiber, also help with digestion, among a slew of other health benefits. According to Healthline, one orange provides 10 percent of our daily fiber needs.
Cinnamon has digestion benefits as well. BBC Good Food says the spice has prebiotic properties that, with regular consumption, may help "restore the balance of bacteria in the gut, support digestive health and alleviate digestive issues."
Commenters on Lutinii's video were incensed by what some deemed the irresponsibility of health and wellness content creators in promoting potentially unsafe recipes. They also cautioned consumers to be cautious.
"I will never understand why people listen to random strangers online about their health. I trust no one!" one viewer wrote.
"Our parents would tell us not to believe everything on TV. Now it's the internet," came another response.
"People need to trust professionals, we need to look to dietitians and not influencers for diet and nutrition advice. Glad you're okay!" a third commenter offered.
With the number of health and wellness influencers increasing and new get-well-quick recipes popping up every day, what remains essential is that viewers practice critical consumption to protect themselves.
As one comment put it, "This is a great reminder for everyone to do their own research!"
The Daily Dot has reached out to Lutinii and Lilsipper via TikTok and Instagram direct messages for more information.
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