We’ve all been guilty of going to some extremes for our health (colonics, anyone?), even if the methods weren't actually proven to improve it. But nothing compares to some of these wacky—and seriously vom-worthy—health trends. Have you tried any of them? Please don't ever let us know what it was like.
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#1 EATING YOUR PLACENTA
Thank goodness this one has been debunked. Recent research has not been able to prove that noshing on your own placenta post-delivery actually helps prevent postpartum depression or boosts your immune system. The trend caught on when celebs like Kourtney Kardashian and January Jones swore by it, but there's simply no good reason to follow their leadespecially if the idea makes you nauseous.
#2 SPITTING OUT EACH BITE OF FOOD
Known as "The Great Masticator," San Francisco art dealer Horace Fletcher (read: not a doctor) popularized the trend of chewing your food and spitting it out in the early 1900s. After 32 chomps of each bite, Fletcher would spit out his meal, believing that whatever nutrients you needed your bod would absorb beforehand. Obviously untrueand pretty yucky (plus, where did he put his chewed food?).
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#3 DRINKING ANIMAL HOOVES AND HIDES
In the 1970s, the Prolinn diet became popular. Created by an M.D., it advocated eating nothing at all save for a "miracle liquid." And you know what that drink was made of? Nothing but ground animal horns, hooves, hides, and other slaughterhouse byproducts that had been treated with artificial flavors. We'll pass.
#4 CHOWING DOWN ON PARASITES
This one is scary because it's current. According to the Daily Mail, young women in China are resorting to eating roundworm eggs in order to look thin. Roundworms are parasites, so when their eggs hatch in your stomach they leech your nutrients, which, yes, leads to major weight loss but also major health concerns.
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#5 LETTING LEECHES SUCK YOUR BLOOD
The practice of using these little bloodsuckers to treat a whole host of ailments from fevers to farts actually still has a place in modern medicine (the FDA even approved the use of leeches for medicinal purposes in 2004). The saliva from these spineless worms prevents blood from clotting, making it useful to keep oxygenated blood flowing to an area in surgeries that involve vein reattachment. Who knew? Not so medieval after all.
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#6 SIPPING MICE WINE
Traditionally, baby mice wine has been used as a hot "health tonic" in Korea. The pickled mice juice claims to heal all your ailments, but we think we'll stick to Chardonnay.
