Everything You Need To Know About TikTok's Chlorophyll Water Trend
One of the latest viral TikTok trends involves drinking water that has been enhanced with chlorophyll for the purpose of supporting robust health, including beautiful skin. The idea behind this latest trend is that drinking water to which liquid chlorophyll has been added, comprises a rapid and reliable delivery system for the naturally occurring pigment that gives green plants their rich green hue, according to Healthline. A limited body of evidence even suggests it may support robust human health, including a stronger immune system, increased energy, and detoxification that can lead to brighter skin and a more pleasant body odor.
Given that we associate eating dark green vegetables with a number of important health benefits, the idea of supplementing directly with chlorophyll seems, at least on its face, a reasonable enough theory (via USDA). But before you add chlorophyll to your shopping list and prepare to go green in the name of health and beauty, you'll want to read on because here is everything you really need to know about TikTok's chlorophyll water trend.
TIkTok's chlorophyll water trend might not be as beneficial as you think
Consuming chlorophyll water in the name of health and beauty, has been gaining momentum on TikTok since at least as far back as September 2020, per Mel Magazine. But as it turns out, everything you can get from jumping on TikTok's chlorophyll water bandwagon, you can also get from simply eating a cup of spinach, according to registered dietitian, Steph Grasso (via TikTok). If you eat a single cup of raw spinach, Grasso explained that you're consuming as much chlorophyll as you would get from a medicine-dropper filled with chlorophyll. But when you eat a cup of raw spinach, you're also getting all the other nutritional benefits that spinach has to offer, including vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Plus, spinach is actual food.
In fact, it's not even entirely clear to what extent chlorophyll — isolated from the plants in which it is found — offers proven health benefits, according to both Grasso and Healthline. Chlorophyll is used by plants in manufacturing energy through photosynthesis, which is basically the plant version of respiration, according to National Geographic. However, whereas plant respiration involves the absorption of carbon dioxide from the air and the release of oxygen, it is basically the opposite of human respiration, which involves the absorption of oxygen from the air, with the release of carbon dioxide as a byproduct. So, you might want to skip this trend and just eat some spinach instead.