Why TikTok’s viral Nutmeg Challenge is actually dangerous

As one of the net’s most popular video platforms, TikTok boasts a huge userbase and a slew of viral dance challenges — but some of these challenges can be dangerous for unsuspecting participants.

Although TikTok is most famous for its dance videos, which users try to recreate in all manner of ways to capitalize off of ever-emerging trends, some challenges on the app are tasking creators with more than busting a move.

In fact, a recently-emerging trend on the application is raising some eyebrows, popularly dubbed the “Nutmeg Challenge.”

This trend tasks users with mixing the spice in water, generally 3-4 tablespoons, and has been reported by TikTokkers to have “trippy” effects, with many users reporting hallucinations and the feeling of being “high.”

As it turns out, copious amounts of nutmeg can induce these symptoms, causing “tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, agitation, and hallucinations,” as reported by a study from The Netherlands Journal of Medicine.

Despite having been a popular drug choice from as far back as the Crusades and even the 70’s hippie movement, consuming too much of the spice can be dangerous, with reports stating that the chemical myristicin found in nutmeg can even cause organ failure.

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Nutmeg overdose has also been linked to death when taken with other drug combinations, with just 2 teaspoons of the spice being enough to induce myristicin’s hallucinogenic effects, as reported by studies from the Illinois Poison Center.

This isn’t the first dangerous trend to have made a home for itself on TikTok, either, with “the outlet challenge” also gaining popularity in the past, requiring users to drop quarters onto exposed prongs of a charger halfway plugged into a wall outlet.

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With other internet-wide challenges also taking hold of the public consciousness, like the Tide Pod challenge or the Birdbox Challenge, it comes as little surprise that the most recent Nutmeg Challenge has also become popular in light of current world events cooping everyone up inside.

Considering its potentially deadly effects, it’s just not a good idea to “trip” on nutmeg — no matter how bored you are at home.