What is the ‘internal shower’ drink? Health benefits of viral TikTok trend and how it can keep you regular
- Experts review the chia seed and lemon water drink promoted by celebrity nutritionist Daryl Gioffre, including whether it really can help with bowel movements
- The simple concoction has actually long been used by a Mexican tribe whose members have a reputation for being great long-distance runners
A chia seed “internal shower”, a health hack that its promoter Daryl Gioffre dubs a “constipation reliever shot” that will clean out your gut, has gone viral.
Gioffre, a celebrity nutritionist and author of Get Off Your Sugar and Get Off Your Acid, spoke about this remedy on a podcast in May, saying he had tried it himself after suffering from serious stomach problems.
The internal shower is simply a glass of water into which two tablespoons of chia seeds and a squeeze of lemon are added. “Let it sit for five minutes so that the seeds expand in size and then have it on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning,” Gioffre says, referring to it as a means to achieve natural elimination.
TikTok videos of the trend with the hashtag #internalshower have garnered more than 228 million views. Some TikTok users called the formula “chunky” or “weird”, while others claimed it felt like “it’s cleaning you from the inside”. Some felt it subdued their hunger pangs and also reduced their bloating.
Chia seeds come from a type of mint plant called the Salvia hispanica and are considered a superfood. They were first discovered by the Aztecs and the Mayans – the word “chia” in the Mayan language meant “strength”. Chia seeds were a primary ingredient in Aztec medicine and used in multiple ways, from relieving joint pain to soothing irritated skin.