Eating cotton balls to refrain from gaining wait is getting popular amongst teen; however, the cotton ball diet can prove deadly.
Several videos are also available on YouTube which show teens swallowing a few cotton balls dipped in a juice or a smoothie in order to feel full without gaining weight. Dieticians say the cotton balls expand in the stomach and people will feel full without intake of any more food.
Doctors, however, said the cotton ball diet can be very dangerous and may cause malnutrition, poses choking hazard, bezoars, and more.
The best known causes of bezoars are supposed to be swallowing indigestible matter such as hair or too much vegetable fiber. Cotton balls are also expected to generate similar problems. Over time, cotton balls in the stomach may create blockages or a full obstruction in a person's digestive system, which can be life threatening.
"You're really kind of playing russian roulette when you use these types of diets," said Jennifer Lombardi, a treatment professional at the Eating Recovery Center of California. "The biggest concern is it can cause a blockage in the digestive system, and if that happens to a certain extent, they are going to end up in surgery. Just like with any extreme diet, it is very dangerous because you're depleting your body of needed nutrients."
Eating cotton balls may not come as a surprise to many as models, who are expected to have a slim and svelte figure, have been suspected of trying this diet for many years.
According to Lynn Grefe, president and CEO of the National Eating Disorder Association, eating cotton balls is not any form of diet, but an eating disorder.
"When we talk about something like this we certainly aren't talking about health anymore," said Grefe. "We're talking about weight and size and certainly something that is potentially very, very dangerous."
Conclusion? Cotton candy is fine, cotton ball is not.
