News: Is this new celeb health trend dangerous?

Most celebs are in amazing shape, but that doesn’t mean we should follow their advice‘especially when it comes to our health.

In fact, some of the health decisions they make can be downright dangerous.

The latest trend, receiving vitamins through an intravenous drip, may sound harmless (it is vitamins, after all) but it can actually cause bruising, infection, vein inflammation and (in rare cases) sudden cardiac death.

Celebs like Rihanna, who tweeted a picture of an ‘IV vitamin drip’ in her arm last month, don’t seem to be heeding warnings from professionals.

"We are ‘designed’ to get nutrients through our GI tract; and absent a clear and compelling reason to do otherwise, that is how we should get them," Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine told MSNBC. In other words, the best way to get vitamins is through your diet or an oral supplement.

So why are people injecting them?

According to CTV, people use it as a preventive measure against aging, or to improve performance at sports, or to create a greater sense of well being.

Personally, I think if you’re living a healthy, active lifestyle you shouldn’t need an injection to feel good. However, there are cases in which getting IV vitamins make sense.

A study in the Canadian Medical Journal showed that high-dose vitamin C, given by intravenous and oral routes, may improve symptoms and prolong life in patients with terminal cancer.

While I do think it’s important to make sure I’m getting the vitamins I need, doing it through an IV seems extreme’and not nearly as delicious or comforting as a home-cooked meal. That said, if I were sick, and it could improve my quality of life, I wouldn’t hesitate to get a dose.

What do you think? Would you take a mega-dose of vitamins?

-Katharine Watts, Associate Web Editor

Related:
‘ 15 foods rich in vitamin C
‘ 3 celebrity workouts you can do at home
‘ The shocking secrets behind celebrity fitness