Doctors Warn Against New 'Sleepy Chicken' Trend

While TikTok has taught us a lot over the last few months (it’s been our go-to for trying handy life hacks), there’s one recipe from the app that we will absolutely not be trying.

Numerous people have taken to posting ‘Sleepy Chicken’ on the video sharing app.

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Sleepy chicken, which is apparently designed to help “aid” cold and flu symptoms, involves marinating chicken breast in NyQuil or another, similar cold and flu medicine.

Each recipe posted on the video sharing platform differs, but the recipe often involves boiling the medicine drenched chicken for around 30 minutes.

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But not only will this recipe lightly result in ruining your chicken, it can give you food poisoning – and even land you in hospital.

For a start, you should not be taking medicine in any other way than how it’s recommended on the label, says Hussain Abdeh, superintendent pharmacist at Medicine Direct.

“You should not cook chicken or any other type of food in Nyquil or any other medicine,” he told Tyla.

“Cooking chicken in NyQuil will not provide you with any medicinal benefit and could also be dangerous.”

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Hussain adds that by boiling remedies like NyQuil, you make them far more concentrated compared to their normal state – which can make it dangerously potent.

“Essentially, if you cook chicken or another food in NyQuil, you would be ingesting far more than the recommended amount of medicine,” he explains. “This could be dangerous to do even once, but if you do it repeatedly, it is likely to give you food poisoning symptoms.

“By boiling away the water and alcohol, you would basically be drinking several times the recommended amount of medicine. This would be the same as swigging from the bottle of NyQuil rather than taking a measured dose. It is not advisable to consume NyQuil or any other medicine like this.” 

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If you do feel yourself become unwell with cold and flu, there are more effective (and less potentially life threatening) ways to treat your symptoms.

“The most obvious way to treat colds and flu symptoms effectively is to take your medicine as you are instructed to. You can buy over-the-counter cold and flu medicines that are effective at relieving your symptoms, and these should be taken in the conventional manner, in line with your pharmacist’s instructions,” Hussain explains.

“Adding some root ginger to hot water can often effectively soothe sore throats and aid with congestion. It may also be able to limit feelings of nausea if this is also bothering you at the same time.

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“Getting enough vitamin C is also vital for staving off cold and flu symptoms. Eating fresh oranges or drinking plenty of orange juice, or instance, will help to boost your immune system and support a speedy recovery. Vitamin C can also be found in leafy greens like spinach or kale.”

Topics: Health, Food and Drink