Share:
Leave it to the internet to turn a public health emergency into a weight loss hack
While public health officials scrambled to trace the source of a fast-moving Cyclospora outbreak—1,645 confirmed cases across 34 states since May 1, with 141 hospitalizations, according to the CDC—a corner of TikTok spotted an opportunity. The parasite, which causes watery and explosive diarrhea, cramping, bloating, nausea, and fatigue, was repackaged almost immediately as a weight loss strategy. Hashtags like “the diarrhea diet” and “Cyclospora skinny” started circulating on SkinnyTok, the social media subculture that TikTok already banned once—and which simply rebuilt itself under new hashtags and coded language after the crackdown.
Videos by VICE
One Boston-based content creator, Francesca, posted a video of herself mixing a veggie-heavy salad and scarfing it down for 2.2 million viewers. “Me when I heard people are losing 15 to 20 pounds from the parasite,” she said. “Summer isn’t over yet.” The post was labeled satire. Others were less coy. “Risking it all for the cyclospora because I simply cannot be bothered to change my diet,” a Texas creator named Madi captioned a clip of herself prepping raw vegetables. A woman named Elizabeth danced in celebration of her bikini-ready body with the caption: “When you got that cyclosporiasis so you’re skinny for the summer.”
everyone mind your business summer isnt over yet #satire#cyclospora#parasiteoutbreak
People on TikTok Are Calling Cyclospora a Weight Loss Hack, and Experts Are Horrified
Journalist and community organizer @blackbeltbabe had a different read on all of it. “Cyclospora will make you shitty, not skinny,” she said flatly, before walking through what the infection actually does to a person’s body. No one glamorizing it, she pointed out, will be flaunting anything on a beach—because they’ll be in a hospital. She also took direct aim at the “Ozempic in a can” framing circulating online, and noted that the people who should be tracking outbreaks like this one are no longer in those roles, a consequence of cuts made by the Trump administration. She was straight up with her closing ask: “Please, please listen to the infectious disease experts.”
The science has her back on the weight loss part. Registered dietitian Bonnie Roney addressed the trend on TikTok, explaining that whatever the scale shows during a Cyclospora infection is almost entirely water. “Once diarrhea resolves, which you want it to, that weight is likely to come back,” she said, adding that a foodborne illness can do lasting damage to gut health—and to a person’s relationship with food. Without treatment, symptoms can follow a relapsing course lasting anywhere from days to a month or longer, with complications that include malabsorption and reactive arthritis.
TikTok banned #SkinnyTok under pressure from European regulators in mid-2025. Creators regrouped within weeks. A public health crisis was always going to find an audience there. It usually does
Thank for your puchase!
You have successfully purchased.
×
