Recently, plum juice, which has been regarded as a "weight loss tool" by many netizens, has been frequently controversial. Why does plum juice become a "popular beverage" on the internet? Is it advisable to lose weight by having diarrhea?
Young people's unspoken secrets have made plum juice extremely popular
In the past two years, the fruit of Ximei has become popular in the beverage market, partly because it has captured the unspoken secret of contemporary young people - constipation. Search for "Chuan Xi" on Xiaohongshu, with over 30000 notes. More than 15000 people from the Douban Group's defecation health research base also gathered together to discuss.
According to the consensus of experts on chronic constipation in China (2019) released by the Gastrointestinal Dynamics Group of the Gastroenterology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the incidence rate of chronic constipation in adults in China is 4% to 10%. That is to say, about 50 million adults in China are suffering from constipation.
Regarding the effect of plum juice on relieving constipation, science popularization writer and PhD in Biology and Food Engineering, Yun Wuxin, once explained in an article that plum can have a laxative and even diarrhea effect, which actually comes from the natural ingredients contained in dietary fiber, fructose, and sorbitol. But the content is closely related to the variety, place of origin, and even growth conditions. For example, the key ingredient in defecation, sorbitol, is only about 1% in low content prunes, and can exceed 5% in high content ones. Correspondingly, there is high uncertainty about how much sorbitol a batch of plum juice and dried plums contains.
In addition, the tolerance of the human body to sorbitol varies greatly. Some people may start spraying after eating 10 grams, while others may not feel anything after eating 30 grams or more. So, the laxative effect of Ximei varies from person to person.
"Internet celebrity plum juice" was named "do not purchase" by the General Administration of Customs
On February 26th, the General Administration of Customs issued a statement stating that after verification, JERRY&SONS PHARMACEUTICAL INC, a US beverage manufacturer registered in China with the registration number CUSA24092203180057, provided false materials when applying for registration. The General Administration of Customs has revoked the registration qualification of the enterprise in China in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Registration of Overseas Production Enterprises for Imported Food. The customs did not find any product declaration records of the above-mentioned enterprises.
Customs remind consumers not to purchase beverage products from the US company, including TiQ Prune Juice. If you have obtained the beverage products from this company, please stop consuming them and contact the original channel for return.
Previously, the brand had entered top e-commerce live streaming rooms such as Dongfang Zhenxuan and Crazy Xiaoyangge for sales. On January 18th of this year, Wang Hai, a well-known copycat, posted on Weibo that Dongfang Zhenxuan was selling a product called "TiQ Tianchi Ximei Juice", which was found to contain laxative ingredients, namely cathartic glycoside A and cathartic glycoside B.
On February 27th, the customer service of Dongfang Zhenxuan replied that the product was a product of external chain cooperative merchants and had been reported to relevant departments for processing. The investigation process is currently being initiated. If you are worried about buying the product, you can support returns and refunds. Whether you will continue to sell in the future depends on the choice made by the product selection department.
Relying on diarrhea to lose weight is not advisable
In addition to convenience, many businesses directly use plum juice as a weight loss tool for marketing. Marketing slogans such as "losing 20 pounds by drinking 4 boxes", "savior of a big meal", and "divine tool for dispelling thinness" have appeared on major e-commerce pages and live streaming rooms selling plum juice.
But in fact, relying on diarrhea to lose weight is not advisable in itself. For normal individuals, frequent diarrhea not only leads to impaired gastrointestinal function, but also negative health issues such as electrolyte imbalance and decreased blood potassium concentration.
In addition, in recent years, including the aforementioned Tianchi Ximei juice, market regulatory authorities have investigated and dealt with multiple cases of illegal addition of cathartic A and cathartic B in foods claiming to "lose weight" or "defecate". It should be noted that if cathartic A and B are taken for a long time, the colon will gradually darken and constipation will become more severe. Colon darkening may also increase the risk of colon cancer.
Zhongxin Health has learned that senna glycoside A and senna glycoside B are the main ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine senna leaves with laxative pharmacological effects. Adding senna glycoside to food can easily lead to drug dependence among consumers. Article 38 of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that drugs shall not be added to food produced and operated.
Previously, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a document stating that the use of non edible substances such as drugs in the production of food has been one of the illegal activities that market regulatory authorities continue to crack down on severely. This type of illegal behavior has a trend of increasing concealment and constantly updating the illegal addition of substances. Market regulatory authorities will continue to increase their crackdown and severely punish the illegal addition of drugs and non edible substances in food, as well as severely punish illegal criminals.
