The Claim

Social media has been flooded with videos of people claiming they want to catch cyclosporiasis to lose weight. Most of them — like Emerald’s and Dee Trine’s — are clearly satirical, and it’s hard to find anyone openly advocating for a cyclospora diet. But that doesn’t mean the claims, even said in jest, are harmless, gastroenterologist Rajiv Bhuta, MD, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, told Medscape Medical News.

“Unfortunately, this kind of ‘gallows’ humor is common, but there are plenty of people who will miss the joke,” Bhuta said. “Furthermore, as anyone who has experienced gastrointestinal illness knows, it is a special kind of misery. And these illnesses can be dangerous to the point of life-threatening due to electrolyte imbalances that can cause cardiac arrhythmias.”

The Drivers

TikTok creators draw views to their satirical cyclospora reels with statements like:

• “You’ve heard cyclospora makes you skinny, and summer is here.”
• “Do any of these [heads of lettuce] look good? I need to be skinny by yesterday.”
• “I can’t afford the GLP-1s.”

Even with the humorous spin, it’s clear that summertime and the desire for affordable, rapid weight loss are potentially strong motivators.

What People Are Saying

Experts have shared their concerns in media coverage.

Whitney Trotter, CEO of Project Heal, a nonprofit providing treatment to individuals with eating disorders, says in a CNN article that the online comments “contribute to a culture that minimizes both eating disorders and the seriousness of infectious diseases.”

Some TikTok users or influencers are also pushing back against the jokes.

For example, Jade doesn’t think it’s funny and warns her followers “a lot of people will get ideas and they’re very competitive…Fatphobia and body fascism is back.”

Others are candid about their own experiences with cyclosporiasis, letting users know it’s something they want to avoid.

The Bottom Line

“Any ‘weight loss’ due to cyclosporiasis is completely temporary, mostly consisting of water weight,” Bhuta affirmed. “Once recovered, the body will quickly ‘regain’ what was lost.”

“These dangerous quick fixes seem pointless because we have so many effective and safe methods of weight loss,” he said.

Patients need to be reminded that “real weight loss requires a long-term commitment to diet and exercise, even with the use of weight-loss aids like a GLP-1,” Bhuta added.

Bhuta declared no relevant conflicts of interest.

Marilynn Larkin, MA, is an award-winning medical writer and editor based in New York City whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Medscape Medical News and its sister publication MDedge, The Lancet (where she was a contributing editor), and Reuters Health.