How can it be that a seemingly innocent kitchen ingredient, could lead to injury and death? All across the world adults and children are doing what is called the Cinnamon Challenge. The Challenge consists of someone being dared to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon without drinking any type of liquids in 60 seconds.
This dare is getting largely popular because of Internet videos. The game was invented in 2000, but took of in 2011-2012. There are more than 30,000 videos tagged with The Cinnamon Challenge. Now, what makes cinnamon so harmful and why do people participate anyway?
Cinnamon is dangerous because it drys out the mouth so quickly and makes the eater unable to swallow. It restrains the salvitory glands from working. This leads to choking, vomiting, coughing out cinnamon, and sometimes death. People with breathing conditions are even more likely to be affected. You can risk accidentally breathing some into your lungs and getting pneumonia. The coumarin in some cinnamon can harm your liver and increase the risk of bleeding.
So here's the big question. Why? Why would people do this? People do it to look cool. They do it for the publicity and the rights to say they tried it. I have been looking through videos of people trying it and it looks dreadful. They all warn others not to try it because is burns and some people threw up. The videos that are posted are the lucky people. They didn't get hurt or die.
Why would you risk ending your life over trying to be cool and a spoonful of spices? I see no reason. I will never try it. I recommend that you don't either. If you did and came out uninjured you're lucky. I watched a couple of videos and immediately the people spit it out. I also watched Glozell's video. She tried a whole ladle of cinnamon because she didn't know what was going to happen. It was not pretty. So yeah, I recommend not to try. If you do, have water nearby, and a phone just in case you need to dial 911.
Author's Note: Sources: People's Pharmacy, Injury Board
