Borax Weight-Loss Trend Shocks Delhi; Students Beware

New Delhi — Heard of the Borax weight-loss trend going around on Instagram and Snapchat lately? If you’re in college or follow the latest “fitness hacks,” you might have seen creators mixing white powders into water with captions promising rapid fat burn. But last week’s tragic death of a 19-year-old girl after ingesting borax has jolted Delhi’s student community, especially in places like North Campus, Lajpat Nagar and Dwarka. Here’s what’s really going on — and why you need to slow down before buying into social media magic pills.

What is the Borax weight-loss trend and why it’s dangerous

The so-called “Borax weight-loss hack” is a troubling new trend where people — mostly teens and college-goers — are ingesting borax, a white chemical cleaner traditionally used for laundry and pest control, because of internet rumors claiming it “detoxifies the body” or “flushes out fat.” This misinformation appears to have gained traction through TikTok-style short videos and pseudo-scientific Instagram reels. Unfortunately, borax (sodium borate) is not food-safe for human consumption. Consuming even small amounts can cause nausea, kidney damage, seizures, and, in worst-case scenarios, death.

FreePressJournal reported that a 19-year-old college girl consumed borax powder as part of this ‘hack’ and died shortly after. While the incident didn’t occur in Delhi, the news has hit close to home in places like DU’s North Campus and coaching hubs such as Mukherjee Nagar, where students are heavily influenced by what they see on their social feeds. Couple that with late-night body-image anxieties, pressure to look a certain way, and no medical guidance? It’s a cocktail recipe for disaster.

Why this matters to Delhi students and locals

In Delhi’s student-heavy neighbourhoods — from Hudson Lane to Rajouri Garden coaching centers — this tragedy has sparked real concern among teachers, parents, and wellness counselors. The buzz on North Campus this week isn’t exam stress but worry over how easily misinformation spreads. “One moment they’re watching K-pop dance workouts, the next it’s someone recommending laundry powder for detox. It’s scary,” said a juice vendor near Kamla Nagar Market, shaking his head.

Offices in Connaught Place and Noida’s Sector 62 have also seen hushed lunchroom chatter: coworkers wondering if their nieces or cousins are falling into similar online traps. Gym trainers in areas like Saket and Dwarka Mor report a rise in young clients asking about fasting powders or “cleansing crystals.” The line between wellness and woo-woo pseudoscience is blurring thanks to viral content and peer pressure, and unfortunately, Delhi’s youth is in the crosshairs.

The past repeateth: Delhi’s long dance with diet fads

This isn’t Delhi’s first brush with bizarre health hacks turning dangerous. In the early 2000s, the GM Diet was all over hostels from JNU to East Delhi PGs. Herbal laxatives and slimming teas were sold in Karol Bagh as though they were panaceas. Even in 2014, a fad called “lemon detox water challenge” swept through gyms in Lajpat Nagar. The common thread? Quick fixes, and social pressure.

What’s changed today is how fast and wide these ideas travel. A reel filmed in some US suburb gets reshared by an influencer near SD College, and the next thing you know, someone in Rohini is adding chemicals to their evening smoothie. The question is no longer “why did they fall for it?” — it’s “who’s stopping the next one?”

What you should do to separate fact from fatal trend

Always cross-check “health hacks” with reliable Indian medical sources like AIIMS or Ministry of Health. A foreign influencer isn’t your nutritionist.
Talk about body image anxieties. Whether you’re in SRCC or prepping in Laxmi Nagar, start conversations — not just diets — with your peers.
Report harmful content: Platforms like Instagram and YouTube let you flag dangerous videos. Use it. That one click might save someone’s life.

📍 Spot Check: Near Patel Chest metro station, chai stalls are abuzz as DU students debate who’s responsible — influencers or platforms. Kamla Nagar’s chemists report no spike in borax sales, but say teens are asking “unusual” questions.

The Final Word

Delhi lives online now — from roaming WiFi near Rajiv Chowk to hostel TikTok binges in GTB Nagar. But filter bubbles can quickly become echo chambers of dangerous half-truths. If you wouldn’t eat dawai powder from under your bathroom sink, why believe anyone telling you to just because they have 50k followers?