A disturbing sex trend is making its way across college campuses nationwide and doctors are concerned.
Healthy students are increasingly turning to honey packets to increase their stamina in the bedroom. But this is not the kind of honey from a jar.
The controversial supplements are marketed for sexual enhancement and claim to contain ‘natural ingredients’, but have been found to contain hidden drugs.
The honey packets appear to contain the same ingredients used in Cialis and Viagra, both FDA-approved prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction.
They can cause a dangerous spike in blood pressure, vision changes, chest pain and even a heart attack.
The supplements themselves are not new. The FDA has been warning about several brands for years, including Royal Honey, Helmi’s Honey VIP and Honey Girl. But thanks to TikTok, they’ve enjoyed a wave of newfound fame.
A video featuring Arizona State University students gushing over honey packets, has been viewed more than 440 million times on the social media site. A young man says he guzzles several packs a night.
The pocket-sized bags are a gamble, health experts warn, because no one can say exactly what’s inside.
Doctors Warn About Dangerous New Sex Trend Making Its Way Through College Campuses (Stock)
Royal Honey VIP (pictured) is among brands warned by the FDA for illegally containing controlled substances
Some of the packages the FDA reprimanded contained the main ingredient Cialis, while others contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in the FDA-approved prescription drug Viagra.
Honey packets, which would qualify as dietary supplements, do not fall under the FDA’s regulatory authority, meaning the agency did not review the contents and formula before stores began stocking them.
Dr. Jesse Mills, clinical professor of health sciences and director of the Men’s Clinic at the University of California, Los Angeles, said USA today: ‘It’s crazy. You can go to any liquor store and truck stop and buy a packet of honey, and you have no idea what’s in it.”
The Wild West-like landscape of supplement regulation allows unscrupulous actors to introduce snake oil at best and pose a public health threat at worst.
Dr. Peter Leone, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said, “I just think it’s an unnecessary thing to do.”
“I’m all about people having good sex and sexual pleasure, but I prefer safer ways to do that.”
Mixing the ingredients with alcohol – for example at a student party – is particularly risky.
Dr. Leone added: ‘I would worry about children dropping their blood pressure, having problems with fainting or getting dizzy.’
In general, middle-aged men don’t need ED medications, a point several commentators on the ASU campus video emphasized.
The ASU student in the white sweatshirt said he gets three or four packets of honey every night
One said: ‘A student taking a packet of honey is not flex, I would be ashamed to admit that.’
Another said: ‘I feel sorry for the single young ladies out there…more than usual. Why do these men brag about having ED?’
And a third said: ‘If you take honey packets regularly in your 20s you will end up on Viagra in your mid 30s. just a fyi.’
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Erectile dysfunction can occur at any age, but is more common in older men. About five percent of men in their 20s have been diagnosed with ED, but many more men use medications to increase their sexual stamina.
Doctors concerned about the honey bag trend point to hookup culture as a breeding ground for sexual performance anxiety.
Dr. Mills said, “They don’t think about sexual dysfunction.
“They think about how can I perform, how can I be better than I was or better than other partners this person has had, and it’s more of an internal competition. It has nothing to do with their erectile dysfunction.’