In the world of social media, almost every other day new health fads, diet plans and fitness challenges are shared that are propagated as fun, interesting or new. Such fads get more popularised when social media influencers promote them among their millions of followers with gusto and confidence. But what people (influencers and followers) don’t take into account, are the risk factors. 

Take for example Michelle Fairburn, a Toronto-based real estate agent and mother, who had to seek medical help taking a Tik-tok challenge called The 75 Hard Challenge. This infamous challenge requires a person to follow a strict diet (no cheat meals), work out rigorously twice a day, drink roughly four litres of water daily, read 10 pages of a non-fiction book and take a progress photo every day.