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Apparently lettuce has a use other than being eaten in salads and sandwiches, according to a new TikTok trend. Apparently some people swear that lettuce water can help you fall asleep. TikToker, Shalpa Hoque tried the hack out for herself and documented her process. You can watch her video in full here. “So apparently drinking lettuce water makes you sleepy, sis don’t sleep so imma try it out,” she wrote in the clip. Shalpa then ripped up some of the leafy greens and stuffed them into her mug before pouring in some boiling hot water. She mixed her lettuce water with peppermint tea because she was “scared it was going to taste like sh*t.” After leaving it to soak in the water for 10 minutes, she then takes the lettuce out and takes a sip, “it takes like nothing,” Shalpa says. Later she provides an update on how she’s feeling after the drink. “Update, I do feel slight drowsy, not hella sleepy like knockout, but I do feel sleepy.” Cut to some time later, and in another update the drink seems to have affected Shalpa more. “Another update, lettuce has crack because your sis is gone,” she said in bed with her eyes closed. TikTok users seemed to be intrigued by this so-called sleep hack, as the video now has 7.2m views, and over 1.4m likes. However, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine and the director of the Sleep Center of Excellence at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Insider that there is no research to prove that lettuce water helps us fall asleep. However, this has been found to be the case for rats where lettuce has helped them doze off. In a 2017 study, researchers looked at whether low and high doses of red romaine lettuce extract helped mice stay asleep longer. Results show that it worked for the rats, but it’s unclear whether TikTokers were using this particular lettuce to improve their sleep. St-Onge also questioned how effective stewing the lettuce in boiling water would be - even if it was the red romaine TikTokers were using. “How much of those lettuce extracts are you getting from water? I’m not sure,” she said. But those on the app insist they’ve been able to fall asleep quicker from it - so what’s the possible reason for this? This may be caused by the placebo effect, according to St-Onge. It’s when you convince yourself and your body that a treatment is working - even if that is not the case. “If you expect something to work, then you probably feel more sleepy,” St-Onge added. While consuming and getting wrapped up in these bizarre trends, it’s easy to forget the simple steps we can take to improve our sleep that are scientifically proven to work on humans. From reducing our screen time, to reducing light, to mindfulness and physical exercise - soggy lettuce doesn’t seem quite as appealing somehow.

Amy Dowden has admitted that she is “not looking forward” to undergoing a procedure that will leave her with a permanently visible scar. The Strictly Come Dancing star, 32, underwent a single mastectomy to treat stage three breast cancer after she was first diagnosed in May. But last month, she was told she needed chemotherapy after further tumours were discovered following the surgery. In her latest update, the professional dancer shared a hospital selfie taken in the bathroom mirror, which showed her wearing a hospital gown and a face mask. She wrote over the photo: “Really not looking forward to this! Another scar this one only [an] inch long but will always remind me and will always be [visible].” Dowden also shared a series of photos from the procedure, which saw her getting fitted for a port for chemotherapy. Dowden wrote in the caption that she wanted to share her journey as she undergoes the treatment to “hopefully get others checking and for understanding what we go through”. “Wasn’t looking forward to it. Wasn’t easy... My veins! Feeling tender, bruised and sore but the port will help massively over the next few weeks and allow me to dance when I feel well enough,” she continued. “A port sits under the skin and the tube goes along my vein to the heart giving safe access for chemo (I believe. I’m no doctor!).” It comes after Dowden, who also suffers from Crohn’s disease, revealed in an Instagram Live chat with breast cancer survivor and Paralympian Erin Kennedy that “everything changed” for her. “I was originally going to have a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. But then, after my MRI, they found another tumour so then it changed into a mastectomy and then, after my mastectomy, unfortunately, they found even more tumours,” she explained. “They found another type of cancer and then they told me I needed chemo – for me that was a massive blow. It wasn’t in the plan, originally – and I know the plan you can’t get fixated on.” She expressed fears that chemotherapy would stop her from her dance practice, adding: “You can take away my boob but you can’t take my dancing away from me and that’s what I get really upset about.” After her initial breast cancer diagnosis, Dowden was optimistic that she would be able to return to Strictly this year. However, her new treatment means she will not be able to do so in a competitive capacity. “This year, it means I’m not going to be able to dance with a celebrity on Strictly, but I’m in such regular contact with the team – the BBC have just been utterly incredible,” she said. Last week, Dowden made an emotional return to the set of the dance competition to see all her colleagues ahead of her treatment. In an Instagram Story update, she revealed she had surprised her friends on set and said: “I had happy tears to see them all. I got to watch some of the dancing, catch up with them all and hear some exciting plans for this series. I am excited for you guys, it is going to be absolutely brilliant.” Dowden first revealed her diagnosis in hopes it would raise awareness around the disease alongside her existing work on Crohn’s, a lifelong disease that affects parts of the digestive system. In 2020, she fronted a BBC documentary about how her life has been impacted by Crohn’s, titled Strictly Amy: Crohn’s and Me. Dowden is married to her long-term partner Benjamin Jones, who is also a professional dancer. They wed in 2022. Read More A psychic said she’d spoken to my late partner’s spirit – and I didn’t like it Prince Harry’s eco-tourism company quietly announces new board of directors - and he’s not on it Bakery delivers brilliant response to ‘well-known celebrity’ offering ‘exposure’ in return for free cakes Amy Dowden announces absence from Strictly Come Dancing due to chemotherapy Psoriasis Awareness Month: Everything you need to know Mandy Moore opens up about her two-year-old son’s Gianotti-Crosti Syndrome diagnosis

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