Why “No Nut November” Is Not A Novel Notion…

The past decade or two have unsurprisingly (given the state of the world) yielded some really strange social trends. Anyone with a modicum of common sense usually looks at these so-called “challenges” and wonders if it’s truly time to lie back and give up on the society.

If we look back as far as 2001, they came out with something called “The Cinnamon Challenge”. This ludicrous trend, which began pre-YouTube, involved the swallowing of a tablespoon of dry cinnamon powder, without the help of liquid. The big problem with this challenge isn’t just the difficulty, but the damage it could cause to your lungs through gagging, asthma attacks and choking. Not to mention that cinnamon contains an chemical similar to formaldehyde and is basically composed of ground up tree bark. So THAT’S what your possibly inhaling. It gained further steam for a while in 2006 when it finally hit YouTube and people started posting it.

Fast forward to more than a decade later, and they came out with something called “The Tide Pod Challenge”. Just to clarify, when I say “they”, I mean a generation of people who don’t seem to have anything better to do and don’t seem to understand the value in picking up a good book or getting a workout in. But I digress…

The Tide Pod Challenge simply involved putting one of the laundry detergent pods in your mouth and chewing on it. Yes, you read that right: LAUNDRY DETERGENT PODS!!! Friends would film you doing it, and possibly get some laughs as spit out soap bubbles and such. The problem, besides being stupid enough to put one in your mouth, is that some people would end up swallowing them, intentionally or accidentally. Considering these bad boys are made of laundry detergent, they’re caustic, toxic and can wreak havoc on your lungs and digestive system. And that’s just a start.

Sometime after Tide Pods were no longer the flavour of the week (see what I did there?), they came out with “The Condom Snorting Challenge”, which involved sticking a condom in your nostril while plugging the other one, inhaling it into your nasal cavities and reaching into your mouth to pull it out of your throat. Considering most people have difficulties using condoms the way they were intended, I can’t imagine why they think THIS is a good idea… The problem is that the condom can become trapped, block off breathing passages, be inhaled into the lungs and cause infections, sepsis and a score of other medical complications.

Really, internet? Most sources agree that the big problem behind all these “trends” is that they’re dare-based and today’s society thrives on how many likes, views and clicks one can get. Some people even make an income through their use of social media, so it’s not surprising that some of this happens. Although I can’t help but feel that this is Darwinism hard at work…

Now, on to my colourful title. Given that the month of November is almost done, I’l cover this one off. Many people have chosen to participate in a challenge called “No Nut November.” It’s pretty straight-forward: it’s simply going without ejaculating for the entire month of November. Although this seems like a pretty benign challenge and we can all agree that having some restraint is good, there are some dark aspects to this one as well.

First of all, there has been no scientific or medical evidence that shows that “going without” for a month has any measurable benefits for the body whatsoever. The opposite however, is that it can improve sleep quality, lower risk of prostate cancer and heart disease in men and can also boost the immune system. Fatherly.com has a good article that outlines all of this: https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/no-nut-november-is-bad-for-men/

But No Nut November can cause certain anxiety and stress issues, cause strife and difficulty in relationships and remember that preventing prostate cancer thing? You lose that benefit if you lose your happy ending…

I focused on this last social trend because it provided me with an entertaining title for today’s post, but the truth of the matter is that due to the popularity of online dares and challenges, we’ve likely not seen the last of this sort of thing.

Folks, pick up a book, go for a walk, spend time with friends or family… Any of those things will provide a much more fulfilling life and provide you with more benefit than getting a heavy number of views for possibly harming yourself online for the sake of some likes! I can’t change the world, but I can guarantee there may be a special school of the military sort waiting for either of my sons, should I ever hear they snorted a condom or ate a Tide Pod. ☯