For just $28 for a 4-ounce bottle, the Miracle Mineral Solution has been advertised to cure what ails you, whether it's malaria, cancer or the flu. It's also been promoted to cure autism. Sometimes called the Master Mineral Solution or just MMS, it contains compounds that are supposedly deadly to pathogens, but harmless to healthy tissue.
What's actually in that bottle, however, is industrial bleach. And not only are the claims too good to be true, but it's actively making people extremely sick, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has known about the dangers of MMS since 2010.
In a Monday press release, the FDA pleaded with consumers to stop drinking the dangerous chemical cocktail after receiving reports of people experiencing severe vomiting, diarrhea, life-threateningly low blood pressure, and acute liver failure after drinking the concoction.
Also known as the "Chlorine Dioxide Protocol," "Water Purification Solution," and similar healthful-sounding euphemisms, MMS is a solution of 28% sodium chlorite in distilled water. Consumers are instructed to "activate" the product by adding citric acid like lemon or lime juice (or sometimes sold separately at an additional price hike). The resulting chemical reaction produces chlorine dioxide, what the FDA calls "a powerful bleaching agent" used as a large-scale industrial disinfectant.
Drinking this concoction, which self-proclaimed health gurus encourage online followers to do, can cause serious health problems like liver failure and dangerously low blood pressure, in addition to vomiting and diarrhea.
Proponents of MMS claim that these side effects are actually proof that the product is working, but studies that claim to prove its benefits have been extensively debunked as "absurd (and very irresponsible)," an expert previously told INSIDER.
In one trial in which MMS was claimed to cure malaria, it was administered with established anti-malarial drugs, which were likely the real cause of patients' recovery. The author of that study has since been stripped of his title after his university found his work to be "methodologically erroneous."
The FDA continues to stress that claims that MMS has antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibacterial are bogus and the risks of consuming the product are severe.
"The FDA is not aware of any research showing that these products are safe or effective for treating any illness," according to the statement. "Using these products may cause you to delay other treatments that have been shown to be safe and effective."
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British man arrested in Uganda after promoting 'MMS' bleach as a cure for HIV and malaria
