Doctors have warned a "wellness" hack that's sweeping TikTok could actually end up doing more harm than good.
People are attempting to "remedy" cold and flu symptoms by braising chicken in cough syrup.
Videos on the popular social media platform show people cooking a dish known as "NyQuil chicken".
It involves pouring half a bottle of the flu medicine into a hot pan while cooking the poultry.
In one clip uploaded by a man called Rob, he places two chicken breasts into a pan and fries them at a low temperature.
He then pours in "four thirds" of the greenish blue syrup over the chicken and lets it boil for 30 minutes.
Bizarrely, he brings mini hair straightening irons to flip the chicken to get both sides "seasoned".
He says: "Sometimes the steam really makes you sleepy. You are looking for that blue colour right there.
"Then drain the unused syrup back into the can."
Since the video went viral, many said they'd be trying the "sleepy chicken" dish.
Dr Aaron Hartman, physician and assistant clinical professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, has spoken out about the danger of the trend.
"When you cook cough medicine like NyQuil, you boil off the water and alcohol in it, leaving the chicken saturated with a super concentrated amount of drugs in the meat," he told MIC.com.
"If you ate one of those cutlets completely cooked, it’d be as if you’re actually consuming a quarter to half a bottle of NyQuil."
The expert said the cooking method could likely lead to food poisoning, which will likely lead to sickness and diarrhoea.
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TikTok viewers were stunned as they watched the video, with one saying: "We’re starting off this year on a bang here.
"What upsets me more is the fact that he put the NyQuil back in the bottle after the cooked the chicken with it. I’m done."
Another said: "This meal will definitely 'put you to sleep'."
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