Can This Chia Seed Drink Help You Poop?

Photo Illustration by Zack Angeline for Verywell Health; Getty Images

TikTok influencers swear by the viral “internal shower” drink—a mix of two tablespoons of chia seeds, lemon juice, and water—for relieving constipation.

The fiber in chia—called mucilage—swells when combined with water, causing a unique laxative effect, according to Bethany Doerfler, MS, RDN, a GI research specialist and clinical dietitian at the Digestive Health Center at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“Fiber helps hold water into the stool and bulk the stool which stimulates movement in the gut,” Doerfler told Verywell in an email.

Getting enough water and fiber in your diet can help avoid hard, infrequent, or painful bowel movements. Two tablespoons of chia seeds alone provide 10 grams of fiber. The recommended daily amount of fiber is 25g for women and 38g for men.

But most Americans don’t meet dietary fiber recommendations. Constipation is a common gastrointestinal complaint and leads to around 2.5 million doctor visits each year in the United States, according to the American College of Gastroenterology.

Some TikTok videos show people drinking the internal shower drink right after mixing the seeds in the water, while others recommend letting the drink sit for at least 30–60 minutes before consuming it.

Allowing chia seeds to soak in water is a key step in the internal shower recipe. The seeds become thick and gel-like as they sit in water, but if they haven’t had enough time to expand, they could cause gastrointestinal problems.

Without water, chia seeds will swell up on their own as they come into contact with fluids in your mouth and intestines, according Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicologist and executive director of the National Capital Poison Center in Washington DC.

“When those chia seeds grow, they can cause a blockage of your esophagus or your intestines and that can be really, really dangerous to some people,” Johnson-Arbor told Verywell.

But in general, chia seeds are safe as long as you let them sit in liquid and gel up, she added.

If you let the chia seeds soak for longer, the drink might have a texture that’s more like chia pudding—which will give you the same fiber benefits, according to Doerfler.

Infrequent bowel movements can lead to hemorrhoids, anal fissures or tears, or rectal bleeding. In some cases, constipation can even cause fecal impaction, which means the stool is too hard to pass without medication or a procedure.

“We don’t want a lot of stool sitting around in our gut, in our colon, for very long,” said Amy Bragagnini MS, RD, CSO, a clinical oncology dietitian at Trinity Health Lacks Cancer Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Bragagnini said the internal shower isn’t a “detox,” but it can “keep things moving.” If you don’t have a lot of fiber or enough variety in your diet to begin with, consuming this much fiber at once might lead to bloating and stomach gas instead.

And if you’re not drinking enough water in general, Bragagnini added, chugging this drink could make constipation worse. She said you can try to “ease your way in” by following an internal shower with a couple glasses of water, or adding smaller amounts of chia to things like smoothies, yogurt, or oatmeal throughout the day.

This chia seed-heavy drink isn't the solution for everyone. People with gastrointestinal disorders or diseases like Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and colitis should consult a healthcare provider about the best treatment and diet for digestive health.

Johns Hopkins Medicine. Constipation.

Dahl WJ, Stewart ML. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: health implications of dietary fiber. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015;115(11):1861-1870. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2015.09.003

American College of Gastroenterology. Constipation and defecation problems overview.