A CHEAP supplement has taken TikTok by storm, with women flooding to the app to claim it had had an unexpected but pleasant side effect.
The supplement is none other than bee pollen, which is available for as little as £3 on Amazon and some supermarkets.
Women have taken to TikTok to rave about how their boobs had grown in size since they started sprinkling the stuff into their granola or smoothies.
Influencer Ivey Cross said she'd noticed a difference in her 'girls' after putting on her Skims bra and noticing it was tighter than usual.
"It dawned on me that I have been using [bee pollen] consistently for like, two or three weeks," she claimed in a video that has garnered 1.3 million views.
Ivey added: "I've been eating so much bee pollen. So I've just made another bee pollen smoothie for the girls."
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TikToker Camila Elle also jumped onto the bandwaggon, saying she'd been taking bee pollen for months and claimed she could "testify it does make your [breasts] grow bigger".
With so many raving about the supplement's miracle effects, it no wonder health experts are also talking about it.
TikTok's favourite NHS surgeon, Dr Karan Rajan, even addressed the craze, saying the ingredient was "supposedly rich in phyto-oestrogens, naturally occurring plant chemicals which are meant to mimic oestrogen in the body".
And with the breast being one of the most hormone sensitive tissues in the body, it can fluctuate in size due to various influences
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This is why you might think your boobs seem fuller in the middle of your cycle – when oestrogen levels peak – as the hormone can make your breast ducts grow.
"Changes to fat distribution or deposition, or even an increase in muscle mass in the pectoral region may lead to a perceived increase in breast size," Dr Rajan went on.
But he was quick to burst the viewers' bubble when it came to taking bee pollen for making your tatas larger.
"Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that bee pollen can increase the size of [your breasts]," he stated.
"Outside of birth control medication, hormone therapy or medication side effects, there is no magic pill or supplement which can enhance the size of the breast," Dr Rajan added.
Dr Sydne Ford, a family medicine physician at Spark Performance and Wellness, a holistic primary care center, told Huffington Post: “Breast size and development is dependent on multiple factors, including genetics, hormones and fat distribution."
“There are no guaranteed methods for increasing breast size naturally. However, exercise and a balanced diet rich in phytoestrogens can help maintain optimal hormone levels.”
Meanwhile, Deanne Jade, principal of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, told MailOnline: "This trend is pathetic and harmful and dishonest, what more can we say."
"The concerns we have are for people who believe this," she added.
And Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at the eating disorder charity Beat, told the paper that he was worried that people affected by eating disorders and struggling with negative body image may turn to medication or supplements like bee pollen to change their appearance.
"They are often unregulated and can be very dangerous, so we'd advise anyone thinking about using them to speak to their GP or care team first," he stressed.
Bee pollen has neither been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) — the UK's medicines watchdog — or the US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Doctors warn that – as with any supplement – there are potential risks to consuming it.
Lisa Jung, a licensed naturopathic doctor at Jung Naturopathic Wellness, even warned there may be a risk of cancer if bee pollen does in fact cause breast tissue to grow.
“With breast tissue growth, there can be concerns of cancer, as too much tissue growth can lead to atypical cellular changes,” she said.
She added that some women taking bee pollen "can experience mild vaginal spotting or bleeding, as the uterine lining also has oestrogen receptors that can be stimulated".
The ingredient could also cause you digestive side effects, such as stomach pain, nausea or diarrhoea.
These symptoms were backed up by TikToker Elly Bear, who said in a video that eating too much of the supplement had lead her to feel "mad funky".
She suggested eating no more than one teaspoon a day and taking breaks in your consumption.
Elly also shared that once she stopped taking bee pollen "the girls did go down".
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It's also especially important you don't have been pollen if you have a bee pollen allergy.
Lisa suggested you definitely speak to a doctor before taking the supplement.
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