'Seriously, don't attempt this at home'
Given that some YouTubers faux their children's deaths, while others apply 100 layers of makeup onto their faces, it could seem that a vlogger drinking cyanide is the ultimate act of desperation for attention on-line.
But Cody Don of the Cody’s Lab YouTube channel sprinkled the compound into water and drank the concoction in order to teach viewers regarding what the substance actually does to the body.
The video shows Cody shaving off a 17mg portion of cyanide, and drinking it because the warning “seriously don’t try this at home" flashes onto the screen.
“It tastes like baking soda”, he tells viewers, adding: “I've got a tremor [in his arm] and my breathing is slightly additional fast” because cyanide inhibits the body’s ability to soak up oxygen.
He then reassures viewers that, as a lethal dose is around 300mg for someone of his size, the small quantity he took can not harm him.
In reality, there are little amounts of cyanide in some nuts and seeds, including almonds, which means the liver is well-equipped to tackle the compound.
“What makes a poison isn't the fact that it's a dangerous chemical, what makes it a poison is that the dose,” he explains.
As the liver would usually destroy the little amount of cyanide he ingested in around 10 to fifteen minutes, someone might –theoretically – eat little doses of the compound throughout the day and not be harmed, although it’s not counseled.
“There you go,” he says: “I drank cyanide and failed to die.”
