Woman, 51, hospitalized after injecting juice made from 20 different fruits into her veins to improve health

A Chinese woman nearly died after she injected the juice of more than 20 different types of fruit into her veins believing it would keep her healthy.

51-year-old Zeng, from the Guiyang county in Chenzhou, Hunan province attempted the bizarre remedy last month because of her interest in unconventional health treatments and admitted the experiment was a big mistake.

According to the Daily Mail, Zeng, who had been in good health prior to the mishap, decided on a whim on February 22 this past month that she would make juice out of 20 kinds of fruit and give herself an intravenous infusion by drip.

She reportedly pulled off her stunt by calling a doctor to her home to administer her an IV drip by pretending to be sick. When the doctor left, she swapped out the liquid with the special blend of fruit juice she had concocted. 

However, the experiment quickly went awry. She soon began feeling itchy and her body temperature rocketed, but instead of going to the hospital, the 51-year-old decided to wait it out. Luckily for her, her husband noticed her obvious discomfort, and when he found out about the infusion, he rushed her to a local hospital.

The hospital staff there, in turn, transferred Zeng to the Affiliated Hospital of Xiangnan University where she was admitted into intensive care. Liu Jianxiu, the attending doctor, revealed Zeng had suffered a severe infection, damage to her liver, kidney, and heart, and was in real danger of dying to multiple organ failure and sepsis.

The Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported that doctors cleansed Zeng's blood of the juice by using dialysis, injecting clotting agents, and giving her antibiotics. The treatment worked and, after five days, her condition had improved significantly enough that she was transferred to a kidney unit.

Speaking about the incident, Zeng revealed she did not know her experiment would have such catastrophic results. "I had thought fresh fruits were very nutritious and it would not do me harm by injecting them into my body," she said. "I had no idea that would get me into such trouble."

Liu warned others who might be tempted to try out such unconventional, unproven remedies in the future, asking that they avoid health practices which lack a scientific basis. He said injections into veins could result in liver or kidney damage or even death in the worst circumstances.

Lu Zhongyi, a nutritionist in Beijing, similarly expressed his incredulity at the story on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform which is very similar to Twitter. Zhongyi confirmed that certain fruits were good for vein health, but said they should never, on any occasion, be injected directly.