New Year detoxes involving herbal remedies and high water intakes can endanger lives, doctors have said, after a woman was admitted to intensive care.
The 47-year-old collapsed and suffered multiple seizures after taking a cocktail of teas and supplements, including vitamin B and valerian root, to combat stress and the New Year blues.
Doctors at Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust battled to replace the dangerously low levels of salt in her blood, and she was stabilised more than ten hours later.
It was the second such case experienced by doctors, who said that although an all-natural New Year detox might be "appealing", the fashionable remedies could be life-threatening.
They added that valerian root, taken by many people to combat insomnia and stress, may have exacerbated the woman's symptoms. Their comments, published in BMJ Case Reports, came after the previously fit woman was found to have hyponatremia, or low levels of salt in the blood.