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No Poop July is a facetious and humorous TikTok trend originally started by the online influencer OkCron. As the name implies, it involves not defecating for the entire month of July. Doctors have warned against attempting the challenge as it can be dangerous to the gastrointestinal tract.
The trend involves an internet challenge where influencers pretend to hold their bowel for the entire month of July, with the trend being recognized as a joke. [1] The trend is included in month-related trends like No Nut November, No Fap September, and Dry January. It may have drawn inspiration from previous absurd internet challenges such as the Tide Pods Challenge. The influencers are also shown to have pretend neck strains and flushed skin. [1] [2] The recognized background music for this trend is the Meg & Dia's song Monster, with Nightcore versions and remixes of the song often used. [3]
The trend went popular as early as 2020, with recurrences every year after. A Google Trends search shows the popularity surge every year, limited to the month July. The trend tripled in popularity since the original version in 2022. [1] In the same year, a noticeable 130 million views came from the TikTok hashtag #NoPoopJuly. [2]
After the 2022 edition of the challenge, multiple news sources talked about the TikTok trend, with multiple doctors pushing against it. Dr. Austin Chang, a popular TikTok influencer and a gastroenterologist said “Obviously, we hope that no one takes it seriously ... people who have regular, normal functioning GI tracts are not going to have this issue, because their body is going to want to get rid of their waste ... So it's not like they have a choice in holding it in." [1] [4]