Why Are People Eating Oranges In The Shower On TikTok?

From hair masks to cold rinses, people incorporate many different shower rituals into their routines. But a particularly interesting one that’s caught hold on social media is eating an orange in the shower.

The concept is simple: Turn on your shower, grab an orange, get in and start peeling and eating the fruit, enjoying all that citrusy goodness. Although there’s no way to really say who first tried this shower experiment, some link the trend to a 2015 Reddit post from a since-deleted account that described the “feel good” experience of shower oranges. That same year, the “Shower Orange” subreddit was created.

More recently, the shower orange concept has reached new audiences on TikTok, where a growing number of videos extolling the virtues of this bathing ritual.

“I first saw this concept on TikTok,” registered dietitian Maggie Michalczyk told HuffPost. “It was just a video of someone peeling an orange in a steamy shower with mellow music and no real context as to why. It looked really relaxing, and I could almost smell the citrusy orange from watching the video. I thought, ‘I’ve gotta try that because I bet it would be really energizing!’”

Michalczyk tried the shower orange process with Sumo Citrus, which is easy to peel. And she found she enjoyed the way the shower steam exaggerated the scent.

“I feel like there’s a lot of wellness rituals that catch fire and anything that’s somewhat simple to do, but that could make you feel a little bit more energized or motivated, is something I think a lot of people are willing to try,” the dietician explained. “I know for me personally, living in Chicago where we don’t get a lot of sunlight in the winter, I’ll try anything for a boost of energy on a gray day, which is another reason why eating an orange in the shower appealed to me.”

But what exactly are all the purported benefits of eating an orange in the shower? Are they based on science? And are there any downsides to this process? Below, Michalczyk and other nutrition experts break it down.

You get an enhanced sensory experience.

“People are trying out the TikTok trend of eating oranges in the shower because, supposedly, the shower’s heat enhances the smell and taste of oranges,” said registered dietician and nutrition writer Alyssa Northrop.