Influencer says he drank water from radioactive jug for 250 days, pushes conspiracy theory

A health influencer named Matt Roeske shocked his followers for drinking water out of what he says is a radioactive jug. In an Instagram post last week, Roeske talked about the benefits of radium water on the page of his wellness brand, Cultivate Elevate. To demonstrate what he was talking about and create trust among his followers about what he was talking about, he took a jug that set off a radiation detector. He then said that he drank from it for 250 days straight.

Even though Roeske touted the supposed benefits of radium water, it is something no one should follow. Radium is a highly radioactive element, and upon decaying, it emits several types of ionising radiation. It can cause fatal radiation poisoning, and long-term exposure to high levels of radium is linked to an increased risk of bone, liver, or breast cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

In the early 20th century, radium water was a patented medicine and advertised as having various health benefits. It was added to over-the-counter and unregulated products. What Roeske showed was a drinking container lined with radium, a ceramic container that was marketed as something that restored "lost element of original freshness—radioactivity" to water.

However, radium was found to be severely toxic, and the newly formed Food and Drug Administration cracked the whip on such medicines and containers in 1938 after the death of Eben Byers in 1932, a wealthy industrialist and amateur golf champion. He died at the age of 51 from severe radium exposure after consuming Radithor, a distilled water product laced with radium salts. He is said to have drunk 1,300 bottles in his lifetime. He developed jawbone cancer, and the lower half of his face had to be removed.

Roeske's bizarre health claims

Meanwhile, Roeske made a bizarre claim about the ban on radium water, linking it to the Rothschild family. "In 1933 when the Rothschilds FDA came along, the first thing they went after was radium water… not vaxxines [sic], dirty electricity, or pesticides," he said alongside his post.

This is not the only absurd claim made by the influencer, who has previously also pushed for radium water. He also doesn't believe that viruses and other germs exist, and says peanut allergies are caused by vaccines laced with peanut oil. Cultivate Elevate’s Instagram has over half a million followers, which shows his content is being widely consumed. But do not believe everything that influencers say.