Science Explains Why The Cinnamon Challenge Wins

We often wonder what is so funny about people trying and failing to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon on YouTube (and yes, we've sometimes thought about trying it). But now, you'll never get us to take on the Cinnamon Challenge... because it's IMPOSSIBLE.

Hank Green of SciShow explains in the following video that cinnamon is pretty much waterproof, and your mouth is never supposed to be without water (hence the saliva), and when water and waterproof things combine, it doesn't look pretty.

In fact, the cinnamon challenge is "actually pretty dangerous." Yikes. You could choke or scar your lung tissue, and also just look like a complete fool on the Internet. But it apparently isn't stopping many people; the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported 51 calls in 2011 involving teens and cinnamon, which jumped up to 139 calls in 2012. Kids, stop trying to eat cinnamon and just enjoy your churros.