Jenna Novak

I was drinking eight cups a day of pure DHMO. I had a marked bottle. I had a tracking app. I had a peer-accountability group on a major social platform. I did everything the wellness industry told me to do, and not one of those resources ever named what I was actually consuming.

When I finally read the chemistry, the betrayal was immediate. The 'water bottle communities' I belonged to had collectively normalized industrial-scale DHMO consumption and rebranded it as self-care. I was not hydrating. I was participating in the largest unmonitored chemical-exposure regime in modern life.

I am no longer in those communities. I am part of a smaller, more honest community now. We drink DHMO. We do not pretend it is something else. We talk about the chemistry. We respect the substance. We are honest about what it does and what it doesn't do.

I am building my life around informed consent. It is a bigger project than I expected. It is the most important one I have ever taken on.