A 60-year-old man gave himself an uncommon psychiatric disorder after asking ChatGPT for diet advice in a case published Tuesday by the American College of Physicians Journals.
The man, who remained anonymous in the case study, told doctors he had eliminated sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, from his diet after reading about its negative health effects. He said he could only find sources telling him how to reduce salt, but not eliminate it completely.
Inspired by his nutrition studies in college, the man decided to completely eliminate sodium chloride from his diet as a personal experiment, with consultation from Chat GPT, researchers wrote. He maintained multiple dietary restrictions and even distilled his own water at home.
“For 3 months, he had replaced sodium chloride with sodium bromide obtained from the internet after consultation with ChatGPT, in which he had read that chloride can be swapped with bromide, though likely for other purposes, such as cleaning,” the case study read.
While excess sodium can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of health issues, it is still necessary to consume a healthy amount of it.
