Is Drinking Blood Safe? Doctors Weigh In

Tessa Commers, M.D., a Seattle-based pediatrician who answers teen health questions for her 1.5 million followers on TikTok, adds, “As far as drinking someone’s blood, it’s overall not advised.”

If you ever want to feel intense shame, try calling doctors during the pandemic and demanding that they weigh in on Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s drinking blood. (Nevertheless, they were all extremely kind and helpful.) “There are a variety of reasons for why it’s not safe to drink other people’s blood,” says Dr. Jain. “Number one, you don’t know if the other person has a blood-borne pathogen or an infection in their blood. So drinking someone else’s blood that hasn’t been screened for those types of infections could potentially put you at risk for contracting one of those infections.” 

But imagine this: I am a world-famous musician with a gun-based name and a lot of time on my hands. I pay for blood screening. Now may I throw back some of my lover’s sweet, sweet O-negative? No! The doctors agree in chorus. “Blood is rich in iron and overconsumption of iron can lead to a condition called hemochromatosis, a.k.a. iron overload,” Dr. Williams says. “Very large amounts can causes toxicity leading to cardiac complications, diabetes, and even liver disease.” 

People may think, Dr. Jain says, that drinking blood is an easy, direct way to increase blood supply. “I want to make the point that when we do blood transfusions, we typically use an IV, so it goes directly into your vein,” she explains. “When you drink blood, the blood is processed through your body the same way food or beverage would be, and most of it would be broken down. So you wouldn’t be getting the benefits of a blood transfusion by drinking blood.” 

Plus, Commers notes, drinking blood can irritate your stomach, causing vomiting. Did Megan and MGK spend their engagement night throwing up blood? If they did, rest assured that we will one day see an upsetting music video about it.