‘Go Easy, Man’: RFK Jr. Filmed Adding Methylene Blue To His Drink In American Airlines First Class

RFK, Jr. appears to have been filmed putting putting Methylene blue in his drink in American Airlines first class. The drink was probably water.

Methylene blue was originally developed as a dye. It has several medical applications. You can buy it on Amazon.

It’s used in treating methemoglobinemia, acting as an electron donor to reduce methemoglobin in the blood back to hemoglobin. It’s used as a stain for medical diagnostic procedures, coloring tissues or fluids to make them more visible during lymph node mapping or leak detection.

At lower doses, some studies suggest medical benefits – for treating neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric conditions, and as an “anti-aging” protocol – but those are largely ‘pre-clinical’ to put it generously. In higher doses, methylene blue can be neurotoxic and may interfere with mitochondrial function.

The most common side effect is that you’ll pee blue. It can also turn skin blue, and cause headaches and dizziness. When combined with serotonergic medications, such as SSRI, it can cause excess serotonin which can be life-threatening.

When I was a freshman in college I got sick at a debate tournament in Salt Lake City. In order to put myself together for the quarterfinals, much coach gave me something to take in a dropper that made me pee blue. I never knew what he was (and he’s since passed away), but that side effect made me think that it was the textile dye that first became widely available in the late 19th century. For purely placebo reasons I felt well enough to win.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. @Mike P — Now you’re the broken record guy. But, I thought you were our resident economist?

  2. That explains his weird skin color. At first, I thought RFK Jr. just had the Kennedy skin and a deep tan.

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