Hailey Bieber's daily olive oil shot went viral in 2023 — and the science backs it up. The PREDIMED trial (7,447 people, NEJM) and Harvard's 28-year study documented the health benefits of daily EVOO consumption long before it became a celebrity trend. The health habit is ancient; the social media spotlight is new.
Hailey Bieber just made olive oil shots a celebrity wellness moment. In a recent TIME interview, she named a daily olive oil and lemon shot as one of her three non-negotiable morning musts alongside skincare and coffee. Her exact framing got picked up across health TikTok within hours: "I sound so old. I'm like, I gotta take my olive oil shot in the morning. Lord help me."
She's been doing it daily for several months. She credits the ritual with helping to "coat the gut" and describes it as a "good detox."
The trend hit social media fast. Search interest in olive oil shots, already climbing through 2025 and into 2026, jumped overnight. So here's the honest breakdown: what's actually in Hailey's shot, what the science says about it, where the detox claim falls short, and how to copy the routine in a way that actually delivers the benefits she's after. For the full background on the lemon ritual specifically, see our guide on the olive oil and lemon juice shot.
What's in Hailey's Olive Oil Shot
The recipe is simple: one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil mixed with the juice of half a lemon, taken on an empty stomach before food or coffee. No "claimy" green powders, no adaptogens, no exhaustive supplement stack. Just two pantry ingredients in a single shot first thing in the morning.
She hasn't named a specific brand of olive oil. The bigger story is the daily habit itself and the question of which oil you choose matters far more than the celebrity association.
The full Mediterranean version of this ritual has existed for generations. In Greek, Italian, and Spanish households, a morning spoonful of high-polyphenol olive oil - sometimes with lemon, sometimes plain - is a traditional digestive practice that long predates wellness TikTok. Greek, southern Italian, and Spanish populations consume between 15 and 25 kilograms of olive oil per person annually. The US average is closer to 1 kilogram. What's new is the framing and the size of the audience now paying attention.
What Science Actually Backs About Daily Olive Oil
The research case for daily olive oil consumption is genuinely strong. Not for any single dramatic effect, but for cumulative benefits that show up over months and years of consistent intake.
Cardiovascular evidence
The PREDIMED trial, one of the largest nutrition studies ever conducted, with more than 7,400 participants, found that daily extra virgin olive oil consumption reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events by roughly 30%. A 2022 Harvard study tracking more than 92,000 adults over 28 years found that consuming just over half a tablespoon of olive oil daily was associated with a 19% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, plus measurable reductions in cancer mortality and neurodegenerative disease mortality. The full olive oil shot benefits breakdown covers the mechanism in depth.
Anti-inflammatory mechanism
The peppery throat burn from a quality extra virgin olive oil primarily comes from oleocanthal, a polyphenol that works through the same COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition pathway as ibuprofen, according to Gary Beauchamp's 2005 paper in Nature. Daily consumption of high-polyphenol EVOO produces measurable reductions in inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein and interleukin-6. See our deeper dive on olive oil polyphenols for the full mechanism.
Skin and longevity
A cross-sectional study of nearly 3,000 adults published in PLOS One found that higher monounsaturated fat intake from olive oil specifically was associated with significantly lower risk of severe skin photoaging. The same fats from animal sources showed no equivalent benefit. The mechanism appears to involve olive oil's combination of monounsaturated fats, squalene, and polyphenols working together to reduce oxidative damage.
Metabolic health
A 2024 meta-analysis of more than 500,000 participants found that moderate olive oil intake, 10 to 20 grams per day, roughly 1 to 2 tablespoons, was associated with up to 22% lower diabetes risk. Olive oil's oleic acid also triggers production of OEA (oleoylethanolamide), a satiety hormone that signals fullness to the brain via the vagus nerve.
The honest framing: most of this research tracks total daily consumption, not whether the oil was taken on an empty stomach in shot form. The morning shot ritual is a refinement of an already-effective practice. It's not magic, but the underlying habit is one of the most evidence-backed dietary interventions available. For the full timeline of cumulative effects, see what happens if you drink olive oil every day.
The "Coat the Gut and Detox" Claim — What's Real and What Isn't
Hailey's specific framing was that the shot "helps coat the gut" and is a "good detox." Both deserve honest treatment, because the answers are different.
The gut-coating claim is partially real. Olive oil does coat the stomach lining and upper digestive tract when consumed on an empty stomach, without being diluted by other food. The direct mucosal contact may enhance the anti-inflammatory effects of oleocanthal and hydroxytyrosol on gut tissue. Olive oil also stimulates bile production, lubricates the intestinal tract, and triggers the gastrocolic reflex which is why many people notice digestive regularity benefits within the first week. For the full mechanism, see our guide on olive oil on an empty stomach.
The detox claim needs a closer look. Your liver is already in the business of detoxification by design and that's what hepatocytes do, every minute of every day, with or without olive oil. There's no peer-reviewed evidence that a morning olive oil shot meaningfully accelerates this process or "flushes" toxins from the system. What olive oil does do is support liver function indirectly: high-polyphenol EVOO has been shown to reduce non-alcoholic fatty liver disease markers and protect liver cells from oxidative damage. That's a slow, cumulative benefit, not an acute "detox" event.
Dr. Cedrek McFadden, a colon and rectal surgeon, addressed this directly when the trend went viral earlier in 2025. Speaking to Today, he said olive oil shots are "not some special medical trick". The benefits are real, but you'd get the same benefits using olive oil in meals.
The honest read: Hailey's shot delivers real digestive and anti-inflammatory benefits over time. The dramatic "detox" framing is wellness marketing more than physiology. The benefits are real; the language often overstates the mechanism.
Why the Oil Itself Matters More Than the Celebrity
If you're going to copy this ritual, the single most important variable is the quality of the olive oil you're using.
Most of the documented health benefits of olive oil come from polyphenols: oleocanthal, hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, and related compounds. The European Food Safety Authority has established 250 mg/kg as the minimum polyphenol concentration required to make official health claims about protecting blood lipids from oxidative stress. Most supermarket olive oils, even ones labeled "extra virgin", fall well below that threshold. Most test at under 100 mg/kg, which means a morning shot of those oils delivers calories without delivering the compounds that produce the actual benefit.
This matters specifically because a daily shot is a concentrated, isolated consumption moment. When olive oil is part of a meal, the polyphenol content is secondary to the overall Mediterranean dietary pattern. When you're drinking it on its own, paying real attention to one daily moment, the polyphenol concentration is the entire point. A low-polyphenol oil in a daily shot can be empty calories. A high-polyphenol olive oil at the same dose is a meaningful intervention.
What to look for: a verified polyphenol count (250+ mg/kg minimum), a printed harvest date (not just a best-by date), single-origin sourcing, and packaging that protects against light and oxygen exposure. For the deeper breakdown, see our guide on what makes olive oil drinkable and our roundup of the best olive oil to drink daily.
How to Actually Do the Hailey Bieber Shot
If you want to try the ritual she's been on for months, here's the protocol that works.
Dose: .5-1 tablespoon (7.5-15 ml) of high-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil mixed with the juice of half a lemon. If you're new, start with less and build up over two weeks. Concentrated fat on an empty stomach can cause nausea in people not used to it.
Timing: Stacked on another habit so it becomes an easy adoption. First thing in the morning, before water or coffee. Wait 15 to 30 minutes before eating breakfast. This preserves the empty-stomach absorption advantage for polyphenols without making you wait too long. For the full mechanism, see our guide on drinking olive oil in the morning.
Method: Mix the oil and lemon juice directly in a small glass. You can dilute with a small amount of warm water if the texture is too intense. Knock it back in one go. Chase with water if needed. For the full beginner's protocol, see our beginner's guide to your first shot.
Calorie note: One tablespoon of olive oil contains about 120 calories. The lemon adds a few more. This is a calorie-dense food worth tracking if weight management is a goal.
What Hailey's Doing Right (And Where the Wellness Framing Falls Short)
The honest assessment, separated from celebrity influence:
What's right. Daily olive oil consumption is one of the most evidence-backed dietary practices available. Doing it consistently for months is exactly the timeframe over which the cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic benefits actually emerge. The empty-stomach timing has a small but real polyphenol absorption advantage. Adding lemon makes the texture more tolerable, which improves long-term adherence. Consistency is the variable that matters most.
Where the framing oversells. The "detox" language doesn't match the physiology. The acute morning benefits people describe (clearer skin on day one, brighter complexion, smoother digestion within a week) are mostly the placebo plus the early gastrocolic-reflex effect. The real benefits (cardiovascular, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory) compound over months and years of consistent daily intake. Hailey's months-long consistency is where the actual value comes from, not the single shot itself.
What the trend gets confused. Olive oil shots aren't a uniquely effective delivery method. The shot ritual matters because it's a habit-forming wrapper around a daily dose not because the shot itself does anything food consumption doesn't. The reason people see results is they're actually getting olive oil into their bodies every day. The format is the habit-stacking trick, not the medicine. For the cultural and historical context, see our complete guide to olive oil shots.
The Bottom Line
Hailey Bieber's olive oil and lemon shot is a legitimate daily wellness habit dressed in slightly oversold marketing language. The Mediterranean diet research is real. The polyphenol mechanisms are real. The digestive support is real. The "detox" framing is mostly aesthetic.
If you want to copy her routine and actually get the benefits she's after, the variables that matter are: pick a verified high-polyphenol EVOO (not whatever's on the supermarket shelf), keep the daily habit going for months (not days), and don't let the celebrity packaging make you forget that this is a calorie-dense food and not a shortcut.
The most important factor isn't whether you start with a Hailey-style morning shot. It's whether you keep doing it for the months and years over which the research-backed benefits actually compound. A pre-measured Hoji packet on the bedside table is the simplest way to make that habit automatic. Single-serve format means consistent polyphenol dosing every morning, no measuring, no dosage creep, no oxidized oil sitting in a half-empty bottle losing its polyphenols week by week.
Hailey's onto something. The question is whether your morning shot has the polyphenols to back it up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in Hailey Bieber's olive oil shot?
One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil mixed with the juice of half a lemon, taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning before food or coffee. She has not named a specific brand of olive oil, but the quality of the oil you choose is the variable that determines whether you actually get the benefits.
Does Hailey Bieber really drink olive oil every morning?
Yes. In a recent TIME interview, Bieber named a daily olive oil and lemon shot as one of her three non-negotiable morning musts alongside skincare and coffee. She has maintained the habit daily for several months and credits it with helping to "coat the gut."
What are the benefits of drinking olive oil every morning?
Daily olive oil consumption is associated with lower cardiovascular risk (PREDIMED, Harvard 2022), reduced inflammation via oleocanthal's COX-inhibition pathway, lower diabetes risk in meta-analyses, improved skin aging markers, and digestive support. Most benefits accumulate over months of consistent intake rather than from any single dose.
Is the olive oil shot actually a detox?
Not in the literal sense. Your liver handles detoxification continuously regardless of olive oil intake. High-polyphenol olive oil does support liver health by reducing oxidative damage and NAFLD markers over time, but a morning shot doesn't acutely flush toxins. The "detox" framing is wellness language more than physiology.
What kind of olive oil should I use for a morning shot?
High-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil - ideally 250 mg/kg or higher, with a printed harvest date (not just best-by), single-origin sourcing, and packaging that protects against light and oxygen. Most supermarket olive oils fall below the EFSA 250 mg/kg health-claim threshold, which means they deliver calories without the compounds that produce the actual benefit.
This article summarizes findings from published research and is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your doctor before making changes to your diet, especially if you have a medical condition or take medication.
