Rumored Food Which Is Fatal To Our Health

Yun+Wuxin

What kind of potato and tomato that is more poisonous than arsenic？

Rumor： sprout of potato and its green skin contains solanine which is poisonous； unripe tomato is poisonous too， which will make you feel sick and vomit， it brings greater danger if it is eaten not cooked.

Truth： both potato and tomato contains some glucoside alkaloid， the most common of which is solanine that can be used to resist insect and prevent fungus. Solanine has a strong toxicity， oral administration could lead to vomit， diarrhea and even can cause death.

Then compared it with arsenic， which is more poisonous？ In the experiment of testing oral administration of solanine by rat， half lethal dose is 590milligram per kilo， while in the test of arsenic， the dose is 15 milligram per kilo. Obviously， the toxicity of solanine is more less than arsenic.

There are thousands of types of potatoes in the world， each with different content of solanine. Nowadays， the species that people grow in the field are the ones that has been screened and cultivated， so the content of solanine is rather low， what is more， solanine in the potato mainly distributes in skin of potato， 30-50% of which can be removed by peeling. So eating normal potato is not poisonous. However， it will turn green and start sprout if it is not well-preserved， during such a process， the content of solanine will increase. It is not solanine that makes potato turn green ， but the change is a signal of existing of solanine in potato. Meanwhile， it will become bitter， which indicates that the content of solanine is rather high. Thus， it sends a very clear warning that such potato is poisonous and can not be eaten. When it comes to tomato， we can find a certain amount of glucoside alkaloid in it， the content of which is higher in unripe tomato. But people will not eat such tomatoes in most cases， so it is not necessary to worry about it.

Conclusion： inaccurate description. Potato with sprout or turning green and unripe tomato do actually contain glucoside alkaloid which can lead to poinson to human body， and can not be eliminated by common cooking method. But it is easy to recognize the food is poisonous or not and can avoid such dangers.

Does broad bean really cause favism？

Rumor： eating broad bean will lead to irritability hemolysis syndrome with symptoms like generalize weakness ， anemia and others.

Truth： broad bean do lead to anaphylactic hemolysis syndrome， also called favism. According to present studies， broad bean pyrimidine might disturb the normal performance of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase （G6PD） ， and the latter is a key factor that can keep hemoglobin functioning properly. And broad bean pyrimidine is able to cause fracture of erythrocyte and trigger broad bean hemolysis syndrome. However， most people have enough G-6-PD in their bodies， in this way it is ok to eat the bean. However when it comes to those people who are lack of G-6-PD due to genetic problem， eating such bean is really fatal， while it enjoys highest risk to eat fresh broad bean， and the possibility of the disease for children is higher than adults. During storage， broad bean pyrimidine can be with oxydative degradation， so the probability of favism caused by dried broad bean is relatively lower， but it is not entirely safe.

Conclusion： partial correct. For those who are short of G-6-PD， it really bring danger to the people to eat broad bean， treatment like heating， drying and others might reduce the risk of hemolysis， but this method could not eliminate it thoroughly. But for those who have enough G-6-PD， eating such bean will not cause danger.

Are undercuring of pickles and rotten cabbage fatal to us？

Rumor： preserving vegetables without enough salt or preserved time is less than 8 days will lead to nitrite poisoning； while eating rotten cabbage will cause headache， swirl， nausea， abdominal distension， in severe cases， will be cramped and experience coma， even with life threatening emergency.

Truth： all plants contain nitrate and nitrite. According to modern science， the former is not poisonous， while the large amout of intaking of the latter might lead hemiglobinsyndome which can lose bloods ablility to carry oxygen， in severe cases it might endanger peoples life. The main source of nitrate is vegetable， while for nitrite， its source tend to have a close tie with the transforming of nitrate. Under the influence of a certain number of germ， nitrate will be reverted to nitrite. The pickled process is a growth of germ， good germ such as lactic acid bacteria， acetic bacteria can turn sugar into lactic acid or acetic acid， change vegetables into pickles； while the bad germ can produce nitrite. In the beginning， the amout of good or bad germ is not large. Adding salt， enclosing， low temperature and others can be conducive to restrict germ. During fermentation， good germ produces acidity and reduce the value of PH； while the bad germ will generate nitrite. As the fermentation goes， Ph value sees its reduction， and the conditons are more and more harsh for the survival of bad germ. In the end， good bacteria can defeat bad ones and the nitrite produced by the occurrence of nitrite will be docomposed and removed. Take Chinese pickled cabbage in northeast of China for example， the concentration of nitrite is the highest when the vegetables are preserve for 7-8 days， and after that， its concentration will decrease， and it is quite low after over 20 days and is basically safe to human body.

Conclusion： exaggerated danger. Undercuring pickled vegetables and rotten cabbage actually contain higher nitrite which might lead to food poisoning. But generally speaking， it is not like the rumor saying that eating them will be fatal to our body--- of course， we should aviod eating rotten vegetables in everyday diet.