A lot of times, we eat food items without being aware of the correct way of consuming them. Sometimes they can cause us temporary discomfort and sometimes lead to serious health issues. But it becomes a different ball game altogether when someone tells us that our everyday foods contain poison in them, no? The first thought that mostly comes to our minds after hearing this is, “I wonder how much poison have I already consumed?” Hold that thought because we have dug a little deeper into this topic and here’s what we found about your everyday poisonous food items.
1. Cherry Seeds
Don’t worry about the flesh part, all you gotta do is avoid eating the cherry seeds or pits. They are known to have a high percentage of cyanogenic glycoside and can lead to fatality if consumed in excess amounts. Even though you’d have to munch on a lot of seeds to receive a poisonous dose, it is safer to always make sure the seeds are removed before chopping or blending cherries.
2. Rice
Arsenic—a type of strong poison, can be found in rice in some traces. Which is why a serving of rice is not really considered to be acutely poisonous. But still, consuming arsenic can increase the risk of some health issues and illnesses that include cancer.
3. Potatoes
Fresh potatoes are absolutely fine, but the overripe ones need to be tossed in the trash! How to find out if it’s overripe? Easy, if you can spot a greenish cast under the skin of the potato, it’s poisonous. This greenish cast occurs because of solanine, a substance that naturally comes in potatoes as they become older and germinate. Consuming it in small amounts can result in nausea, stomachache, diarrhoea, puking and sometimes, fever. However, consuming it in large quantity can lead to death.
4. Apple Seeds
A compound known as amygdalin produces cyanide, and it can be found in apple seeds. You’re okay if you’ve gulped down a couple of seeds, but if you consume them in large numbers it could lead to faintness, puking, failure of kidney, coma and even death.
5. Tomato Leaves
You can happily have tomatoes, but let the leaves be! They possess a toxic alkaloid called solanine in rather small amounts. You need not worry if you accidentally consumed a couple of ’em but using them as greens in your salads is a big no-no!
6. Kidney Beans
If at all you’re someone who would nibble on raw kidney beans occasionally, you need to stop doing it immediately. In their dry, raw form, kidney beans are actually quite toxic. They contain lectins in them, which is a type of toxin. You’d be shocked to know that eating as little as four to five raw red kidney beans could land you in some serious trouble. You could suffer from stomach ache, diarrhoea and vomiting. You can avoid it by soaking the dried beans for a minimum of 12 hours and boil for about 10 minutes.
Now that you know how to consume these food items carefully, which one shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
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