Be careful about eating this food

The variety of nutritional products is extremely large even if we do not count the processed food and consider only the food coming straight from nature. Even though people today have a really wide choice of products, not all of the food people are actually eating is thus safe as we might think. It is certainly crucial to know whether having particularly food is a good idea or not. This article will help you to understand it.

Kidney bean

Kidney bean is a product added to various dishes and it is quite popular in many countries. In all likelihood you yourself relish kidney beans from time to time.

It is not a secret that beans are a great source of proteins and fibres so, if only you do not have any individual health issues, it is a good idea to include this product into your diet. Yet, not everyone is aware of the fact kidney beans are rather toxic if they are not cooked for a sufficient time.

First of all, kidney bean is rich in phytohaemagglutinin which is a type of lectin. Depending on its isomeric form, phytohaemagglutinin can clump either leucocytes or erythrocytes. Neither of these things is desirable for your health. This substance is present in raw kidney bean and its concentration is really rather high. In fact, it is enough to eat only five beans to get a severe diarrhoea and vomiting.

Fortunately, it is possible to prevent intoxication and all you need to do is to boil kidney beans for thirty minutes. This temperature impact will destroy phytohaemagglutinin. Yet, the temperature should be no less than 100 °C.

Unfortunately, it is not the end when it comes to the potential problems caused by kidney beans. This popular product is also prone to contaminations. Common pathogenic microorganisms found in kidney beans are listeria, salmonella and Escherichia coli.

Green potatoes

Another popular product the majority of people eat on a regular basis is potato. There is nothing wrong with potato itself, however, you might have come across some vegetables getting green. This usually happens to potato which was exposed to light.

The green colour of a potato is a signal of the vegetable having a high concentration of solanine. This substance is a glycoalkaloid which is toxic for people. The highest concentration of this substance is in the berries of potato. For that reason it is absolutely forbidden to consume the berries of this plant. Yet, the substance is synthesised in other parts of the plant as well including the part regarded to be edible.

Usually, the parts which have already changed their colour into green have a somewhat bitter taste. This should be a signal for you not to consume such potatoes.

In fact, solanine is pretty toxic as it can cause hallucinations, paralysis and fever. Still, in order to reach such a level of intoxication, one has to consume several kilogrammes of the plant. It is also important to pay your attention to the fact this is true for poorly peeled vegetables as the majority of the toxic substance is located in the potato skin.

In the majority of situations people are able to consume such an amount of green potatoes which will cause vomiting, itching and diarrhoea.

In order to avoid intoxication with solanine coming from potatoes, you should avoid eating green ones and also resign from cooking potatoes with their skin.

Fugu

Even though fugu is not a particularly popular fish in many countries, it is still crucial to know about the risks it is creating for one’s health.

Fugu is an exotic species of fish which is known in Japan as a river pig. This is a very peculiar species since it contains a highly toxic substance known as tetrodotoxin which is a highly potent neurotoxin. Not only is it very intensive, but it also does not have any antidotes. This means that once a person gets intoxicated with this substance, it is not possible to give any treatment to him or her.

What is exactly happening in such a case is that the muscles of a human got paralysed whereas the mind of him or her is fully functioning. The paralyses does not allow the person to breath so one is suffocating while staying absolutely aware of the situation. Needless to say, this is a horrible way to die.

The maximum help doctors can offer to a poisoned person is keeping the breathing and heart functions artificially through the equipment hoping the person will be able to survive till the moment when the poison stops working.

Even though eating fugu is thus dangerous, many people are still willing to try it when they are visiting Japan. Presumably, only licensed chefs are allowed to cook it in the restaurants. It is possible to cook the fish indeed, albeit it is a highly complex task. The toxins are concentrated in particular internal organs of the fish such as ovaries and liver.

Interestingly, the fish itself is not toxic at all. The poison of fugu is coming from a special species of bacteria living in the sea which is called Pseudomonas. These microorganisms are synthesising tetrodotoxin themselves. The bacteria are swallowed by other water organisms for instance by a mollusca which is then consumed by fugu.