Do you always like to eat food when it's very fresh? In fact, in daily life, people have the concept that you must eat food while it's still fresh, otherwise you always feel that the nutritional value has been lost. But did you know? Not all foods can be eaten when fresh. For some foods, eating them fresh can have the opposite effect. So today, the editor will tell you which foods you absolutely must not eat when fresh. Come and find out.
Fresh Daylilies
Jia Jianbin advises avoiding eating fresh daylilies. Fresh daylilies contain colchicine, which, after being absorbed by the intestines, can be converted into a toxic substance in the body, causing poisoning in the consumer.
In contrast, dried daylilies undergo processes such as steam fumigation and sun-drying during production, which can remove most of the colchicine, making them safer.
Colchicine is water-soluble. Therefore, if you eat fresh daylilies, you must first blanch or boil them. It's also best to soak dried daylilies before consumption.
Fresh Wood Ear Mushrooms
Actually, dried wood ear mushrooms are safer than fresh ones. Because fresh wood ear mushrooms contain a special component called "porphyrin." Porphyrin is a photosensitive substance. After consuming fresh wood ear mushrooms and being exposed to sunlight, it can trigger phytophotodermatitis and may also cause skin itching, with symptoms of redness, swelling, and pain appearing on exposed parts of the skin.
Dried wood ear mushrooms are finished products that have been sun-dried. During the sun-drying process, most of the porphyrin is decomposed. Before consumption, they are soaked in water, and any remaining toxins will dissolve into the water, making the rehydrated dried wood ear mushrooms non-toxic. It should be noted that the water for soaking dried wood ear mushrooms should be changed several times.
Fresh Pickles
Fresh vegetables contain a certain amount of nitrate. During the salt-pickling process, it is reduced to nitrite. After the concentration reaches a peak, the nitrite is gradually utilized or decomposed by bacteria. Nitrite has certain carcinogenic properties.
Generally, the highest level of nitrite in pickles occurs between two to ten days after the start of the pickling process. Therefore, it is best to eat pickles after they have been pickled for at least twenty days.
Fresh Milk
There have been reports of farmers leading their cows to the street to milk them on the spot, which is quite popular among citizens. However, Jia Jianbin points out that this practice is not advisable.
This is because freshly milked milk contains bacteria, such as *Brucella* and *Mycobacterium tuberculosis*, which can easily cause zoonotic infectious diseases.
In addition, the "fresh milk" from this method cannot guarantee the hygiene of the milking environment, the disinfection of containers, or the health of the milker. Therefore, it is safer for consumers to buy milk from regular manufacturers in supermarkets.
Fresh Jellyfish
Fresh jellyfish contains a lot of water, has a thick body, and also contains toxins. Only through repeated washing with salt and alum (commonly known as "three-alum processing") can the fresh jellyfish be dehydrated, allowing the toxins to be flushed out with the water.
Jellyfish that has undergone two-alum processing should be light red or light yellow, evenly thick and resilient, and no water should be squeezed out even when pressed firmly. This kind of jellyfish is safe to eat. When traveling to jellyfish-producing areas, you may encounter vendors selling jellyfish that has not been treated or has only been salted once or twice. Do not taste or buy it.
Bottled Water
The bottled water sold on the market, whether it's distilled water, mineral water, or other purified water, mostly requires ozone as a final disinfection treatment before being bottled. Therefore, freshly bottled water will contain a relatively high concentration of ozone.
For humans, ozone is a toxic substance. If you drink bottled water while it's "fresh," you will undoubtedly ingest this toxin into your body. If you leave this bottled water for 1-2 days, the ozone will naturally dissipate.
According to regulations, bottled water must pass inspection before it can leave the factory, and this process takes 48 hours. Therefore, bottled water that has been inspected and released according to regulations is safe.
Fruits in the Orchard
When fruits are ripe, many orchards hold picking activities, and many people think that eating fresh fruits picked directly from the tree is more enjoyable.
In fact, any fruit in an orchard nowadays is inevitably sprayed with pesticides and may also have some pests and diseases. If you eat it without washing, disinfecting, or peeling it right after picking it from the branch, the harm is considerable.
Fresh Wild Vegetables
Many citizens love to eat natural fresh wild vegetables when visiting scenic spots.
In fact, many of these natural wild vegetables now grow near garbage dumps or polluted rivers, making them very difficult to clean thoroughly.
Eating contaminated wild vegetables can be harmful to your health instead.
New Tea
From a nutritional perspective, the nutritional content of the freshest tea is not necessarily the best. This is because so-called "new tea" refers to tea that has just been picked and has not been stored for a month. Because these teas have not been left to rest for a period of time, some substances that are harmful to health, such as polyphenols, alcohols, and aldehydes, have not been fully oxidized.
Drinking new tea for a long time may cause uncomfortable reactions such as diarrhea and bloating.
New tea is even worse for menopausal patients, and people with a lack of gastric acid or elderly patients with chronic gastric ulcers and hepatitis B are even less suitable for drinking it. New tea can irritate their gastric mucosa, causing gastrointestinal discomfort and may even worsen their condition.