10 Common Foods That Should Not Be Eaten Raw
1. Avoid eating fresh daylilies raw.
Fresh daylilies contain colchicine, which turns into a highly toxic substance, colchicine oxide, in the human body. Consuming just 3-20 milligrams can be fatal.
2. Avoid eating raw water chestnuts.
Regularly eating raw water chestnuts can lead to the ingestion of Fasciolopsis buski (intestinal flukes), which attach to the intestinal lining and can cause intestinal ulcers, diarrhea, or facial swelling.
3. Avoid eating raw sugar.
Mites are often found in raw sugar, and eating it can easily lead to acariasis. Mites are tiny, hairy insects invisible to the naked eye that reproduce quickly in sugar. If ingested, mites can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, and ulcers. If they enter the lungs, they can lead to hemoptysis and asthma. If they enter the urinary tract, they can cause urinary tract inflammation. Therefore, it is best not to eat raw sugar; it should be heated (to about 70°C for 3 minutes) before consumption.
4. Avoid eating raw honey.
When bees make honey, they often collect pollen from toxic flowers. When this toxic pollen is incorporated into the honey, consuming raw honey can lead to poisoning. Furthermore, honey can easily be contaminated with bacteria during harvesting, transportation, and storage. Therefore, raw honey should not be consumed.
5. Avoid eating fresh wood ear mushrooms.
Fresh wood ear mushrooms contain porphyrin-like photosensitive substances. Eating them raw can cause solar dermatitis, and in severe cases, lead to skin itching, swelling, and pain.
6. Avoid drinking raw soy milk.
While soy milk is delicious and nutritious, drinking unboiled soy milk can cause systemic poisoning. This is because raw soy milk contains harmful components such as trypsin inhibitors, phenolic compounds, and saponins. Trypsin inhibitors interfere with protein digestion and absorption; phenolic compounds give soy milk a bitter and beany taste; and saponins irritate the digestive tract, causing vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. They can also destroy red blood cells and produce toxins, leading to systemic poisoning.
7. Avoid eating raw river fish.
The eggs of liver flukes develop into cercariae in snails in rivers and ponds and then parasitize in fish. If raw river fish is eaten, the liver flukes can enter the human body, mature into adults, and cause conditions like cholangitis, which can even progress to cirrhosis.
8. Avoid eating raw crabs and lobsters.
Raw crabs carry metacercariae of lung flukes and *Vibrio parahaemolyticus*, while lobsters serve as intermediate hosts for lung flukes. Eating raw crabs and lobsters allows lung flukes to enter the human body, causing lung damage. In severe cases, it can lead to intestinal inflammation or intestinal congestion and edema.
9. Avoid eating raw eggs.
The avidin in egg whites binds to biotin in the intestines, preventing the body from absorbing it. Raw eggs also often contain *Salmonella* bacteria, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
10. Avoid eating raw beans.
This category includes beans like lima beans, kidney beans, green beans, sword beans, and winged beans. Poisoning from beans is caused by a toxic protein called "lectin," which is most abundant in mature or older beans. Beans should be boiled or heated over high heat for at least 10 minutes to destroy this lectin. When stir-frying beans or using them as a filling, ensure they are thoroughly cooked. Even for cold bean salads, they should be boiled for 10 minutes.