Improperly consumed delicacies can also become poison
Every food has an ideal, which is to become delicious; that is its mission. Every delicacy has an expectation, which is people's praise; that is the recognition of its sacrifice. No one intentionally makes a poison to watch life struggle under their hands. As long as there is sufficient communication and errors are avoided, delicacies will always be delicacies.
Lychee
Lychee is a treasure among fruits, with a beautiful color, sweet taste, and rich nutrition. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that lychee contains the quintessence of the five elements, and can benefit the spirit, improve intelligence, and strengthen qi. However, lychee contains a substance that can lower blood sugar. The more you eat, the lower your blood sugar will be. If not treated in time, it can lead to death.
× Eat 300 lychees a day.
√1. Lychees should not be eaten as a meal. Do not eat more than half a jin (250g) a day, and consume them half an hour after a meal.
2. If you soak the lychees with their skin in light salt water, then chill them in the refrigerator before eating, it can not only prevent "heatiness" but also improve the texture.
3. There is a folk remedy: drinking water infused with lychee shells can neutralize the toxicity of lychees.
Soy Milk
Soy milk is recognized as a healthy food. In this DIY era, we choose to grind our own soy milk for hygiene. It should be noted: raw soy milk contains saponin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Soy milk is also a "poison" good at disguising itself. Before its toxicity is truly eliminated by boiling, it will "fake boil". That is, when soy milk is heated to 80°C, foam will appear, and as the temperature increases, more and more foam will form, resembling a boil, but it is not actually fully boiled, and the toxins still exist.
× Add raw soy milk while boiling soy milk.
√ When boiling soy milk, first use high heat, then switch to low heat when foam begins to overflow, until the foam gradually disappears. Soy milk bought from outside should also be re-boiled.
Ginkgo (Bai Guo)
This very Zen-like fruit is not only tender and fresh but also has beauty and medicinal value. However, the kernel contains ginkgolic acid and ginkgol, which are irritating to the skin and gastrointestinal mucosa. After poisoning, the initial symptoms are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and loss of appetite, followed by restlessness, fear, and strange cries, gradually progressing to limb weakness, and even difficulty breathing, pulmonary edema, and coma. Contact with the kernel and the fleshy outer skin can also cause dermatitis.
× Ginkgo nuts cannot be eaten raw. The maximum for cooked nuts is 4-5 per day. Eating 10-50 can be dangerous.
√1. When eating, remove the green embryo from the kernel. Avoid contact with the nut.
2. Once poisoning symptoms appear, drinking a decoction of 30g of ginkgo shells can be a remedy.
Mulberry
Bencao books of past dynasties have held mulberry in high regard, believing it has the effects of nourishing yin, benefiting the kidneys, nourishing blood, and promoting fluid production. However, the volatile oil in mulberries is irritating to the digestive tract, can inhibit various digestive enzymes in the intestines, causing cell poisoning and death, and can even lead to bloody enteritis and nosebleeds. Some people are also allergic to mulberries, experiencing diarrhea, redness of the face, and swelling and itching in the ears, nasal passages, upper eyelids, and throat.
× Being greedy
√ Mulberries are very cold-natured. Do not eat too many, especially those with a weak spleen and stomach or loose stools.
Nuts
Nuts are a staple in snacks, but many nuts are toxic before processing. Nuts that can easily cause poisoning include bitter peach kernels, loquat kernels, flax seeds, bayberry kernels, plum kernels, cherry kernels, and apple kernels. They all contain hydrocyanic acid, which can kill cells. Even sweet almonds can cause poisoning if eaten in large quantities at once.
× Eating raw
√1. Do not eat untreated nuts. Since there are so many ready-to-eat sweet and salty nuts in the supermarket, let's support them and not DIY our own.
2. If you really want to experience life, you must peel the nuts and remove the tips, soak them in hot water for a day, and cook them without a lid to allow the toxic hydrocyanic acid to fully evaporate.
Fresh Daylily (Huang Hua Cai)
Daylilies, also known as Hemerocallis, sound beautiful, but they contain colchicine. Colchicine itself is non-toxic, but it becomes highly toxic after being oxidized in the human body, causing strong irritation to the digestive and respiratory systems. Symptoms typically include a dry throat, nausea, diarrhea, and even bloody stools.
× Directly stir-frying.
√1. Follow the old tradition: dried and rehydrated daylilies are absolutely safe.
2. If you must eat them fresh, be patient. Colchicine is water-soluble. Blanching fresh daylilies in boiling water and then soaking them in cold water for more than two hours will prevent poisoning.
Spinach
Spinach is rich in nutrition and the favorite of Popeye. However, spinach contains a large amount of potassium oxalate, which forms insoluble calcium oxalate when it encounters calcium. Potassium oxalate can enter the bloodstream, travel through the body looking for calcium to bind with, and precipitate wherever it goes, causing damage: precipitating in the brain damages the brain, in the heart damages the heart, in the kidneys damages the kidneys, and in the digestive tract it hinders the body's absorption of calcium. When blood calcium levels decrease, bone calcium will be released to compensate, and the calcium we diligently supplement ends up "meeting" it.
×1. Potassium oxalate is water-soluble, so drinking spinach soup is dangerous.
2. Stir-frying spinach is also not ideal. With the oil coating, potassium oxalate does not easily dissolve into the broth, so it is eaten along with the spinach, creating a higher chance of chronic oxalate poisoning.
√ The safest and most nutritious way to eat it is: boil the spinach, discard the water, and then eat it cold. Drinking more water after eating spinach can also reduce the chance of calcium oxalate formation.
Green Beans (扁豆)
Green beans are a vegetable available all year round. They themselves contain toxins: hemagglutinin and saponin. They are irritating to the gastrointestinal tract. After poisoning, one will vomit and have diarrhea, and it can even cause human red blood cells to agglutinate and hemolyze. Some people mistake them for snow peas: blanching them briefly in boiling water and then stir-frying them over high heat. While this makes them look good and taste crisp, it is very easy to cause poisoning.
× Stir-frying over high heat
√1. Green beans are an ugly vegetable and must be cooked thoroughly. Even after stir-frying, add an appropriate amount of water and simmer over low heat for more than 10 minutes until they look soft and unattractive and have no raw bean taste.
2. When buying beans, choose young ones. Old green beans are more toxic. If you are impatient,东北油豆 (Northeast oil beans) are best avoided, as it is very difficult to cook this "large green bean" thoroughly to remove the poison.
3. Before cooking, remove the tips and the string from the green beans, as these parts are the most toxic. It is best to soak them in water for 15 minutes first.
Ricefield Eel (Huang Shan)
Ricefield eels have always been considered a great tonic. Li Shizhen, a medical expert of the Ming Dynasty, believed that eels are especially suitable for women, as they can replenish qi and repair deficiency. Histidine in the eel's body is the main component of its umami flavor, but after death, histidine rapidly decomposes into toxic histamine. Histamine poisoning can cause rashes, dizziness, vomiting, and diarrhea, and in severe cases, it can be fatal.
× Using dead eels in cooking
√ Ricefield eels must be bought live. Because 24 hours after death, every 100g of dead eel can contain up to 200mg of histamine, turning it from a great tonic into a great poison.
Fresh Jellyfish (Xian Hai Zhe)
Old vinegar jellyfish head is not only delicious but also very nutritious. However, jellyfish contains a large number of pathogenic bacteria—Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can easily cause acute gastroenteritis with symptoms similar to dysentery. In addition, symptoms such as fever, dehydration, acidosis, shock, and confusion can also occur.
× A rough-and-tumble method like for a normal cold salad.
√ Vibrio parahaemolyticus is most sensitive to acid and generally dies after 5 minutes of soaking in vinegar. It also has difficulty surviving in fresh water. Therefore, first soak the jellyfish in fresh water for two days, then rinse it repeatedly. After cutting, soak it in vinegar for more than 5 minutes and add some minced garlic, which is sufficient to kill all the bacteria.
American Ginseng (Xi Yang Shen)
American ginseng has always been considered a top-grade tonic because it does not cause "heatiness" or dryness, and has certain anti-fatigue, anti-hypoxia, and refreshing effects. Some people carry lozenges with them to get through our dog-like work lives. Although American ginseng is non-toxic, it is cooling in nature. Taking too much can cause aversion to cold, a drop in body temperature, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Some people may also experience menstrual pain and prolonged periods.
× Self-prescribing for tonification
√ It is best to follow a doctor's advice when taking ginseng, and take it in small, frequent doses, with 2-8 grams per dose being appropriate. It should not be taken especially when you have a cold, cough, or acute infection.