Eating Persimmons, Growing Stones in the Stomach
Have you ever heard of stones growing in the stomach? Consuming a large number of unripe persimmons, fresh unprocessed persimmons, or persimmons with their skins and pits on can cause a phytobezoar, or stomach stone.
This is because persimmons contain a significant amount of tannic acid. The tannic acid combines with proteins in the stomach to form an insoluble tannic acid protein, which deposits in the stomach. Combined with the pectin, gelatin, and food residue from the persimmons, these substances "join forces,"凝聚成块 (condensing into a mass) to form a stomach stone, medically known as diospyrobezoar. Small phytobezoars can pass through the pylorus into the intestines and be excreted with feces, while large stones cannot "get out" and remain in the stomach for a long time, causing symptoms such as stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. In addition, black jujubes and hawthorn can also cause stomach stones.
To prevent diospyrobezoar, first avoid eating unripe persimmons on an empty stomach. After eating high-protein foods like fish or meat (such as shrimp, dog meat, etc.), you should not eat persimmons immediately afterward. If diospyrobezoar occurs, medical attention is required. The stone can be crushed through an endoscopic biopsy or removed through surgery.
Eating Pineapples and Contracting Pineapple Disease
Pineapples are delicious and juicy, making them irresistible. However, pineapples contain bromelain, and people with allergies may have an allergic reaction after eating them, leading to pineapple disease. Generally, symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, flushed and itchy skin, and urticaria appear 15 minutes to 1 hour after consumption. The patient's limbs and lips may feel numb, and in severe cases, difficulty breathing or even shock may occur.
If an allergic reaction occurs, the person should be sent to the hospital for treatment with antihistamines like chlorpheniramine and diphenhydramine. In severe cases, corticosteroids and other comprehensive treatments are used.
The way to prevent pineapple disease is to peel the pineapple, remove the "eyes," slice it, and soak it in salt water for 30 minutes to destroy the bromelain. This can prevent the disease. Those who have had allergic reactions to pineapples in the past should avoid eating them.
When Oranges Turn Red, Your Body Turns Yellow
Citrus fruits are popular, but eating too many can cause the skin to turn orange-yellow, especially on the palms, soles, nasolabial folds, and around the nose. This condition is medically known as carotenemia or xanthoderma, also called skin orange disease. Some people who eat too many carrots, tomatoes, or pumpkins can also develop this disease. This is because these foods contain carotene; if consumed in excess, the amount of carotene in the blood increases significantly. However, the liver cannot convert the excess carotene into vitamin A, leading to a marked increase in carotene in the skin, which turns orange-yellow.
Although orange disease is not a serious condition, it is often mistaken for hepatitis and causes panic. Although the skin is yellow, the sclera (the white part of the eye) is not, and bilirubin levels in the blood are not elevated, which helps to distinguish it from hepatitis.
The preventive measure is to avoid eating too many citrus fruits or the aforementioned foods. If the skin turns yellow, stop eating these fruits and vegetables immediately, drink plenty of water to increase urine output, and the yellowing will generally subside within a few days.
Indulging in Lychees, Children Become Faint
The sugar in lychees is mainly fructose. After overeating lychees, there is an excessive amount of fructose in the blood that cannot be used by cells (especially brain cells), while the amount of glucose, which can be used by cells, is very low. This leads to symptoms of hypoglycemia. The patient may suddenly experience dizziness, palpitations, pale complexion, cold sweats, fatigue, and a feeling of hunger. In severe cases, coma, convulsions, a weak pulse, and irregular breathing may occur.
Therefore, during the lychee season, it is not advisable to eat them in excess. If the above situation occurs, have the patient lie down flat and drink sugar water. In severe cases, they must be sent to the hospital for treatment.
"Beauty" Fruits, Beware of Poisoning
With the prosperity of the market economy, the fruit supply has broken through the previous seasonal and regional restrictions. Unscrupulous vendors, for a small profit, often "beautify" and "reshape" fruits to make them plump, round, fresh, and tempting. Their tricks include: soaking lychees in dilute sulfuric acid to keep them fresh and red; soaking pale, whitish peaches in laundry detergent for several hours, which transforms them into brightly colored, pink-tinged fruits that are hard and astringent to the taste; spraying immature grapes with plant hormones to make them large and red, but they taste sour and astringent; and using expanders on kiwifruits, which can make a single fruit weigh over 120 grams, but the skin is rough and the flesh is coarse.
Therefore, when buying fruit, people must pay attention to two things: first, don't just be fooled by the appearance; second, always peel your fruit. Although fruit peels contain more vitamin C, pesticides on the peel are not easy to wash off.
In addition, for rotten fruits like sugarcane, remember this saying: "It's better to eat one fresh peach than a basket of rotten apricots."
In fact, the reasons why healthy people get sick from eating fruit can be boiled down to three:
First, "excessive import" (overeating), such as orange disease and lychee disease.
Second, "improper import procedures" (improper methods of eating), such as pineapple disease and diospyrobezoar.
Third, "imported goods" are spoiled or contaminated, such as moldy sugarcane poisoning or poisoning from fruit preservatives or pesticides. As long as you guard against these three risks, you can safely enjoy your favorite fruits.