When eating, we generally find food that we think tastes great. Others like to focus on how healthy a certain food is before eating it. In any case, food is essential to all of our being. It is speculated that the body can only last two weeks without eating before it starts to break down due to lack of nutrients. Of course this number changes, depending on body mass, weight, etc.
However, have you ever stopped to think, while shoving a nice red ripe apple into your mouth, that you may be eating something poisonous? Many don’t know it, but a lot of the common day foods that we eat are toxic! Here is a list of ten toxic and poisonous foods us humans just can’t say no to.
10. Cassava (Yuca)
Though not too widely used in the United States, cassava is a woody shrub that is generally found in the Caribbean and South America. When using cassava, it can either be made to be sweet or bitter. The taste, as well as the smell, all depends on the amount of cyanogenic glucosides, which are in fact, extremely poisonous. Most who prepare it like it to be bitter, as it keeps away insects and even animals. If cassava is prepared incorrectly, it can be deadly. Cassava poisoning, due to high levels of cyanide
Interesting fact: Cassava roots are ground into a flour-like substance which is then used to make tapioca. Cassava leaves contain cyanide but if pounded into a paste with flour and left in the shade for 5 hours, the cyanide is broken down.
9. Pufferfish
Pufferfish stand to be the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world. Though you won’t find pufferfish in the U.S., many in Korea as well as Japan find some parts of the fish to be delicacies. However, certain organs of the fish, such as the liver, as extremely toxic, and can be deadly. The poison in the fish, known as tetrodotoxin, can cause numbness, high blood pressure, and muscle paralysis, which is what leads to death as the diaphragm muscles become paralyzed, disabling breathing. Known as fugu when eaten as a meal, many in Asian countries refuse to stop eating the fish.
Interesting fact: Pufferfish has been made illegal to be eaten by the Emperor of Japan.
8. Mushrooms
There are about 5000 types of mushrooms known in the U.S. and about 100 of them are said to be toxic, while less than a dozen are deadly. In any case, mushrooms can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Since mushrooms are fungi and the fact that there are so many species, it can be hard to know which are poisonous. As rule of thumb, it is usually said that any mushroom found in the wild are more than likely poisonous. One of the deadliest types of mushroom toxins is Alpha-amanitin, which causes extreme liver damage. Toadstools, as they are called, are the poisonous mushrooms.
Interesting fact: There are 38,000 known kinds of mushrooms; about 5% of these are toxic.
7. Cashews
Though really seeds and not nuts, cashews grow inside of a shell-like structure that grows on a fruit. When buying “raw cashews” in the store, take note that these nuts have actually been steamed and are not entirely raw. This is because raw cashews contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that you’d find in poison ivy. It can cause the body to have a very similar reaction to one experienced from poison oak or ivy. If a high level of urushiol is ingested, it can be deadly. Cashew poisoning is rare, but those who handle them in order to manufacture them to get the shell off sometimes experience the side-effects.
Interesting fact: Cashews come from a fruit, which in South American countries, is eaten, and the seeds (cashews) are then thrown away.
6. Chilies
You’ve probably eaten a chili or two in your life. No matter if it was an extremely hot one, or one that was pretty mild, every chili you have ever consumed has contained a chemical called capsaicin. In chilies, capsaicin is what makes them spicy and “hot.” Of course one chili won’t hurt, but if you eat enough of them, capsaicin can kill you. The chemical is so strong that it is used as a paint stripper, and it is even used in pepper spray used by police forces. In hotter chilies, such as habaneros, capsaicin can be felt on the skin if you cut the chili, as it will produce a burning sensation.
Interesting fact: Chilies are extremely high in Vitamin C. One green chili pod is said to contain about 6 times as much Vitamin C.
5. Potatoes
We’ve all heard something or another about potatoes. Whether it is the potato famine, some Irish story, or some other historical event centered on potatoes, one thing you may not have heard of is that potatoes are toxic. The stem and leaves of the plant are toxic, and even the potato itself is toxic. If you’ve ever looked at a potato, you may have realized that some turn a greenish color. This is due to levels of glycoalkaloid poison. In the past, there have been deaths due to potato poisoning. It is rare, but most happen due to someone drinking potato leaf tea, or eating green potatoes. Death doesn’t come suddenly. It usually results in weakness and then a coma. Don’t worry about having the occasional green potato chip, but do discard any potatoes that have green eyes, sprouts, or greenish skins, rather than prepare and serve them, especially to children.
Interesting fact: Potatoes make great food for astronaut! In fact in 1995 potato plants were taken into orbit on the Columbia and actually grown.
4. Almonds
Almonds, most always said to be nuts, are actually seeds and are extremely popular in kitchens around the world. Much like cashews, almonds are extremely poisonous if not introduced to some sort of heat source. It is generally the bitter almonds that need to be treated to get rid of the poison. The seeds are full of cyanide, and in many countries are illegal to sell without having been processed in order to get rid of the poison within the seed.
Interesting fact: Almonds are said to be one of the earliest cultivated foods, being mentioned in the Bible’s Old Testament.
3. Cherries
Cherries are definitely one of the most versatile fruits. You can eat them raw, cook them, bake them, and get them tart or sweet. Cherries can even be used in certain types of liquor. Despite their overall red goodness, cherries are toxic. If you’ve ever eaten a cherry and without thought chewed on the pip or left it in your mouth, you more than likely introduced hydrogen cyanide into your body. If a cherry pip is chewed, crushed, or somehow damaged, it automatically produces hydrogen cyanide. Symptoms of mild poisoning include headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, and vomiting. Larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and kidney failure. Reactions can include coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest.
Interesting fact: Cherries contain extremely high amounts of Melatonin which is good for helping and keeping the body regulated.
2. Apples
Apples are definitely a popular fruit no matter where you go. Like others on the list, and many other types of fruits, apples contain cyanide, but not in high levels. The fruit itself does not contain the chemical, but you will find cyanide in the apple’s seeds. Eating all of the seeds in one apple won’t kill you, but it’s definitely not recommended. Of course, if enough apple seeds are eaten, this means chewed and swallowed, it can result in complications.
Interesting fact: Apples float because at least 25% of their mass is nothing but air.
1. Tomato
Despite the extreme popularity of tomatoes and many countries, it is true that they are poisonous. Though the fruit itself doesn’t contain poison, the stem as well as the leaves contain a chemical known as glycoalkaloid. Higher levels are said to be found in wild tomatoes, but those grown domestically still contain glycoalkaloid. This chemical is known to cause upset stomachs and nervousness. The leaves and stem can be used in cooking for flavor, but must be removed before eating. This chemical is so powerful that it is actually used as a way to control pests.
Interesting fact: In 1893, in the U.S. Supreme Court case Nix v. Hedden, it was argued whether or not a tomato was a vegetable or a fruit, which dealt with taxes being paid on vegetbles and not fruits. In the end, the court ruled that a tomato is a vegetable when referring to the Tariff Act, but is botanically a fruit.
Honorable mentions: Rhubarb, Nutmeg, Raw kidney beans and Castor oil
69 Comments
If 25% of the MASS of an apple were air, then it would occupy over one cubic foot. Maybe 25% of the VOLUME is air. Maybe 18%.
Some mis-information here.
Mushrooms are NOT fungi.
Bitter almond is extremely healing, has anti-cancer properties. “Bitter” is very good for liver processing. A blanket fear of cyanide is generally misplaced.
I once spoke with a friend who is a particle physicist and was told if you were to eat 8 million bananas in one go you are liable to die of radiation poisoning. To which I replied “If you eat 8 million bananas in one go, radiation poisoning will be the least of your worries!” – I think that is true for most things in this list.
The leaves and stems of tomatoes? I have never seen a recipe including either
Why do you always wait to mention that cherries pits are poisonous? How dare you say that? Why don’t you include in the list of food that fried food like in oil are toxic, and all forms of sugar? Get real and stop trying to scare us with your nonsense? Cherries are delicious and we have to get at the pit in order to consume the outer fruit of the cherry. So please don’t try to scare us and instead try to use some common sense!
Good points to consider, Anne. We aren’t trying to scare anyone. Even our title mentions the word love. 😉
Cassava, puffer fish, mushrooms, cashews, chillies ~ normal food for my tribe. I grew up in Borneo. I never knew they were poisonous.
It’s too bad almonds are poisonous, for they are my dad’s favorite food.
Such a bad, sensationalistic piece of pseudo-journalism. It’s like saying “Fish is bad for you, especially if you swallow the bones”. All the food listed by the person who wrote this piece indeed contain poisons, but generations of humankind, through trial and error, have determined what can and cannot be consumed safely. Otherwise, nobody would be eating eggplants and tomatoes now because they belong to the nightshade family, of which some members are indeed deadly. Stop putting forward these scare articles about perfectly good and healthy food!
Am dam too confused with the presentation and with so much Yes and No from people’s comment.
How funny, the mushrooms they decided to show in the picture of ARE edible and QUITE efficacious!
Nonsense!!! I grew up eating lots and lots of almond right off the tree (and even unriped almonds that has soft green shells) and never ever was “poisoned” or heard anyone else in my country got poisoned as a result of eating “unheated” almond!!! Millions of people in central/Western Asia have the same experience as almond trees are everywhere!
Not unheated almonds but the wild bitter ones
Everybody needs a certain amount of cyanide in their diet in order to remain healthy. True, that too much is obviously not a good thing, but a small amount now and then (from chewing on the seeds of fruits that contain cyanide) is great for one's health. Cyanide can get into cancer cells (which we all have in our bodies) and destroy them outright. Our ancestors would have eaten the seeds from fruits – because they are extremely nutritious, however, nowadays most of the fruits and vegetables we buy are hybrids and some of them are bred to be seedless, in other words they are sterile foods.
Chillies contain an oil called capsaicin which is a fairly innocuous compound and they won't kill you. I've never heard of capsaicin being used in paint stripper, personally I can't see how this is possible. The oil binds to the same nerves that send a signal to the brain when somebody eats something hot (these are not only present in the mouth but in and on other sensitive areas of the body) – which in turn causes the body to release endorphins (the body's own pain killer), and hence the fact people get 'addicted' to eating hot peppers. Some peppers contain more of this oil that others and the level of capsaicin in each pepper is measured in scoville units. Other than that chillies are an innocuous fruit and won't do any harm.
If capsaicin was hot enough to strip paint then wouldn't people experience something similar to that of drinking pipe cleaner after eating them? In the sense that they only tend to burn in the mouth and then we don't experience any more burning until we urinate (sometimes the urine can burn if you eat a super hot pepper) or for a faeces (sometimes you will experience a slight burning sensation just before going if you have eaten hot peppers the night before et cetera). There is this misconception that because chillies burn the mouth that they are obviously causing serious problems elsewhere in the body, but it's not true at all. Did you know that birds don't experience any burning at all when they eat chillies?
I learned while working at a zoo, that it is not a good and safe practice to chew on cyanide containing fruit seeds because our bodies do not ever get rid of cyanide. It continues to accumulate in your body for your entire life. If you were to chew on seeds once in a while for your whole life, you would eventually accumulate enough of the toxin to make yourself quite sick. This point was made over and over to us because animals are even more sucepptible to the toxin than humans, and we had to be extremely careful whIle preparing their meals.
This article is interesting. I wonder if that's why some people have heartburn with tomatoes. Where I am from, it's known that many of the foods we eat are toxic but we are taught from an early age how to prepare them to get rid of the toxin and what part of the fruit/food to avoid.
Some foods are toxic becuase of the containers they've been stored in :http://bit.ly/cKYJHK
Ok, so now I know that tomato leaves and the like are poisonous. I am never eating tomatoes AGAIN! NOT EVER! Please, could you stop ruining people's appetites, because I love tomatoes!
Chemical substances are found everywhere, but the quantity is what makes the difference. So it´s much safer to eat any of the food listed here than a hamburger or a pizza.
wow, nice to know that… being in a tropical country, all of the above i've tried, nearly on a daily basis, except for the puffer fish… it was once quite popular here in some posh japanese restaurants but not now i think… anyway, thanks to tomthumb, james, kelly, deborah and pepperman for the additional info!! keep it up!! cheers…
I felt this list was sensationalized and ignorant. Like so many web misinformation sites this just plays to peoples fears and has no practical information and lots of facts are incorrect. If you want real information on nutrition and foods go to an encyclopedia or the USDA.
Dissapointed
Agreed. This is a good example of lazy research and inaccurate, sensationalistic writing.
Hey Herbal Ed, nice to hear from you. I just drove through Oregon, next time am heading up your way I would love to check out what herbs you think are useful and easy to grow in SF. I would like to incorporate more helpful herbs to my clients gardens.
Thanks
Mark Russell
http://barefoot-gardener.blogspot.com/
"Interesting fact: Apples float because at least 25% of their mass is nothing but air."
Not quite. At least 25% of their VOLUME is nothing but air, which means they are less dense than water, so they float. If 25% of their MASS were nothing but air, apples would be extremely delicate and nearly weightless wisps of fruit.
Wow, what a nice presentation or listing! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Certainly, this will not stop me from eating many them, but the awareness or alerts here certainly inspires me to be more careful.Thanks!
You forgot what may be #1 – alcohol. When was the last time you thought about the literal meaning of "intoxicated?"
"Interesting fact: Chilies are extremely high in Vitamin C. One green chili pod is said to contain about 6 times as much Vitamin C."
As what?
As a normal chili
The green colour of potatoes is not glycoalkalides, but chlorophyll. The chlorophyll is produced at the same rate as the glycoalkalides, however.
Eating the occasional green potato should not cause you much trouble (aviod them if you are pregnant tho'), the glycoalkalides are concentrated in the roots (or eyes), so don't touch them.
P.S.
"Much like cashews, almonds are extremely poisonous if not introduced to some sort of heat source."
Same for green beans and tomatoes. Always steam/cook them before adding to foods or salad.
Uncooked green beans have phasic acid that is toxic. However, those with G6P4 disorder may have to avoid for life. Consult a nutritionist before starting any new diet.
what?! raw tomatoes are not toxic! check your facts.
I don't think so….best not to try the leaves of the raw ones 😀
“Sweet” almonds … as opposed to “bitter” almonds … are NOT toxic and I have eaten many at a time right off the almond tree.
Use your common sense. Many tons of RAW uncooked tomatoes are eaten every day worldwide. Where do they hide all the bodies?? It’s the green plant that’s toxic, not the red fruit.
Although I yet have time to check into every food but there's some things that people need to be aware of.
Vitamin A in its wholesome form (in carrots, apples, etc) is not toxic – no matter how much carrots or apples you eat. At the most you just appear more orange/red!
But when you extract Vitamin A from these foods into other foods and into vitamin capsules, they can become toxic. That is to say – try to avoid HIGHLY PROCESSED foods and synthetic vitamins.
Similarly, eating egg whites without the egg yolk can be dangerous. There are certain things in egg-whites that are the "job" of the egg-yolk. So sometimes it's not only whether a food is toxic, but how you process it or how you eat it that makes food toxic.
You're MORE likely to get a tummy ache (or die) from say processed canned tomatoes than whole tomatoes anyway. I personally steam tomatoes as I know it increases antioxidants in them, and the process may also kill most toxic.
The cyanide found in apples are of such low levels and they are also neutralized by other phyto-nutrients of the apples. And apple is the fruit with the most anti-oxidants if you can't get a variety of fruits to eat (berries, aloe vera, pineapples, avocado, etc).
Old folks' tales about food poisons are usually true but if at all unsure, refer to CTM (Chinese Traditional Medicines) or Ayuverdic. Both use food as medicines for centuries without side-effects.
I look up Herbreference.com and Plantcures.com amongst many other sites. A lot can be learned from those sites as well.
Thanks for allowing this discussion!
Actually, you can't get true vitamin A from any plant source… What you can get from plant sources are carotenoids, which your body can convert to vitamin A if you're a healthy adult. (Infants can't make the conversion, and children and adults with certain conditions make it poorly.)
But yeah, I have a hard time believing that anything that comes in a capsule is as good as what comes in food.
Eating egg whites alone is not toxic. If it was left to listen to people like you, we should all stop eating everything imaginable and just DIE already. I can type the name of any possible food on google and add “poison” to it and see someone commenting about how it’s poison and shouldn’t be eaten.
So I have looked up all of the top 10 poisonous foods and checked if they are true. Here is my findings.
#1 Tomatoes poisonous
According to wikipedia they are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycoalkaloid
#2 Do apples contain cyinaide
According to Snopes.com yes
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/apples.asp
#3 Does a cherry pip have hydrogen cyanide in it.
According to the UK Government they do. Also Ben said they do as his parents have a cherry tree in there back yard.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/top…
#4 Almonds poisonous?
According to Wikipedia they are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide Read the part called Occurrences.
#5 Potatoes poisonous
Refer to #1 tomatoes. Both are a nightshade plant and both contain glycoalkaloid poison.
#6 Can Chili peppers kill you?
According to Wikipedia yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin Read the section called Toxicity.
#7 Cashews
According to wikipedia yes Cashews contain urushiol which is found in poision ivy and the like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_con…
#8 Mushrooms toxic
Yes that is true. Ben has a plant book that talkes about many of the plants you would find in the wilderness and what is or is not safe to eat. Mushrooms is in there. Also Wikipedia says that mushrooms are toxic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_poisoning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poisonous_pl… Here is a list of poisonous plants.
#9 Puffer Fish poisonous?
Yes according to Wikipedia they are. Also I have heard about this on cooking shows.
#10 Cassavas
Yes they are poisonous.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327163.10…
I think you should find some more credible sites….anyone who has taken any university courses will know that Wikipedia is less than credible!
Universities are not credible!
They are a hindrance to true knowledge (see Proverbs in the Holy Bible)
Awesome info man! did not know that Cassava is toxic!!!
Can I add one more: SOYA BEANS
Unfermented soya beans have toxic phytic acid.
Many green beans have phasic acid that can only be rid after you've steamed or cooked it.
Edemame beans (popular in Jap restaurants) are usually slightly steamed and salted – delicious!!
Indeed. Actually, all unfermented grains have various amounts of phytic acid as well. Not that soy is a grain…
Holy cr4p! his face was all screwed up!!!!!!
oh my god did u see that guys face that is horrible i hope he's alright. HOLY CRAP!
Trevor, that video was a joke, so I'm sure he is fine.
This article is pure bs. Most of the items listed in this article is healthy for you.
Apples, Almonds, Tomatos, & Potatoes
One green chili pod has 6 times as much vitamin C… as what? The sentence is incomplete!
Compared to a normal red chilli
Nutmeg is poisonous. It is a hallucinogenic drug that can cause death.
Apple seeds, cherry stones, and the kernels inside the pits of apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums. All poisonous!
Mold on corn, peanuts, barley, wheat, oats, and beans. Yep, poisonous.
Tuna, mahi mahi, sardines, mackerel, and Swiss cheese, all might contain Scombrotoxin, a poison.
Subtropical and tropical marine finfish, such as barracudas, groupers, mackerel, snappers, jacks, triggerfish, and many other species of warm-water fishes might have eaten toxins found in many dinoflagellate.
Red kidney beans are toxic when raw.
Rhubarb leaves can kill when eaten.
Parts of Elderberry trees, besides the flowers, are poisonous.
Castor beans are so deadly that just one can kill you. And your grandma made you eat castor oil, right?
The bitter alkaloid Theobromine can can cause sleeplessness, tremors, restlessness, anxiety, as well as contribute to increased production of urine. Additional side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.
Guess what food that's found in?
Chocolate!
Best to just stay away.
About the castor oil…no Granny almost certainly didn't make anyone drink it. It's a strong laxative, so it wouldn't be taken internally very often, although the oil is not nearly as toxic (or not toxic?) as the bean.
You're probably thinking of cod liver oil.
Although not as popular today in America, castor oil is a very common, orally-ingested, laxative that is still prescribed in USA and worldwide as a safe and effective remedy for constipation. However, the castor oil is processed by heat to destroy it’s deadly poison, ricin.
Ounce-for-ounce, ricin is the second most deadly poison in the world. Number one is plutonium.
Has anyone ever put a pork chop in a container of Cola? It dissolves it….eats away in a slow process but scary to think most people drink cola everyday.
Yeah… that video is sensationalized. Many shows have done this and it doesn’t dissolve it. To dissolve, you would need to let it stay in the Cola long enough to rot down.
I'm rather surprised of the scare tactics on this list, especially numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7.
7. Yes, the shell causes a rash on your skin just like poison ivy, but a cashew poisoning death, really? Please, I'd love to see the facts on that one.
6. Chilies have been covered.
5. JulesB, just cut the green parts off & you'll be fine using the rest of that potato. You'd likely have to consume 4+ pounds of green potatoes at one sitting to even hurt you. The sprots are bad for you too, but just pick them off if any are growing.
4. Yes, the truly raw bitter ones are bad. Anything you buy in the store is perfectly fine.
3 & 2. Just list every frakin' seed of every fruit here. In general all seeds are harmful in massive doses, but you'd have to eat a half cup or more of apple seeds, chewing thoroughly, very fast to kill you. You body is made to handle normal amounts of swallowed or even chewed up seeds.
1. Let me sum it up, "The fruit is perfectly fine, the rest of the plant is poisonous." That's a number one? Better list Rhubarb leaves too. But who would ever want to eat tomato or rhubarb leaves anyway?
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHERRIES ARE POISIONOUS! (BTW- wat's a 'pip'? )
To answer Lindsey, a pip a small seed of a fruit…
If i remember correctly, ONLY bitter almonds are initially toxic.
Great list although I am slightly shocked by the green potatoes – I hate wasting food and often come across the odd green potato in my veg box and never thought twice about eating it – I might now!
Me again, I thought of a new #1 for your list because I realized in my 80-100 cups of coffee example, you might die of Hyponatremia before you died of caffeine overdose.
WATER
Yes, you can die from drinking it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/
She drank 2 gallons (7.5 liters) over approximately two hours in that contest, and died from water intoxication. Granted, had they served pretzels or peanuts during the contest, she might be alive today.
And not just drinking contests, runners die from water too (drinking too fast without electrolytes, or lack of water).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london…
Sounds like I have a budding writer on my hands. If you are interested in writing a list for this site, send me an email at [email protected]
being dehydrated when u exercise is common sense…college hazing rituals r not common sense..just torture and not comparable to peppers…I am only a person that cannot handle spicy foods…idk u both have good points
Of all the real videos of people eating bhut jolokias you pick the most obvious fake for the list?
"The chemical is so strong that it is used as a paint stripper," This statement is absolutely false. Methylene chloride, a known carcinogen, is the active solvent found in many older paint strippers and is sometimes found in cheap pepper sprays. Maybe that's what your writer got confused on.
There's is no chemical reaction with Capsaicin, it's basically a mind-trick, making your body think it's on fire. It's nature's way of repelling mammals, insects and other pests that might eat the plant's fruit/seeds. With no chemical reaction, I highly doubt it'll be more effective on paint than water.
It is used in pepper spray, as the main ingredient. The natural, police level, pepper sprays contain 3-5 million SHU (unit of measure of how hot a pepper is) compared to 1 million SHU in a bhut jolokia pepper, and around 2-5 thousand SHU in a jalapeno pepper. Pure Capsaicin is 16 million on the scale.
Capsaicin sprays can be used as a pest deterrent in your garden since most pests don't like the "heat" so to say.
Capsaicin is a natural anti inflammatory, and is sometimes used in pain treatments for postsurgical neuralgia, shingles, and even some radical cancer treatments.
And while it's true that SEVER overexposure to pure Capsaicin can cause death, but guess what? SEVERE overexposure to almost any substance in the world does exactly the same thing. Drink 80-100 cups of coffee in fast rapid succession and I bet you'll die of a caffeine overdose, per its LD50.
Okay, I thought it was funny. I'll put another video with more realism. Any suggestions before I pull one from youtube? Please reply to this comment with any better youtube videos with people eating peppers.
Thanks for all the additional information, Pepperman.
If I eat anything hotter than a bell pepper, like jalopenos or habaneros, I get very sick…yes it burns through my whole body causing ulcers…and yes I have seen paint stripped or say melted from spicy peppers…all u need is juice and sunlight…my sickness from them is like food poisoning…went to emergency room once cause I had bad reaction…similar to allergic but my body just can’t any of that…some people react differently….even burns my throat & esophagus all the way down….heartburn…swollen tongue…many probs…but also may make difference if store bought compared to homegrown.
Not sure I believe all of these. Can you explain to me how the Tunisians happily eat piles of uncooked almonds straight from the tree? They're not particularly tasty, but they didn't cause me any side effects.
This article is full of partial- or mis-information. Actually “bitter” almonds are very poisonous … but not so the commonly-eaten “sweet” almonds as this article states. Also, the same exact poison is found in cassava, and these fruits in the rose family of plants: bitter almonds, cherry pits, apple seeds, plum/prune pits, apricot pits, etc.
Also, same poison is found in both tomato plants (not tomato fruit) and potato plants … and they’re both in the same botanical family (nightshade family) … as the deadly belladonna.
Herbal Ed you nailed it, misinformation, partial and half truths. Not only that, poor grammar “many in Asian countries refuse to not eat the fish.” poor proof reading “cherry pips”. Information not consistent with the title, we don’t eat tomato stems, we don’t eat cherry pits or bitter almonds or apple seeds. I could find no capsicum (peppers) deaths that were not related to pepper sprays. Toadstools are generally the ones with the red caps and white dots that you see in fairy tale book and they are called Amanita muscaria and do not contain Alpha-amanitin, they contain Ibotenic acid, muscimol, and muscarine, which are not actually toxic. Alpha-amanitin is found in the “death cap (Amanita phalloides) as well as the destroying angel, a complex of similar species, principally A. virosa and A. bisporigera. It is also found in the mushrooms Galerina marginata and Conocybe filaris.”(from wiki) But not the toadstool and most people don’t eat those either. 5 out of 10 make this article an alarmist piece of crap that is mostly disinformation and just plane lame.
Ash Grant (the author) would have gotten an F if he turned this in as a Jr. High assignment.
Andrew wood: Not sure I believe all of these. Can you explain to me how the Tunisians happily eat piles of uncooked almonds straight from the tree? They’re not particularly tasty, but they didn’t cause me any side effects.
I can explain why. It’s because this article is poorly researched and contains a bunch of inaccuracies.
Bitter wild almonds are poisonous, and sale of them is forbidden in most countries. Domesticated almonds all descend from mutant trees that didn’t produce cyanide.
I am now officially spooked about eating almonds and I love almonds. Some things are better left unknown.