Attention! Eating unripe beans can cause poisoning!

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. As a common dish, beans often appear on people's tables. Cold cowpea salad, minced meat and green beans, stir-fried beans, lentils and meat stew... Although beans are not rare, they are dangerous. Beans contain toxins. If you accidentally eat unripe beans, you will be poisoned. What causes this? How to avoid bean poisoning? In addition to beans, are other vegetables also poisonous?

0 1Are beans poisonous?

Eating beans will not cause poisoning, but eating unripe or undercooked beans can cause poisoning.

Carob poisoning is mainly caused by hemagglutinin and saponin. Hemagglutinin is a protein that can reversibly bind to specific monosaccharides or polysaccharides. It exists in the seeds and nutritional organs of many plants and can be decomposed and destroyed at high temperatures. The toxicity of hemagglutinin is mainly manifested in its ability to bind to specific parts of the surface of small intestinal cells. This binding can have obvious adverse effects on the physiological functions of intestinal cells. The most serious is the damage to gastrointestinal cells, absorbing nutrients such as protein and sugar from gastrointestinal cells, thereby leading to nutrient deficiency, inhibiting growth, and in severe cases, causing death.

Saponin, also known as saponin or saponin, is a general term for oligomeric ligands of steroids or triterpenoid compounds. It belongs to the glycoside class and exists only in the plant kingdom. It is named because its aqueous solution can form persistent foam. The toxicity of saponin is mainly reflected in its hemolytic property and the toxicity of its hydrolysis product sapogenin. Sapogenin can strongly irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing local congestion, swelling and inflammation.

In addition, the toxins in beans are also related to the variety and toxicity of beans. For example, some varieties of beans contain toxic ingredients, such as pod gelatin in the pods. These toxic substances may cause poisoning if not properly handled. In addition, beans that have been stored for a long time will produce nitrites, which can also cause poisoning. If beans are not cleaned properly or expired or spoiled beans are consumed, it may also cause bean poisoning.

0 2What to do if you get poisoned by beans?

Bean poisoning usually occurs within 10 minutes to 4 hours after consumption, and is mainly manifested by gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and abdominal distension. Some patients experience chest tightness, palpitations, cold sweats, numbness of the limbs, chills, dizziness, headaches, and palpitations. In severe cases, vomiting, dehydration, hematuria, jaundice, and shortness of breath may occur.

Once you eat unripe beans and experience symptoms of poisoning, if the symptoms are mild, no special treatment is generally required. You can rest quietly and stop eating beans. You can induce vomiting on your own. After vomiting and diarrhea, the symptoms will gradually improve and heal on their own.

For severe cases, seek medical attention immediately. It is recommended to prioritize emergency treatment and perform gastric lavage or induce vomiting to promote excretion of poisons.

0 3How to avoid bean poisoning? Cook thoroughly

Because the toxic substances contained in beans can be destroyed by continuous high temperature, they must be cooked properly before eating and cooked thoroughly until the original green color disappears and there is no raw taste or bitterness to avoid improper consumption.

Pay attention to storage

Store the purchased beans properly, pay attention to their freshness, and avoid eating spoiled beans.

Understand your personal constitution

Some people are particularly sensitive to substances in beans and are prone to poisoning symptoms. Therefore, when eating beans, you should understand your personal physical condition and avoid feeding them to people with allergies.

0 4Be careful with other foods too!

In addition to raw beans, some other foods may also cause food poisoning!

Rich in oxalic acid Amaranth, purslane, spinach, fresh bamboo shoots, wild rice stem, bitter melon and other vegetables with a bitter taste. Too much oxalic acid will affect the body's absorption of nutrients such as calcium and iron, and even increase the risk of stones and cause damage to the kidneys; oxalic acid is soluble in water, and most of the oxalic acid can be removed during the blanching process.

High nitrite content Most leafy vegetables such as celery, fennel, wormwood, toon, etc. It is best to blanch them for 1 minute before eating. It is best not to store these vegetables for too long. The longer they are stored, the more nitrite they contain.

Raw ginkgo contains hydrocyanic acid toxins, fresh daylily contains colchicine, and cassava root contains cyanogenic glycosides, so they must be cooked thoroughly.

Sprouting is toxic. When potatoes sprout, they produce solanine, which can paralyze the nerves. It is not recommended to eat them raw or cooked.

In addition to what you eat, you should also be careful about what you drink. Raw soy milk contains saponins, trypsin inhibitors and other harmful substances. Drinking it before it is cooked will cause poisoning symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. When the soy milk in the pot boils and foams appear, it may be a "false boiling" phenomenon with a temperature of only 80°C. You should reduce the heat, stir it thoroughly, and wait until the foam disappears completely until it boils.