If you have a fish bone stuck in your throat, do you drink vinegar or eat steamed buns? Be careful! Improper handling may cost you your life.

Recently, #Don't drink vinegar or eat steamed buns when you get fish bones stuck# has become a hot topic on Weibo. Fish is an indispensable delicacy on the table. Although it tastes delicious, there are news reports of fish bones stuck in fish every year. The most common way for the older generation to deal with fish bones stuck in fish is to drink vinegar, eat steamed buns or rice. However, these treatments actually hide great dangers!

01 Can drinking vinegar soften fish bones? Be careful of digestive tract damage

Let's talk about the vinegar method first. First of all, most vinegar has a short-term contact with fish bones, and the softening effect is not obvious; although relatively high-concentration vinegar is more effective in softening fish bones, the acidity will cause discomfort to the human body and also cause damage to the esophagus and gastric mucosa.

This view is supported by the literature:

According to my country's vinegar standards, the total acid concentration is 3.5g/100ml[1], which is not a high concentration. If you want to enhance the softening effect of fish bones, you need to soak the fish bones completely and for a long time in vinegar of appropriate concentration. In other words, the main factor in softening fish bones is pressure rather than vinegar concentration. [2]

Therefore, drinking vinegar alone, which only causes short-term contact with fish bones, cannot achieve the softening effect we expect, and drinking too much vinegar may also damage the digestive tract.

02 Can fish bones be swallowed by eating steamed buns or rice? Be careful not to get stuck deeper

If the previous method is ineffective, then this method is dangerous! In February of this year, such an incident happened in Hangzhou:

Ms. Liu had a fish bone stuck in her throat, so she swallowed steamed buns and rice balls. As a result, she not only failed to swallow the fish bone, but the pain increased instead of decreasing. The fish bone almost pierced a large blood vessel in her neck. Thanks to Ms. Liu's timely medical treatment, the tragedy was avoided.

Image source: News screenshot

The way to swallow the steamed bun is purely a matter of luck, depending on the location and depth of the fishbone. If you are unlucky, not only will you not be able to swallow the fishbone, but it will stick deeper, increasing the degree and scope of the injury.

You think the way a fish bone is stuck is like this:

Image source: Dingxiang Doctor

In practice, it might look like this:

Image source: Dingxiang Doctor

Therefore, if you are lucky, you can swallow it, but if you are unlucky, it will only get deeper and deeper, and you may even die. Risking your life to take a chance, the cost is too high!

03 What to do if you have a fish bone stuck in your throat! ① Stop eating: Stop eating immediately, do not swallow any food, and do not make any swallowing movements.

② Try coughing: If the fish bone is very small and inserted very shallowly, you can cough a few times to see if you can use the airflow to make the fish bone fall off.

③ Use tweezers: If the fish bone is visible, ask your family to help you remove it with tweezers.

④ Seek medical treatment promptly: If you cannot handle the problem yourself, do not use folk remedies indiscriminately and be sure to seek medical treatment promptly.

04 How much fish is appropriate to eat? [3] Fish is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and high-quality protein. Studies have shown that:

People who consume 300g of fish per week have a 6% lower risk of stroke and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommends: 280g~525g of fish per week, an average of 40~75g per day.

However, the fish intake of Chinese residents generally does not meet the standard. A survey from 2010 to 2012 showed that the average daily per capita intake of fish and shrimp in my country was only 23.7g, which is only half of the minimum recommended intake.

How much should you eat to get the recommended 40-75g (here refers to the weight of raw fish)? After cooking, it is about as much as shown in the picture below:

Image source: taken by myself (65-70g of raw fish, the weight after cooking is about 50g)

To sum up: Eating fish in moderation is good for your health. It is recommended to use light cooking methods, such as steaming or boiling, and try to avoid braising and frying.

If a fish bone accidentally gets stuck in your throat, try to pull it out first. If not, go to the hospital immediately. Do not try unreliable folk remedies such as drinking vinegar, swallowing rice or steamed buns, etc.

References:

[1]. GB 2719-2018 National Food Safety Standard for Edible Vinegar

http://down.foodmate.net/standard/yulan.php?itemid=53160

[2]. Wang Jianhui, Liu Dongmin, Liu Yongle, et al. Optimization of freshwater fish bone softening process conditions[J]. Food and Machinery, 2011, 27(2): 109-111. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1003-5788.2011.02.033.

[3]. Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.88-100.

This article was first published on the Science Refutation Platform