"Bitter food is more nutritious. How come bamboo shoots can cause cancer?" Xiao Liu tortured Xiao Zhang's soul. Here's the thing. Early summer has arrived, and bamboo shoots are sprouting out one after another. As a lover of bamboo shoots, Xiao Liu naturally cannot let them go. J

"Bitter food is more nutritious. How come bamboo shoots can cause cancer?"

Xiao Liu tortured Xiao Zhang's soul. Here's the thing.

Early summer is here, and bamboo shoots are sprouting out one after another. As a lover of bamboo shoots, Xiao Liu naturally cannot let them go. Just a few days ago, Xiao Liu's friend invited her family of three to a farmhouse in the countryside for an outing. She saw that the owner of the farmhouse had the experience of digging bamboo shoots, so she went without thinking.

Soon, Xiao Liu brought back a bunch of bamboo shoots he dug from the farmhouse. Some were fried with meat, some were pickled, and some were dried in the sun. When the time came, he made braised bamboo shoots in oil and ordered His friend Xiao Zhang invited him to his home for dinner, but he unexpectedly said that bamboo shoots can cause cancer. But in Xiao Liu's impression, isn't bitter food more nutritious?

So, are bamboo shoots a carcinogenic food?

1. Good medicine tastes bitter, but bitter food is more nutritious?

In the hearts of Chinese people, the idiom "bitter tastes good medicine" is always on their lips, which leads us to subconsciously believe that bitter food must be more nutritious and have wonderful effects on the body.

So, are bitter foods really more nutritious?

We don’t know how the first person to say this sentence derived the “good medicine” from the “bitter taste”. There seems to be no special relationship between the taste of a food and its nutritional value.

Why did Xiaomiao say this?

Admittedly, we do not deny that many plants belonging to glycosides, terpenoids, alkaloids and other plants are bitter. These substances do have certain benefits for the human body, such as anti-virus, anti-cancer, antioxidant, and Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, etc.

However, more bitter foods are bad for health, or the food is not bitter in the first place, but after it becomes bitter, it becomes poisonous food. For example, Luffa is not poisonous in the first place, but after it becomes bitter, it becomes poisonous, making the eater Vomiting and diarrhea, because the bitter loofah produces toxic substances alkali glycoalkaloids.

Therefore, good medicine tastes bitter, and bitter food is more nutritious. This is a false proposition and is not correct.

2. These 3 types are bitter and bad.

In addition to loofah which is poisonous when it becomes bitter, you should also pay attention to the following two common bitter foods, especially those that are not poisonous in the first place but become poisonous when they become bitter, so you need to be more vigilant.

, Bitter almond

Bitter almond really answers the saying "it is a medicine with three parts poison". It is medicinal but also toxic. What makes bitter almonds a poison is the hydrocyanic acid hydrocyanic acid released after hydrolysis of the laetrile contained in it. Children who eat more than 10 bitter almonds at one time are at risk of death from poisoning. So be careful when eating bitter almonds. Of course, bitter almonds are not completely inedible. When cooked with water, 90% of the toxins in bitter almonds can be eliminated.

In addition, sweet almond is non-toxic, but the appearance of the two is similar, which is confusing, so you should pay attention to the difference. Sweet almonds are larger than bitter almonds, more heart-shaped in shape, and have thicker skin than bitter almonds.

. Bitter Zucchini

Zucchini is originally a sweet food, but once it becomes bitter, it is not only unpalatable, but also poisonous. This is because at this time, cucurbitacin already exists in the zucchini. This toxin is also not easy to remove after heating. Eating bitter zucchini by mistake can cause symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth, and other symptoms in mild cases, or diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and even life-threatening symptoms in severe cases. Therefore, when the zucchini becomes bitter, it is recommended to throw it away and not eat it.

. Bitter nuts

Once nuts become bitter, it is usually caused by mold. Nut foods are easily moldy due to aflatoxin contamination, producing aflatoxins .This is extremely harmful to the liver and is a first-level carcinogen, which means that its carcinogenicity is quite clear. Don't save this kind of stuff, throw it away as soon as possible.

3. Bamboo shoots are prone to bitterness. Is it not only poisonous but also carcinogenic? After

explained to Xiao Liu the question of whether bitter foods are more nutritious, let's return to her most basic question at the beginning, that is, if bamboo shoots have a bitter taste, are they poisonous and can cause cancer?

Indeed, bamboo shoots themselves also contain toxic substances, called cyanogenic glucoside , which can cause numbness in the mouth, dizziness, vomiting, fatigue, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, and even convulsions, coma, and cardiac arrest. Especially those with asthma , chronic bronchitis and other diseases, skin diseases, poor immunity, and allergies are prone to symptoms of discomfort when eating bamboo shoots.

At this point, Xiao Liu was about to jump out and protest. As a lover of bamboo shoots, she has eaten tens of thousands of bamboo shoots and never seen anything happen to him. In fact, many people have eaten bamboo shoots without any symptoms. Why is this?

Because bamboo shoots are not prone to poisoning as long as they are handled properly. The processing method is also very simple: first peel off the leaves of the bamboo shoots, remove the roots, then cut into thin slices, and boil them in light salt water for about 10 minutes. This removes most of the toxins and gets rid of the astringent taste.

Many people who are poisoned by eating bamboo shoots are mostly because they are greedy for freshness and eat them raw or not thoroughly cooked.

In other words, It is true that bamboo shoots contain toxic substances, but eating them normally will not cause cancer.

4. Bamboo shoots are more nutritious than you think

Bamboo shoots are a nutritious food, containing plant protein , dietary fiber, a large amount of carotene , vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, Phosphorus, calcium, manganese, selenium, zinc, potassium and other essential nutrients and trace elements for the human body.

Because it contains so many nutrients, it is called the "first vegetarian food". Its high protein, high fiber and low fat are beneficial to weight loss, intestinal peristalsis and laxatives. The tryptophan, threonine , lysine , phenylalanine in its protein can help the body enhance its immune function.

So bamboo shoots are a food with very high nutritional value. Although there are some toxic substances, as long as they are handled well, there will be no safety issues.

Reference:

[1] Will eating spring bamboo shoots cause poisoning? . Official WeChat ID of , the Affiliated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southwest Medical University. April 29, 2021

[2] Xiao Ming. Bitter almonds can cause poisoning[J]. New Long March: Party Building Edition, 2017

Reprinting without authorization from the author is prohibited