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And you say Natural Organic is safer than Factory produced?Read:Toxins/poisons in Natural Foods

 
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And you say Natural Organic is safer than Factory produced?Read:Toxins/poisons in Natural Foods
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Natural toxins Food is packed with natural chemicals that are essential to our health, suchas vitamins and minerals. But some foods contain potentially harmfulsubstances called natural toxins.
Most natural toxins occur naturally in just a few foods. Other natural toxins are produced when the food is damaged, or when moulds or other fungigrow on the food.These are some of the foods that can contain natural toxins. Red kidney beans Dried red kidney beans contain natural toxins called lectins, which cancause stomach aches and vomiting. These are destroyed if you soak thedried beans for at least 12 hours and then boil them vigorously for at least10 minutes in fresh water. Tinned kidney beans have already had thisprocess applied and so can be used without further treatment. Green potatoes All potatoes contain natural toxins called glycoalkaloids, usually at lowlevels. But higher levels of glycoalkaloids can be found in green parts ofpotatoes, sprouted potatoes and potatoes stored in light. Severeglycoalkaloid poisoning is very rare, but it's important to store potatoes in adark, cool and dry place and not to eat green or sprouting parts. If you'veremoved the green parts and the potatoes still taste bitter, don't eat them.And if you come across a green potato crisp, it's probably best not to eat it. Apples Mouldy or damaged apples may contain a toxin called patulin, particularlyaround the bruised or damaged part of the fruit. Don't eat mouldy ordamaged apples and don't use them to make apple sauce or juice. Shellfish Toxins formed by algae in the sea and fresh water are called algal toxins.Shellfish such as mussels, scallops and oysters are more likely to containthese toxins than other fish.In the UK, paralytic shellfish poisons (PSP), amnesiac shellfish poisons(ASP), and the less toxic diarrhetic shellfish poisons (DSP) are the mostcommon shellfish toxins.During the period of greatest risk (between April and September) noticesare posted in areas with high PSP, DSP and ASP levels warning people notto eat shellfish caught locally. Fishing may also be prohibited. 1
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Liver and Vitamin A Vitamin A is essential in everyone's diet but if you're pregnant and you consumeexcessive amounts the developing foetus may be harmed. The Government'sChief Medical Officer has advised women who are trying to conceive to avoidtaking Vitamin A supplements. As a precautionary measure, these women arealso advised to avoid food rich in vitamin A, such as liver and liver products. Mouldy foods Moulds are usually visible, but toxins produced by moulds and other fungi –mycotoxins – are invisible and can penetrate food. So even if you remove mouldfrom food, it might still contain mycotoxins. The safest option is to throw mouldyfood away.Moulds can grow on most types of food if the conditions are right. They growfastest in warm, moist conditions. If bread is kept in a warm environment, mouldwill form after only a few days. The best place to store bread is in a bread bin orcool cupboard. Keeping it in the fridge will help prevent moulds forming, but canmake it go stale more quickly.Cheeses with an external mould coating, such as Brie and Camembert, or thosewith mould running through them, such as Stilton and Danish Blue, are safe toeat in normal quantities because the moulds have been deliberately introduced.However, if mould grows on cheese that isn’t supposed to be mouldy, youshouldn’t eat it. Avoiding natural toxins Usually natural toxins will only be harmful if you consume them in largequantities over a long period of time. But you can help to reduce the amountyou eat by doing the following things. • Eat a wide variety of foods. • Throw away foods after the 'Use by' date. • Store food properly. • Don’t assume that if something is 'natural' it automatically means it’s safe. • Prepare and cook foods properly. • Throw away bruised, damaged or discoloured foods. • Throw away any foods that don’t smell or taste fresh, or havean unusually bitter taste. 2 www.food.gov.uk FSA/0486/0302
Anonymous Coward
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04/17/2010 11:07 AM
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Re: And you say Natural Organic is safer than Factory produced?Read:Toxins/poisons in Natural Foods
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One of the great myths of alternative medicine and the health food industry is that natural things are better than artificial or synthetic things because natural is natural and Mother Nature wouldn't want to hurt us. Wouldn't she just? Plants and animals have had many millions of years to evolve ways of protecting themselves against predators and competitors for resources. Humans have had about 100,000 years of hunting and gathering to evolve natural resistance and about 10,000 years of agriculture to breed out the nastiness, and these times are just not long enough to make much difference. We are surrounded by plants and animals which can do us great harm if we are not careful about what we eat, and also by a myriad of fungi which delight in making safe foods unsafe.

The book is divided into three sections - "Dangers we should worry about but don't", "Things we worry about but need not", and "Things we ought to know".

The first section is about the dangers out there which are often ignored because "natural is safe" or simply because people don't know any better. Some of the warnings are well recognised, such as the dangers of rhubarb leaves and anything to do with oleander plants. Others, such as the dangers of moulds, are often ignored because they are secondary to the main event. An example would be a herbal medicine which is harmless if the herbs are kept dry but which can become deadly if it becomes mouldy through bad handling or storage. If you want to be really scared, think about saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin in seafood which can paralyse someone to the point where bystanders think that the they are dead but which leave the victim fully conscious and aware of what is happening. This is the stuff of horror movies.

The second section deals with irrational fears about chemicals. Much of the hysteria about genetically-modified foods, additives, preservatives and other ways man interferes with nature is based on ignorance or fear of the unknown. This is not to say that we should not be careful, but if you are eating in an Asian restaurant you probably should be more worried about zearalenone in the corn and chicken soup or aflatoxin in the sate than about the MSG in the sweet and sour sauce.

The third section of the book gives a good explanation of how to interpret research and statistics, as well as some good advice about exercise.

Some of this book will make you think very carefully about what you put into your mouth and some of it will reassure you, but I recommend it to anyone who wants to find out the reality of food dangers and safety.

About the author:
Jay Mann is a professional plant biochemist. Since his retirement from Crop and Food CRI in 1993, he has been a consultant, preparing reviews on topics as diverse as ways to lower blood cholesterol, feedstuff composition, chicken flavour, and industrial use of enzymes. Food for people has been a lifelong interest.
Anonymous Coward
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04/17/2010 11:09 AM
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Re: And you say Natural Organic is safer than Factory produced?Read:Toxins/poisons in Natural Foods
[link to extoxnet.orst.edu]
Some Examples of Natural Toxins

Each toxin is followed by a short list of some (not all) possible sources

Enzyme inhibitors:
Cholinesterase inhibitors - in potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant.
Protease inhibitors - in raw soybeans
Amylase inhibitors - in wheat flour
Tannins - in tea, coffee, and cocoa
Cyanogenic glycosides - in cassava.
Goitrogens (glucosinolates) - in Brassica species: cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
Lectin proteins (phytohemagglutinins) - in red kidney beans
Lathyrogens - in chick peas and vetch
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids - in crops contaminated with weeds
Antivitamins:
Although not toxic per se, the anti-vitamins can cause problems as a result of their interference with the function or absorption of essential nutrients.
Anti-thiamin compounds - in mung beans, rice bran, beets, Brussels sprouts
Avidin - in raw egg
Anonymous Coward
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04/17/2010 11:10 AM
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Re: And you say Natural Organic is safer than Factory produced?Read:Toxins/poisons in Natural Foods
Naturally-occurring Carcinogens in Food

Although cancer-causing substances are often thought by the general public to be synthetic, there are numerous carcinogens that occur in nature, and in food plants. (Concon,1988)

For example, tannins occur widely in plant foods and we ingest them daily in tea, coffee, and cocoa. Tannic acid has caused liver tumors in experimental animals, and may be linked to esophageal cancer in humans.

Cycad plants are important food sources in tropical regions. Cycads contain cycasin and related azoxyglycosides that were found to cause liver and kidney tumors when fed to rats.

Safrole, which is a liver carcinogen in rats, is found in sassafras tea, cinnamin, cocoa (trace), nutmeg, and other herbs and spices.

Black pepper was found to be carcinogenic to experimental mice. Pyperadine and alpha-Methylpyrroline are secondary amines in black pepper which can be nitrosated to N-nitrosopiperadine, a strong carcinogen.

Although not of plant origin, heterocyclic amines in cooked meats have been associated with stomach and other cancer formation.

Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A are natural toxins made by fungal food contaminants that also cause cancer in animals and humans.

Some scientists maintain that research and regulatory resources have been too focussed on the problem of pesticide residues in food as potential carcinogens, while ignoring the problem of natural carcinogens. Perhaps the most well-known proponent of this opinion is Dr. Bruce Ames. Click here for a summary: POLLUTION, PESTICIDES, AND CANCER: MISCONCEPTIONS. Bruce N. Ames and Lois S. Gold.

How much do natural plant carcinogens contribute to the incidence of cancer in human populations? The answer is still unknown, but the National Research Council has reported that excess calories pose more of a cancer threat than natural or synthetic carcinogens in food.
Anonymous Coward
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04/17/2010 11:11 AM
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