Come on Trog - open up!
Gavin, I like almonds. I'm not after any health effect but I keep a bowl of them in the kitchen and grab a couple as I walk past. I have assumed that they don't have cyanide at all. Are you able to confirm that?
Can they be affecting my mental function and causing me to favour AMMs (how's that for back on topic?)
Rosie
Goodness me, you lot! I post a perfectly innocent comment and you all jump to conclusionsHaving led a very sheltered life, I was completely unaware of claims made for the effects of birdfood on humans. In my experience, sunflower seeds (or maybe pumpkin ... perhaps someone can 'prescribe' something for my memory!) are very effective at clearing out the digestive tract.
Can any of the chemists tell me whether 'natural colouring - anthocyanins' are related to the poison in question?
Isn't that the basis of the problem?Originally Posted by Rosie
You can take things a wee bittie too far Nellie!
From Wikipedia -
The bitter almond is slightly broader and shorter than the sweet almond, and contains about 50% of the fixed oil that occurs in sweet almonds. It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on a soluble glucoside, amygdalin, yielding glucose, cyanide and the essential oil of bitter almonds, which is nearly pure benzaldehyde. Bitter almonds may yield from 4–9 mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond.[18][19] Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally, but even in small doses, effects are severe, and in larger doses can be deadly; the cyanide must be removed before consumption.[20]
So, same thing in almonds only (presumably) less of it as I've never heard anyone warn about eating a handful of kernels each day. I frequently do and I'm still here.
I can declare with total certainty that anthocyanins are nothing to do with cyanide, different molecules entirely and definitely healthy things to eat. The only link is the etymological one - cyano meaning blue.
Hi Gavin
It's really nice of you that you are so concerned that I could poison myself.
But I have good reason to be confident that I'll be fine:
When my mother used to breed little parrots the favourite food of the pigeon-sized birds were apple kernels. They would eat lots of them without any adverse effects. This surprised us, especiallly considering the low bodyweight of the birds they should have dropped dead. - Instead they thrived.
I can also confess that I have already eaten more than 50 kernels in one go: when I got them delivered first I just loved the flavour and snacked on them, as they taste a bit like marzipan.
Now I stick to my small ration every day though, as my boyfriend got a bit worried when he saw me munching them.
Maybe you can tell me how long I have to survive on this ration to prove that it is not toxic?
And to get a bit of balance into this discussion I'll see if I can find some documentation to counter the info you came up with.
Just as a matter of interest,herself got stung on the arm yesterday and immediately applied a commercial Aloe based cream to the stung area,This completely relieved the itching and reduced her swelling to zero.Perhaps we should chew some Aloe plant and prevent shock ? if we get stung.(said he-very much tongue in cheek)
I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones who have absolutely no reaction to stinging ,or could it be that I have now kept bees for over 40 years??.
Last edited by GRIZZLY; 30-04-2012 at 08:16 AM.
I'm sure that Doris would be up for chewing her way through one of these (the plant not the lady) ....
Watch out for the little teeth along the edge of the leaf, Doris. The Food Standards Agency say that you should eat only two of the little teeth per day ...
Seriously though, anyone else use Aloe vera cream to relieve stings?
Doris - if you stop posting on here again we'll know that you've poisoned yourself!
I've used witchhazel creams/gels before now which seem to help alleviate the itching around stings. I seem to vary in my reaction to stings, sometimes not at all, sometimes lots of redness and swelling. Antihistamines really don't agree with me when I've been stung, having read suggestions around the place to take them before inspecting "just in case", or after being stung. for the most part I just get rid of the sting and accept I'll probably be sore for a few days.
Does that mean that as long as I am posting on here I am still alive?
Re aloe: I have some plants at home but don't really use them. I wouldn't eat the green outside of the leaves - where the little teeth are - as it will bring on diarrhoea.
Grizzly, the fact that your body has learned how to deal with bee stings is a sign that your immune system is healthy and that your food contains a good part of the nutrients it requires.
Leatrile ad other bitter substances used to be a lot more common in our diet:
One of the problems with our food is that well meaning plant breeders have over the centuries bred most bitter compounds out of the plants we eat. Whatever is left is usually removed by the processing.
We are naturally attracted to sweeter tasting foods, but they used to be rare. Now most people in Western societies don't have the habit to eat anythig bitter anymore, to the detriment of our bodies which need it for optimal function.
Keep your food as natural and varied as possible and include all sorts of herbs ad spices to get those special molecules that your system needs, a bland diet of ready meals might have calories and the basic starch/protein/fat, but not the vitamins, minerals and enzymes that keep us in top form.
I'll vote for the sentiment in that final paragraph too, Doris, on the desirability of diversity in the diet and reducing the processed food intake.
It isn't just plant breeders in recent centuries but people for millenia have been selecting and using more palatable plants. I profess to know something of potatoes. What a boon it was to the first Andean peasant, realising that they didn't have to go through a long de-bittering process to make potatoes palatable. All they had to do was replant some of these tastier ones and come back at the end of the season. All that tiresome drying in the sun, and a month-long soaking before drying again became redundant. But traditions being what they are, even today they repeat the old ways with some special potatoes and at the same time reap the benefits of ease of storage for the lean seasons.
Yes Doris, posting on SBAi is a clear statement of continuing survival. I've never yet known a ghost to post on here, so if you can see your own posts you know that all is well. It not just a sign of life but probably something good for the soul. Highly recommended to one and all!
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