Why eat pea seeds can die?

Jicama is a familiar, sweet and easy to eat and has many health benefits. However, users absolutely should not eat seeds because they can die.

What is jicama?

According to Oriental medicine, bean tuber, also known as water cassava tuber, has a mild sweetness and a refreshing coolness. The root contains 80-90% water, 4.51% glucose, 2.4% starch and many other nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C necessary for the body.

In addition, legumes are rich in vitamin C, which boosts the immune system. High in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, aids in treating asthma and shortness of breath. Many studies also show that people who eat more fiber can reduce the risk of high cholesterol.

MSc. Dr. Nguyen Dam Chinh - Center of Poison Control, Bach Mai Hospital said: "The bean plant, whose scientific name is Pachyrrhizus erosus , belongs to the legume family, is grown in many places for the purpose of taking tubers for food (98% is Although the tubers are very good, the seeds contain toxic inedible Rotenon , which is used to produce pesticides and cure skin diseases (scabies, sores). in leaves but with lower content ".

Jicama has a mild sweetness and freshness.

Dr. Chinh said that with cases of botulism related to pea mainly due to intentional, there are only a few cases of misuse after processing into scabies or insecticide.

There is no specific antidote

The mechanism of toxicity of Rotenon in beans has not yet been fully understood. However, there are a number of mechanisms that can contribute to Rotenon's toxicity to the human body, such as: inhibiting NADH enzymes in the membrane-binding complex I in the mitochondria, resulting in inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation. Thereby reducing aerobic metabolism reaction and increased lactate proliferation; Inhibition of cellular respiration leads to increased formation of hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) , free oxidative radicals, and programmed cell death.

Talking about the symptoms of pea poisoning , Dr. Chinh said: the day after eating the food containing this toxin, the patient will show poisoning from 5-40 minutes. Symptoms can progress rapidly and severely can occur within 2-5 hours. If well controlled, the most severe symptoms can resolve after 4-7 hours.

"Nuts are hard seeds, so they can slow down the absorption of Rotenon so the symptoms may appear late and last longer than 12 hours. If not well controlled, blood pressure drops and the metabolic acidosis lasts. can lead to death or sequelae survival , " warned Dr. Chinh.
Manifestations of bean poisoning include: abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, increased salivation, tachycardia, abnormal hypertension. Even stopping the circulation in the body takes place very quickly, the pupils dilate .

He also said that before there were studies on five cases of Rotenon poisoning after eating porridge boiled with bean roots, the heaviest person showed signs of severe metabolic acidosis increased lactic acid, fast-moving coma, copper. dilatation and acute circulatory failure. The remaining 4 eat less, transient symptoms mainly recovered from the gastrointestinal tract and fully recovered with supportive treatment.

" Rotenon poisoning in pea seeds does not have a specific antidote, but its damage happens very quickly, so the management attitude needs to be positive and urgently to save patients," Dr. Chinh recommended.

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