Source: People's Daily News
Lentils are also known as four season beans, knife beans, beans, kidney beans, it is not only delicious taste, but also rich in nutrients, each 100 grams of lentils contain protein 25.3 grams, fat 0.4 grams, sugar 55.4 grams, dietary fiber 6.5 grams, in addition to containing sterols, phospholipids (mainly phosphoesthanolamine), sucrose, cottonose, glucose, starch, cyanidine, tyrosinase and so on. Lentils are good, but if they are not cooked properly, they may also cause poisoning.
Why are lentils poisoned?
Lentil poisoning is associated with two toxins contained in lentils, namely saponin and erythrocyte lectin. In simple terms, saponin has a strong stimulating effect on the gastric mucosa, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and other digestive tract symptoms; erythrocyte lectins can destroy the oxygen-carrying function of red blood cells, so that red blood cells agglutinate, which in turn causes poisoning. Lentil poisoning generally occurs in some collective canteens and is often caused by improper cooking methods, such as:
1, in the use of boiling water blanched lentils, rapid fire fried lentils, if the time is short, or the temperature is not high enough, it is difficult to destroy the natural toxins in the lentils, if people eat such lentils it is easy to be poisoned.
2, the chef of the collective canteen in the frying of lentils, because the pot is large, the amount is large, so often can not be evenly fried, which makes the lentils not cooked thoroughly, its toxic ingredients are not fully destroyed, it is easy to cause poisoning.
3, some people in order to pursue freshness, just soak the lentils in boiling water to eat, this practice is more likely to cause poisoning.
What are the manifestations of lentil poisoning?
Lentil poisoning generally occurs between 1 hour and 5 hours after eating, mainly manifested as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, dizziness and other symptoms of acute gastroenteritis; in severe cases, hemolytic symptoms, such as pallor, jaundice, low back pain, soy sauce-like urine and shortness of breath, etc., if not treated in time may be life-threatening.
How to prevent lentil poisoning?
1. Try to choose tender lentils when buying lentils.
2. Before cooking lentils, it is best to remove the tips and pods at both ends and soak them in water for 15 minutes.
3, lentils must be cooked thoroughly, when cooking must be heated to 100 ° C, and continue to cook for a period of time, so that it loses the original green, hard and bean fishy taste.
4, for large lentils, such as Northeast lentils, etc. need more attention, you can appropriately extend the cooking time.
What should I do after lentil poisoning?
1. If the symptoms are mild, you can drink 500 ml to 600 ml of water first, and then use your fingers or chopsticks to stimulate the throat, the root of the tongue, etc. to induce vomiting artificially, so repeat 2 to 3 times, and then observe the symptoms, at this time, if the symptoms are significantly relieved, there is no need to seek medical treatment.
2. If there are serious symptoms such as hematemesis, dyspnea, and yellow skin staining, you must seek medical attention in time.
Author: Wu Ping, member of the Shanghai Cardiac Rehabilitation Committee and director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University