"Winter melon water" is used to cool down in some areas of the south, but poisoning due to drinking winter melon water has also occurred frequently.
Not long ago in Dongguan, a grandmother fed 4-year-old granddaughter to drink 100 ml of winter melon water, and soon the child had abdominal pain, dizziness, sore throat, cyanosis of lips and limbs and other symptoms of nitrite poisoning, fortunately after symptomatic treatment, the child was out of danger.
Why does drinking winter melon water also cause nitrite poisoning?
It turned out that the "winter melon water" that the girl drank was not a fresh soup boiled with winter melon, but a winter melon juice formed after cutting the winter melon into small pieces and putting it into a clay pot, closing the lid tightly, fermenting and precipitating for three or four years.
For example, the winter melon water involved in the incident has been sealed for 4 years, and the nitrite content has been greatly improved, which eventually led to the occurrence of poisoning incidents.
Oral intake of a relatively large amount of nitrite in a short period of time will cause acute poisoning and cause tissue hypoxia.
Poisoned people will show dizziness, nausea, vomiting, the whole body skin and mucous membranes appear to varying degrees of blue-purple and other symptoms, if not treated in time, can be due to lack of oxygen and death. In general, adults ingesting 0.2 to 0.5 grams of nitrite can cause poisoning, and 3 grams can cause death.
In addition to acute poisoning, nitrite is also one of the culprits in stomach and esophageal cancer, and is listed as a Class 2a carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Therefore, everyone should avoid excessive consumption of foods containing more nitrites in life. In fact, vegetables (such as winter melon, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, leeks, etc.) and fruits contain nitrates, but in general, it will not cause poisoning, only under specific conditions or special foods, the nitrate concentration is higher, and there is a possibility of poisoning.
Here we remind everyone that the following 4 types of foods contain high nitrite, and daily consumption should pay special attention.
1. Vegetables and fruits should be eaten as soon as they are fresh, and avoid being left for too long. Vegetables should be properly preserved to prevent rot, and for rotten and spoiled vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, they must be discarded and not eaten.
2. Try to eat as little leftovers as possible overnight. Correct handling of leftovers: If you want to eat vegetables cooked once in two meals, you should divide them into two portions immediately after cooking, rather than refrigerating after eating the leftovers.
3. Do not eat a lot of pickled vegetables. It can be eaten after marinating for less than 3 days or more than 21 days, and fresh vegetables are used when pickling.
4. Eat less cured meats. When buying cured meat, pay attention not to choose too bright colors, in addition, it is best to buy cooked meat products from regular manufacturers, and buy less small workshop products that cannot be guaranteed in quality.
In daily life, you can also eat some foods that have the effect of removing nitrites, such as onions and garlic. When cooking vegetables, you can add them appropriately, for example, you can mix onions, garlic with vegetables, cured meats and other cold mixes, leave them for more than 10 minutes and then eat them.
Fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C should also be consumed. Vitamin C can prevent the formation of nitrosamines in the stomach, and foods rich in vitamin C also inhibit the carcinogenic mutation of nitrosamines.
In addition, often drink oolong tea, green tea and other tea drinks, tea polyphenols also help to remove nitrites.
Department of Clinical Nutrition, Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Professor Yu Kang
Welcome to learn nutrition and health knowledge with Professor Yu Kang of the Department of Nutrition of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and eat healthy and eat beautiful! Pay attention to the headline number of "Eat three meals a day"
Yu Kang
Professor and Director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Member of the Nutrition Standards Committee of the National Health Commission
Director of the Chinese Nutrition Society