Today our wiki-thought will be centered around food, drink, and toxicology. As the saying goes "If it tastes good, it's probably bad for you". This is surprisingly true. An obvious example is of course alcohol. Most of us enjoy alcoholic beverages yet we know that if consumed in excess they lead to a large number of undesirable side affects. But what about things we thought were safe? What if most of what we consume is in fact toxic?

Follow up:

Water, if consumed in sufficient quantities will cause death. Most would consider this a remote worry, but remember, the reason we have Gatorade is because excessive water intake is a serious concern when salt is depleted, such as during intense exercise or sports. Andy Warhol died due to complications resulting from excessive water intake. While I'd love to be able to suggest we all stop drinking water entirely and switch to top shelf cocktails, I can't really do that in good conscience. Alcohol is rather toxic in quantities less that water, but fortunately tastes sufficiently good that we are still willing to consume it.

I know you tea drinkers are smirking, thinking you've got us water and beer drinkers beat. You're wrong, however. Some teas are also toxic such as chamomile tea which contains coumarin. Coumarin (used as a rat poison) is a naturally occurring plant toxin which for people has a suggested daily intake limit of just 6mg. Coumarin is also found in some vanilla extracts, cinnamon, and woodruff (used in some wines).

It isn't just a few spices and extracts that are toxic. Other examples of natural toxins in food plants include lectins in beans (green beans, red and white kidney beans); cyanogenic glycosides in bitter apricot seed, bamboo shoots, cassava, and flaxseeds; glycoalkaloids in potatoes; 4’-methoxypyridoxine in ginkgo seeds; colchicine in fresh lily flowers; and muscarine in some wild mushrooms. Spinach and rhubarb contain oxalates, parsnips contain psoralens, egg whites contain conalbumin which binds up iron, and alfalfa sprouts contain canavanine. Every one I just listed can cause real problems if consumed in excess and you should be aware that most of these toxins are rendered less harmful by cooking.

What can we make of all this information and where is my wiki of the week link? Well, it's actually much simpler than you might think. I'm not advocating that we all stop eating and drinking. I'm not even advocating that we stop drinking chamomile tea or enjoying cinnamon on apple pie. What I am suggesting however, is that we just stop worrying quite so much about whether this week margarine is less toxic than natural butter. Unless you eat only potatoes, or make milkshakes out of raw alfalfa sprouts, you have very little to worry about. Moderation is once more the key or "Sola dosis facit venenum" as a very wise man once said (it is the dose that makes it a poison). Worry actually causes stress and that is just as bad for our bodies as a few toxins.

With the idea of just not worrying quite so much, I leave you with the Wiki of the Week, the Lotophagi, or lotus eaters. There are two lessons to learn here. The Lotophagi are a supposed race of people who lived on an island or peninsula off North Africa. They ate only a variety of lotus which induced a 'peaceful state' (if you tend to liberal ideals) or 'apathy' (if you tend towards conservative ideals).

We could use a bit less stress and worry, so enjoying a peaceful respite is a very good idea. Just don't eat only lotus to get there.