Did you know that we could overdose not only on drugs but also on common food items we have in our kitchen?
We are not talking about eating more than what we should and gaining excess weight. We are talking about a true condition of food overdose, resulting in medical complications.
Tea
Here’s a case reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine:
“A 47-year-old Michigan woman developed a bone disease rarely seen in the U.S. after she drank a pitcher of tea made from at least 100 tea bags daily, for 17 years, researchers report. The Detroit woman visited the doctor after experiencing pain in her lower back, arms, legs and hips for five years. X-rays revealed areas of very dense bone on the spinal vertebrae and calcifications of ligaments in her arm, said study researcher Dr. Sudhaker D. Rao, a physician at Henry Ford Hospital who specializes in endocrinology and bone and mineral metabolism. The researchers suspected the woman had skeletal fluorosis, a bone disease caused by consuming too much fluoride (a mineral found in tea as well as drinking water). The patient’s blood levels of fluoride were four times higher than what would be considered normal, the researchers said. Skeletal fluorosis is endemic in regions of the world with naturally high levels of fluoride in drinking water, including some parts of India and China, but is rare in Europe and North America. (Low levels of fluoride are added to drinking water in the United States to prevent cavities, but aren’t high enough to cause fluorosis.)
While any kind of tea, when consumed in excess, can cause fluorosis, a specific type, Kombucha tea, has also been in medical news on WebMD:
“Kombucha is a sugary, black tea fermented by a flat, pancake-like symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts called the “Kombucha mushroom.” The beverage is claimed to have immunity-boosting and beneficial effects, but there is very little scientific evidence of these available in current literature…..The American Cancer Society has warned that certain Kombucha starter cultures may contain contaminants such as molds and fungi, some of which can cause illness…..There have been reported cases of severe toxic reactions to Kombucha tea.”
Nutmeg
Nutmeg is sometimes used as a light dusting on eggnog, has no ill-effects and makes beverage more delicious. However, when the spice is ingested in excessive quantities as a low-cost hallucinogenic drug, serious side effects could occur three to eight hours after ingestion. This can include anxiety, fear, and a feeling of impending doom. According to a case report published in Emergency Medicine Journal in 2005, some people may also experience acute psychotic episodes, detachment from reality and visual hallucinations. Even at a high dose of 20 to 80 grams of nutmeg powder is rarely fatal, with only 2 cases reported in medical reports.
Carrots
Carrots are popular for its vitamins, minerals, and fibers that are good for your health. However, consuming too many carrots can elevate the blood level of beta-carotene, “the molecule responsible for carrots’ bright orange hue and a precursor of vitamin A. This leads to carotenemia, which causes yellow or orange skin discoloration, particularly in the nasal area, palms, knees and soles. It occurs more often among infants fed with excess pureed carrots in baby foods. Oral carotene “supplements” can also cause this complication. One cup of chopped carrots contains about 15 mg of carotene, and one needs to eat half a cup for months to develop the yellow/orange skin tone. Although the discoloration is alarming, carotenemia is not life-threatening and subsides when the excess intake ceases.
Tuna sushi
“Ingestion of too much raw tuna also increases intake of mercury. Large fishes on top of the food chain, such as the prized bluefin tuna, accumulate methyl mercury in their muscles because they consume many smaller fishes with mercury over their lives…..It’s difficult to pin down the mercury levels in pieces of sushi, because they can vary depending on the size and species of fish. This makes it difficult to set a definitive cap on sushi consumption. Because mercury can cause severe neurological problems, pregnant women and young children are advised by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to avoid eating too much tuna. According to the agency’s 2004 guidelines, others can eat up to 6 ounces (approximately equal to one average meal) of tuna steak per week.”
Coffee
Coffee is really a health drink, but when abused, it can cause problems. It is advisable to limit consumption of caffeine to more than 500 to 600 milligram s a day. An 8-ounce cup of medium roast coffee contains about 200 mg of caffeine, while an ounce shot of espresso, 75 mg, and an 8-ounce cup of black tea, 120 mg of caffeine.
The side-effects of coffee, depending on personal tolerance, could include: restlessness, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, nausea, muscle tremors, and headaches. Too much caffeine can be fatal. All of the so-called “Energy Drinks” in the market today are dangerous, because some of them have caused deaths. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica in 2010 reported a case of a 21-year-old woman who developed cardiac arrest after consuming about 10,000 mg of caffeine. She was resuscitated a few times, but died three days later.
Star fruit
Star fruit is popular in Southeast Asia and South America but not as common in North America. The first medical report of star fruit poisoning was in Malaysia in 1980. Known as Carambolas (Balimbing), it has a depressant effects on the central nervous syste ,m and deleterious effects on those with impaired kidney functions or renal disease. Sour star fruit juice is a popular drink in Taiwan, China. To healthy persons, eating star fruit in normal quantity appears to be safe. Those with chronic kidney disease should not eat this fruit at all, not even a small piece.
Water
Of all food items found in every home, water would be the least suspect to cause over dosage or intoxication. However, medically speaking, drinking too much water, especially among those with low blood sodium, could dilute the sodium concentration further, resulting in electrolyte imbalance known as hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood) or water intoxication. This is common in endurance athletes. In a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, it reported “13 percent (63) of 488 runners in the 2002 Boston Marathon developed hyponatremia from drinking too much water.” Water intoxication could be fatal. But don’t let this stop you from drinking 6-8 glasses of water every day, which is a healthy practice, except for those with heart or kidney disease, who were advised to be on fluid restriction.
Soft drinks
This last item does not belong to this group, but I included it as a part of my personal public health education campaign for a healthier lifestyle starting from the womb and in the crib. One can or bottle of any soft drink is one too many, an “overdose” of this toxic . Not only are regular soft drinks loaded with sugar, hence I call them “liquid candies,” but all soft drinks, diet or not, regular or decaf, cola or uncola, cause Metabolic Syndrome, starting from childhood. This is a cluster of “inciting” factors that increase the risk for the development of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke when they become adults. No wonder we have epidemics of these devastating diseases. And obesity also makes one prone to cancer, besides cardiovascular diseases. This is how toxic all these soft drinks are. Unfortunately, the damage to the DNA is so subtle and gradual that the diseases are already entrenched in the body before the victims start to have symptoms. Staying away from any poison is the sensible thing to do.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
