What can be the catch here? We decided to study the issue more closely.
29 May 2020
It is not for nothing that potatoes are called the second bread in Russia, we love it in any form. Potatoes are good both fried and boiled, and baked and stewed. In every self-respecting vegetable garden, several beds are certainly allocated for this root crop. Only one trouble: closer to summer, often potatoes turn out to be sprouted. Yes, and those who do not grow this vegetable themselves, but buy, also often face such a problem: potatoes sprout from improper or just a very long storage. Is it possible, in this case, to cook it, cutting off the unnecessary, or should it be thrown away immediately, no matter how sorry it is?
Let’s figure it out. To begin with, we recall that potatoes are a rare exception in their family: they have poisonous fruits, and only tubers, that is, modified stems located underground, are used for food. At the same time, the tubers contain a large amount of easily digestible carbohydrates, trace elements such as potassium, phosphorus, iron, copper, vitamins C, B6, B2 and B3.
However, all parts of potatoes contain a poisonous substance that causes headaches, nausea and diarrhea – solanine. In large quantities, this poison can even kill a person. While there are no shoots, it is negligible, but as young shoots develop, the amount of solanine increases. And potatoes are becoming more and more poisonous. But all the same, the toxin contained in them is not enough to cause significant harm to humans. To get seriously poisoned, you need to eat several kilograms of sprouted unprocessed potatoes.
The same applies to green tubers, even without sprouts: they are already poisonous.
But why should you take the risk and let in a small, but still a dose of poison? Therefore, we advise you not to eat sprouted potatoes, but to think about whether you buy too much of it and whether you store it correctly.
By the way
At one time on the Internet, everyone discussed the harm of bananas: there was a rumor that supposedly they could be badly poisoned and even die. It turned out that there is no smoke without fire. It’s all about the amount of potassium that bananas contain. If you eat a huge amount of bananas, then an excess of potassium will lead to an exacerbation of almost all diseases of the cardiovascular system and the gastrointestinal tract, as well as to general poisoning of the body. True, to achieve such a dubious effect, you need to eat at least 400 bananas.
Overuse of many foods can lead to disaster. For example, if you drink several liters of strong coffee in one day, then such a shock dose can lead to cardiac arrest. Too much water you drink is fraught with edema – the limbs, then the organs, and then the brain. One and a half kilograms of sugar eaten per day can be fatal.