Don’t believe these eight rumors about vegetables anymore!

As material life becomes more and more abundant, eating more vegetarian food and a balanced diet has become a popular topic that is beneficial to health. Eating more vegetables and fruits is not only beneficial to physical health, but also can improve psychological well-being.

As the variety of vegetables in the market increases, various rumors about vegetables are also rampant. Let’s take a look at them today.

01

Can bitter melon lower blood sugar?

Bitter melon is considered to have a potential hypoglycemic effect , mainly due to two active ingredients in bitter melon extract - momordica charantia and polypeptide P.

It is difficult to significantly lower blood sugar by eating bitter melon alone | Tuchong Creative

Regarding bitter melon , there is sufficient evidence from animal experiments, but there are no clinical trials on humans. Regarding polypeptide P , experiments have shown that it has no obvious efficacy, and its content in bitter melon is very small, making it difficult to accurately quantify it. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve a significant effect of lowering blood sugar by eating bitter melon alone . At present, there is no consensus on how much effect bitter melon can have on lowering blood sugar. Diabetic patients should be cautious about similar claims, strictly follow the doctor's instructions to take medicine and control blood sugar, and do not easily believe in folk remedies circulated on the Internet or among the people.

02

Can eating toon cause cancer?

Rumor has it that Chinese toon (sprouts) contain a large amount of nitrite, which can cause poisoning and cancer if simply consumed, and many people have even been hospitalized due to it.

Chinese toon | Tuchong Creative

In fact, nitrates and nitrites are widely present in water and soil in nature, so most vegetables contain a certain amount of nitrates and nitrites, but the content is different. In 2002, the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) evaluated that the daily allowable intake of nitrite is 0.07 mg/kg (calculated as nitrite ions). The nitrite content of Chinese toon varies from about 1.475 to 2.778 micrograms/gram throughout its growth cycle.

For example, if an adult weighing 60 kg wants to eat toon and get nitrite poisoning, he or she needs to eat at least 1.6 kg of toon, which is impossible. Therefore, the theory that eating toon can easily lead to excessive nitrite, poisoning, and cancer is pure rumor and should not be believed.

03

Are there toxins in green beans?

Recently, green beans have been identified as high-risk foods by school canteens in many places, and many netizens believe that green beans are a poisonous vegetable.

Green beans contain lectins and other substances when they are not fully cooked | Tuchong Creative

In fact, green beans contain substances such as lectins when they are not fully cooked , which may cause poisoning to the eater, mainly manifested by vomiting, diarrhea, etc. The school "banned" green beans because the food processing volume in the collective canteen is large, and stir-frying is prone to uneven heating, which poses a high food safety risk, but it does not mean that green beans are poisonous.

04

Is it better to eat daylily fresh?

Usually, we eat dried day lily, but in many places, especially the places where day lily is produced, some people pay attention to freshness and like to eat fresh day lily.

The drying process of daylily can destroy the toxins it contains | Tuchong Creative

In fact, both the flower and root of daylily contain a toxic alkaloid , which can cause gastrointestinal irritation symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc. There are many cases of poisoning caused by eating fresh daylily. If you want to enjoy the deliciousness of fresh daylily, remove the stamens (which contain more toxins) before eating, wash and blanch them, soak them in cold water for a few hours, and stir-fry and cook them thoroughly , so that the toxins can be removed and food poisoning can be avoided.

Although dried day lily is not as delicious as fresh day lily, the drying process can destroy the toxins it contains, so it is safer to eat.

05

Do prematurely ripened tomatoes make people age faster?

Rumor has it that eating tomatoes ripened with ethephon will cause children to have early puberty and make people age faster. In fact, using ethephon to ripen tomatoes will affect the quality, taste and flavor of tomatoes, but it will not affect people's health.

Tomatoes | Tuchong Creative

Generally speaking, fruit farmers will not add excessive amounts of ripening agents, as excessive additions will not only increase costs, but will also accelerate the decay and deterioration of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, ethephon is a plant growth regulator , which is different from human hormones and will not easily work across species. Therefore, the rumor that "ripened tomatoes make people age faster" is just a rumor.

06

Can eating celery lower blood pressure?

Celery contains apigenin , which has been shown to dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure in animal experiments, but the results of animal experiments may not necessarily be realized in humans.

The content of apigenin in celery is very low | Tuchong Creative

Moreover, if a substance is to achieve a therapeutic effect, in addition to containing therapeutic ingredients, it also needs a sufficient dose . The content of apigenin in celery is very low, and the doses used in animal experiments are very high, so it is difficult to eat it through diet. Therefore, there is currently insufficient evidence to prove that eating celery can lower blood pressure.

The "Guidelines for Primary Management of Hypertension in China" mentions two main non-drug therapies for antihypertensive treatment: reducing salt intake and eating a balanced diet . Adding potassium to salt or eating some fresh fruits and vegetables (containing potassium ions) on a daily basis can help control blood pressure.

07

Does fried zucchini cause cancer?

The claim that "zucchini causes cancer" comes from a report released by the Hong Kong Food Safety Center in 2013. The report shows that the content of acrylamide in fried zucchini is 360 micrograms per kilogram, and acrylamide is a secondary carcinogen .

Zucchini | Tuchong Creative

However, the stir-frying method used in the experimental test was quite extreme, using high heat for 3 minutes and 6 minutes , which is quite different from the normal cooking process. Moreover, this content is only high in vegetables, and is not uncommon in other foods. For example, the average acrylamide content in coffee and similar products is 509 micrograms/kg. In addition, although stir-fried zucchini will produce acrylamide, eating more than one pound a day may exceed the safe amount. Therefore, although stir-fried zucchini will produce acrylamide, the normal amount consumed by humans will not exceed the safe value.

08

Can eating more spinach supplement iron?

People often say that spinach is high in iron and eating more can help you replenish iron. In fact, according to the latest food composition test results and food composition table data, the iron content of spinach is only at a medium level among leafy vegetables (2.9 mg/100 g).

The iron content of spinach is only at a medium level among leafy vegetables | Tuchong Creative

Moreover, the iron in spinach is non-heme iron , and the absorption rate of the human body is relatively low , generally only 3%-8%, while the heme iron in animal foods can reach up to 20%, such as pork liver , etc. Therefore, it is not realistic to rely on eating spinach to supplement iron.

Review | *In no particular order

Zhong Kai, Deputy Director and Researcher of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center

Ruan Guangfeng Director of Science and Technology Department of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center

Han Hongwei, Director and Researcher of Risk Communication Department, National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

Huo Yong, Director and Professor of Cardiology, Peking University First Hospital

Li Chunjie, Chief Physician of the Emergency Department, Tianjin Chest Hospital

Lv Zhijie Chief Pharmacist, Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine

Zhang Jichun Chief Pharmacist, Pharmacy Department, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Zhang Yu, Deputy Director of the Office of the Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Xiang Xuesong, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Editor | Li Huahui

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