Are green beans toxic if not cooked?

Generally speaking, few people will encounter the phenomenon of green bean poisoning, but sometimes because you are too anxious to cook, or do not boil the cut green beans in water in advance, and stir-fry them directly and the heat is not enough, the green beans will become hard and contain raw juice, causing green bean poisoning. Therefore, if the green beans are not cooked through, there will be toxins. Try to cook the green beans until they are cooked through.

The main cause of green bean poisoning Green bean poisoning occurs all year round and is mainly caused by eating undercooked green beans, with gastrointestinal symptoms as the main manifestation. Green beans contain trypsin inhibitors, hemagglutinins, saponins, etc., which are toxic substances. Trypsin inhibitors can inhibit the normal activity of proteases in the body, causing indigestion, nausea, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, etc. Hemagglutinin, present in the seeds, can destroy red blood cells, causing coagulation of human red blood cells, and can cause severe vomiting. Saponins, present in the outer skin of the pods, are highly irritating to the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing local congestion, swelling and even hemorrhagic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. They can also destroy the permeability of red blood cells and cause hemolysis. In addition, if green beans are left for too long, their nitrite content will greatly increase, which can cause a large amount of methemoglobin to form in the blood. This protein cannot combine with oxygen and loses its oxygen-carrying capacity, leading to systemic hypoxia, cyanosis, etc. However, these toxins can be destroyed by high temperature treatment. The reason for food poisoning is that some people are unaware that green beans contain toxins and do not boil them for enough time. Another reason is that the green beans are not thoroughly heated during the cooking process, and there are still undestroyed toxins in the green beans. This situation is more common in collective canteens or public dining institutions with large numbers of people eating and large amounts of food.

Symptoms of green bean poisoning include nausea and vomiting. Green bean poisoning is a type of food poisoning. Mild poisoning mainly manifests as gastrointestinal inflammation, such as nausea and vomiting, several times or dozens of times a day. This is mainly because the hemagglutinin in the seeds of green beans is not completely destroyed after cooking. After consumption, it irritates the gastrointestinal tract and causes severe vomiting. In severe cases, dehydration and shock may occur.

Abdominal discomfort: Severe cases of green bean poisoning will experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a feeling of fullness in the upper abdomen. The main reason is that the trypsin inhibitors in raw green beans inactivate the trypsin produced by the pancreas, causing indigestion in the body.

Severe cases of hypoxia and cyanosis of green beans poisoning may also cause dizziness, cyanosis and other symptoms, which is mainly caused by hypoxia of the body. If green beans are left for 24 hours or longer, the nitrite content will increase greatly. Nitrite will form a large amount of methemoglobin in the blood, which makes it unable to transport oxygen. Anyone with these symptoms should be sent to the hospital promptly for oxygen rescue treatment.

Congestion and hemolysis Saponins exist in the pod skin of green beans, which are resistant to high temperatures and generally will not be destroyed below 80 degrees. Saponins enter the digestive tract and have a strong irritation to the digestive mucosa, causing local congestion, swelling, and bleeding inflammation. Saponins can also destroy red blood cells and cause hemolysis.

Neurological symptoms: Severe green bean poisoning can cause electrolyte imbalance in the body, and patients may also experience neurological symptoms such as headache, chest tightness, cold sweats, palpitations, a burning sensation in the stomach, and numbness in the limbs.

Tips:

The incubation period of green bean poisoning ranges from a dozen minutes to more than ten hours, generally not exceeding 5 hours. There is currently no specific medicine for green bean poisoning. For those with severe poisoning, there is no good treatment effect except sending them to the hospital for vomiting, catharsis, and gastric lavage. Therefore, be especially vigilant. When cooking green beans, you must cook them for a long time to ensure they are fully cooked before eating.

How to detoxify green bean poisoning? Detoxification with light salt water. If the symptoms of green bean poisoning are not very serious, you can take a large dose of light salt water orally and stimulate the throat to induce vomiting, spit out the poisonous food in the stomach, and help detoxification.

Senna leaf water detoxification: If the patient has been taking it for a long time, you can take 12-18 grams of senna leaves, steam them with boiling water in an appropriate amount, so that the food absorbed in the patient's intestines can be excreted from the body, thereby achieving the purpose of eliminating toxins in the body.

For Chinese herbal detoxification, take 15 grams of Patchouli, 100 grams of Perilla Leaf, 12 grams of Cyperus Rhizoma, 10 grams of Tangerine Peel, 5 grams of Licorice, and 10 grams of Ginger.

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