This is not a blog trying to influence you to stop eating fruits and vegetables; it is only trying to create some awareness. As many of you know, some fruits and vegetables may be poisonous to humans. If you see a random berry growing on a bush, if you’re unfamiliar with the type of berry, you’re most likely not going to taste it. Same goes for a random mushroom in your backyard. It’s probably not the brightest idea to put it in your dinner salad. These are common sense, but did you know that some of the fruits and vegetables we have in our everyday diets can be dangerous to us as well? Here are a few examples that you probably didn’t know were dangerous:

Potatoes

Potatoes are usually pretty safe. You don’t hear of too many potato related deaths, but make sure you aren’t eating potatoes if the skin has turned green or if the potatoes are just sprouting. Potatoes contain solanine, which develops from exposure to light. This is why it’s important to keep your potatoes in cool, dark places. Digestive problems and even deaths have occurred because of this.

Lima Beans

Perfectly harmless, right? Not if you don’t cook them thoroughly. Raw lima beans contain a product called limarin, and with just a few beans, they can make you violently ill. Just make sure you cook them well because lima beans have a lot of health benefits.

Tomatoes

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Time’s up! The answer is fruit. Anyway, what’s the danger here? The leaves and vines of the plant contain poisons that can cause headaches and digestive problems. There is also some poison found in green tomatoes, but not usually enough to cause any issues.

Apples, Cherries, Apricots, Plums, and Peaches

The real danger here isn’t from the fruit itself but from the seeds. These seeds contain cyanide, and if you eat enough of these seeds, they can cause death. Make sure you avoid the seeds!

Chocolate

You may be wondering why I listed this in a fruits and vegetables blog. The cocoa bean is the seed of a fruit and is used to make chocolate. We know that chocolate is dangerous for our pets, but is it dangerous for humans as well? Not usually, but there are some cases. Chocolate contains an ingredient called theobromine, and this is where the danger lies. Theobromine in chocolate is usually too low of a dose to cause any problems with humans, but some people, especially the elderly population may have trouble handling it.

As I said, this is not a blog trying to scare you or prevent you from eating fruits and vegetables. The lives they’ve saved goes far beyond the harm they’ve caused. It’s just important to make sure you’re preparing them properly and eating the correct parts of the fruits and vegetables.

-Tom