Apt articles on health, wealth, happiness

How to avoid food poisoning, page 5 of 5

Link to this article!


Shellfish

How can you avoid food poisoning?
If you avoid eating shellfish, you can avoid food poisoning.

Why? Because mussels, clams, oysters and scallops ingest poisonous dinoflagellates during red tides, and the dinoflagellates produce saxitoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), even after the shellfish has been cooked.

One of the symptoms of PSP is muscle weakness. The issue is, you can die of PSP. Why? Because, if your muscles are weak, you cannot breathe.

Slow cooking

How can you avoid food poisoning?
The issue is, slow cooking allows the bacteria to multiply rapidly at room temperatures, and bacteria will multiply for up to two hours before the food in the slow cooker reaches a safe, bacteria-killing temperature. Therefore, before slow cooking:
  • Thaw any frozen food completely;
  • Cut any meat into chunks;
  • Use the high setting in the first hour. And then, and only then, may you start slow cooking;
  • Do not use the low setting to heat food up; you won't kill the bugs.
  • Make sure there has been no power outage; and
  • Discard any food that appears to be spoiled.

Water

How can you avoid food poisoning?
Drink water at a slow pace. The issue is, you can die, if you drink water too fast.

Example: At a water drinking competition one woman died of water poisoning, after she drank 5 liters (5.3 quarts) of water in 3 hours. Why? Because she drank too much water and too fast, which was fatal.

The issue is, there is a limit on how much water your kidneys can excrete per hour. It's approx. one quart per hour. If your water intake is greater than that, then you'll die of water poisoning (hyponatremia). (8)

Sources and references

(1) "The claim: Drinking alcohol with a meal prevents food poisoning" by O'Connor, Anahad, The New York Times, February 15, 2005.

(2) "The effect of alcoholic beverages on the occurrence of a Salmonella food-borne outbreak" by J. Bellido-Blasco, et al., Epidemiology, 2002, 13, 228-230.

(3) "The protective effect of alcohol on the occurrence of epidemic oyster-borne Hepatitis" by A. Desenclos, et al., Epidemiology, 1994, 3(4), 371-373.

(4) "Wine as a digestive aid: comparative antimicrobial effects of bismuth alicylate and red and white wine" by M. Weisse, et al., British Medical Journal, 1995, 311, 1657-1660.

(5) "Eat, Drink & Be Merry" by Edell, Harper Collins, New York, 1999.

(6) "The Science of Healthy Drinking" by Gene Ford, Wine Appreciation Guild, 2003, San Francisco, CA.

(7) "To Your Health: The Wise Drinkers Guide" by T. Stuttaford, Faber & Faber, London, 1997.

(8) "Peak rates of diuresis in healthy humans during oral fluid overload" by T.D. Noakes, G. Wilson, D.A. Gray, M.I. Lambert, and S.C. Dennis; S Afr Med J. 2001 Oct;91(10):852-7, PMID 11732457.

<< Go back to page 1

Tell a friend!

Recommended for you:

How to get thin and live longer
How to build muscles
How to choose hosting
How to eat right
How to get thin and live longer
How to go braless (sans bra)
How to hire a dentist
How to install MODx
How to look younger
How to recycle houses
How to select a bra
How to tell if MODx sucks
How to use ATM-machines
How to use MODx