Since we were young, we were told by our mothers that watermelon seeds cannot be eaten, and that watermelons will grow in our stomachs. When we grow up, we naturally know that no matter how many watermelon seeds we eat, it is impossible for watermelons to grow in our stomachs. However, mothers are still plagued by this question: Can the seeds or pits of the fruit be eaten?
Let’s take the newly launched fruit, the pomegranate, for example. The bright red appearance makes people feel particularly good. The pulp is also sweet and sour, and I heard that pomegranate Seeds can whiten and anti-oxidize, and they have both appearance and connotation.
Animal studies have shown that pomegranate pulp, seeds and skins contain high polyphenols, and eating more can indeed play a certain anti-aging effect. But it should be noted that the dose of pomegranate used in the experiment is particularly high, and the sugar content of pomegranate is as high as 15%. In other words, if you want to achieve the effect of anti-aging, you have to eat a lot of pomegranates, but at the same time, you will also consume more sugar. Maybe the effect of anti-aging is there, but obesity, diabetes, etc. will also come to you .
Some people say that pomegranate seeds contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids, which can be eaten by children. In fact, these fatty acids are also found in soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and peanut oil. To supplement unsaturated fatty acids and eat pomegranate seeds deliberately.
Although many pomegranate seeds are small, they are relatively hard. It is not recommended for young children to eat them because they are easy to get stuck. However, there are now genetically modified soft-seeded pomegranates that can be chewed, but it is not recommended for children who are too young to eat them, because their chewing ability is immature and may not be chewed.
So, for adults, eat pomegranate seeds if you want, spit them out if you don’t want to, don’t expect any special health effects. Children, try not to eat pomegranate seeds.
In addition to pomegranate seeds, jackfruit and durian pits are actually edible. However, when feeding these nuts to children, be careful not to eat them raw, but to cook them thoroughly. Younger children have to break it up before eating it.
Some parents will wash the whole fruit and put the seeds and pulp into the juicer for juice. At this time, it should be noted that some seeds or cores are not only nutritious, but also It may be poisonous. For example, the seeds or cores of cherries, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, loquats, etc. contain cyanogenic glycosides, which will produce toxic hydrocyanic acid after hydrolysis, which will lead to poisoning if eaten.
The symptoms of hydrocyanic acid poisoning are generally: dizziness, mouth, nausea, bitterness, vomiting, etc. If the poisoning is too deep, it may cause inability to breathe, and even life-threatening in severe cases.
Sometimes it is really hard to tell which fruit seeds are poisonous and which are not, so stick to two principles:
First, be sure to cook the food, whether it is the seeds of fruits or vegetables, cooking them can easily kill hydrocyanic acid, because it is not resistant to hot. Studies have shown that boiling at high temperature can remove more than 90% of cyanogenic glycosides, which is one of the effective methods to remove hydrocyanic acid.
The second is not to eat, this is the safest and easiest way.