Warning: This Food Could Kill Your Kids
It could also kill you. Or just make you very sick. But it’s children who usually die.
So why don’t the experts issue a public warning about this danger?
Because it doesn’t happen that often. But if it’s your child who dies, you won’t be comforted by that statistic.
You’ll be furious because the risk could have been avoided. If only the experts had told you about it.
In the U.S., the people most likely to stumble upon this danger are “healthy eaters” devoted to nutritious, organic foods.
Although it’s a dietary staple in the Mediterranean, this food has never been popular in the U.S. But its consumption may be rising.
It’s routinely used in a number of Mediterranean and Chinese dishes.
It’s a good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, folic acid, iron, potassium, and protein.
If it doesn’t kill you first.
So what is this potentially lethal food?
Fava beans, also known as broad beans. They look like large lima beans, but they’re not lima beans.
Fava beans can sicken or even kill you if you possess a genetic deficiency of an enzyme called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD).
Some people with G6PD deficiency suffer from favism, the inability to process fava bean toxins. This causes your red blood cells to rupture after eating fava beans or inhaling the pollen from the flowering plant.
You can turn yellow and develop bloody urine. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, dizziness, fever, chills, and severe anemia.
About 10% of American blacks and up to 35% of some Mediterranean populations, especially Italians, suffer from favism. In Italy, some physicians routinely test children for the enzyme deficiency.
Asians are also more at risk for this condition.
With quick medical intervention at a good hospital, you or your child may recover from this experience without long-term effects. You’ll just need to avoid fava beans and a small group of drugs, such as sulfonamides, that are contraindicated for people with favism.
In some cases, it’s also possible to recover on your own. But don’t underestimate the risks. You or your child may need blood transfusions.
In severe cases, if you don’t get to the hospital in time or you’re not diagnosed properly, favism can be deadly.
Unless you know for sure that your kids don’t have this genetic deficiency, it might be wise to avoid fava beans.
In my opinion, any health benefits from this food just aren’t worth the risk.
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