Since going Paleo, I've read my fair share about phytates, lectins, etc. Throw in a couple evolutionary psychology blogs that argue that plants don't want to be eaten (and that we shouldn't be eating ANY of them) and I start to wonder about the evil, natural pesticides and other chemicals lurking in my delicious looking bowl of blueberries. But, if this is all true, why are there so many plants that look like the body parts they're good for? I remember reading a book as a kid that talked about this. It was something like this: http://docakilah.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/foods-that-look-like-body-parts-theyre-good-for/, but more in-depth. Is nature just trying to tell us that these plants are safe, and all the others are homicidal?
|
2
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
6
|
"Why are there so many plants that look like the body parts they're good for?" Pure coincidence. If I tried I could probably make a list of plants that look like the body part they're bad for. Let me give it a try:
That is the fungi gyromitra esculenta, or the false morel. Kind of looks like a brain doesn't it? It contains the toxin gyromitrin, which has a number of negative effects. Gyromitrin can cause dizziness, lethargy, vertigo, headaches, and in high doses, severe neurological disfunction, seizures, coma, and death. Sounds like it's pretty bad for the brain doesn't it? Or there's this:
These are berries from the Arum Lily. In big clumps like the ones in the upper right they sort of look like alveoli of the lungs. When consumed, the berries have a tendency to inflame the lining of the throat, leading to difficulty breathing. Finally this:
On the left in this picture we have fava beans. I've never had fava beans myself, although I hear they're pretty good with liver and a nice chiani. On the right we have red blood cells. I think there is some resemblance between the two. Uncooked fava beans contain the toxin divicine. Divicine is hemotoxic, because it destroys red blood cells. So fava beans are perhaps bad for red blood cells. Anyway, my point in all of this; what a plant looks like is not really the best measure of its health effects. Also, just because plants don't want to be eaten doesn't mean they're bad for us. |
||
|
4
|
Are you trolling? OR Are you religious? AND/OR Have you forgotten how to think critically? Do you think these regional plants are good for the health of the individual organs of all the other animals of the earth as well as humans? Or are humans just magically special in this way? |
||||||||||||||
|
|
2
|
In the vein of your light-hearted question - Which plant looks like brains? I know some Hackers I'd like to feed it to. Also, I have heard that is why ginseng is promoted as such a healthy thing - because the root looks like a little human so it is good for the whole body! |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
1
|
So about cucumbers and zucchini... are they going to harm me? |
||||||||||||||
|
|
1
|
I've seen an eggplant with a nose shaped like Jimmy Durante. It was good for a laugh. |
||
|
|
