Fruit toxin is increasing, with more and more alerts about it coming.
Fruits are very nutritious, but they could become a source of toxin in your body if you do not do certain things before you eat them.
There are so many toxic fruits out there.
Sadly, humans make them toxic for different selfish reasons.
The most abused are oranges, mangoes, plantains and bananas.
How Fruit Toxin Comes
It is a common thing in Lagos, Nigeria, to find orange sellers in markets washing their oranges with detergent.
I had to take the picture of one of them ( picture above).
At a popular market in Lagos – Ile Ekpo – market off Abeokuta Express Way, you will find a waste dump site close to the market.
Waste water often flow into the market to the area where fruits are sold.
Most of the fruits come in contact with this waste toxin and stay in it for hours before they are bought.
The retailer buys the fruits, goes home, cleans them up and then offer them to customers who know nothing about where it is from.
Fruits in this shape, often come with toxins that are dangerous to health.
Also, for people who have plantain plantation, leaving their plantain to mature means taking a big risk.
They could either lose some to thieves or spoilage.
As a result, they harvest them before they mature.
Sellers who want to recoup their investment fast, cover them up with calcium carbide. In few days the plantain will ripen.
On the other hand, farmers also use pesticides to keep pests away from the fruits and produce.
Truly, fruit toxin could come as a result of the delivery process – from farm to retail stores.
Dangers Of Fruits With Toxins
1. Carbide
There is a rise in cases of cancer, organs failure and other illnesses.
People often wonder why the rise.
But the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has identified the use of carbide in ripening fruits as a dangerous ride to destruction (1).
The agency says eating such fruits could cause cancer and other illnesses.
It could also cause kidney, heart and liver failure, the agency warned.
NAFDAC says you should call – 09094262773, 09094262772 and 08133630600 to report any such acts you witness.
2. Detergents
Detergents are also deadly.
Unfortunately, as oranges get bathed in detergent water, it goes beyond the skin into the inner part that people consume.
An animal study in Nigeria says detergents contain chemicals that could cause health issues.
According to the study, the hematology analysis of the exposed mice showed marked reduction in the packed cell volume, hemoglobin, white blood cells, red blood cells and total protein.
Also,The internal organs (heart, kidney, liver and reproductive organs) of the exposed mice showed marked histological changes compared to the control mice (mice that did not get detergent solution) (2).
Waste Water
No one will love to eat fruits that have been soaked in waste water.
Above that however, there is trouble with such fruits too.
Sadly, different levels of Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) & Thallium (Tl) are often in wastewater (3).
According to studies, these heavy metals have significant health effects.
For instance, the adverse health effects that are associated with Hg and mercuric compounds in humans includes possible carcinogens; damage of the brain, lungs and kidneys.
Others are damage of developing fetuses; high blood pressure or heart rate; vomiting and diarrhea; skin rashes and eye irritation.
Imagine a woman losing her pregnancy just because she consumed fruits that had stayed in waste water for hours. Sad, but it happens.
Unfortunately, to the woman, she only ate banana.
How To Remove Toxins From Fruits
Really, it is difficult to rule out coming in contact with these fruit toxin.
Not everyone will have plantations of fruits and as a result, we can’t say we know where the fruit is from.
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This makes it important that we treat our fruits from markets differently before we consume them.
Basically, the target is to remove toxins as much as possible.
Soak In Sea Salt Water
Salt is a purifier and that is why we recommend you add few crystals of sea salt in clean water and soak the fruits.
The salt will wash of the toxin in the fruits.
Soak fruits in salt water for 20 minutes.
2. Soak In Vinegar
Soaking fruits in vinegar also helps remove toxins in the fruits.
Add some water in a bowl, add 3 to 4 spoons of vinegar (depending on the quantity of water) and soak the fruits in it.
Leave the fruits in the water for 20 minutes. Take it out and rinse with clean water before you eat it.
3. Soak Fruits In Water With Baking Soda
Adding baking soda in water and washing your fruits in it is also another good solution to fruit toxin.
Add 2 teaspoon of soda to a bowl of water and wash your fruits in it.
Doing these few things alone will go a long way in lowering fruit toxins.
Let it be that all the fruit does is boost your immune system and bring in antioxidants.
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