A man ate leftovers and went to ICU with organ failure! About leftovers, don’t be stupid and ignorant
everybody knows
whether cooking at home
Or order takeout
It's hard to guarantee that you'll finish eating
Leftovers are always inevitable
What to do with leftover meals?
Many people don't want to waste
So eating leftovers is a common thing
But some people get poisoned after eating leftovers
Even in the ICU
So is eating leftovers really so scary?
Will cause liver and kidney failure?
What problems will it cause?
What to do with leftovers?
before answering these questions
Let's analyze the previous case
Why eating leftovers can lead to organ failure?
There are bacteria in the leftovers. After putting them in the refrigerator, the low temperature will inhibit the reproduction of bacteria, but it does not mean that the bacteria completely prevent the reproduction of bacteria.
When the number of bacteria reaches a certain amount, whether it is the product of decomposing food or the toxin produced by bacterial metabolism, it will emit odor after accumulating to a certain extent, reducing the quality and taste of food.
If the toxin accumulates to a certain amount, it will cause health damage and cannot be eaten. If eating causes illness, it is food poisoning.
In the case mentioned above, the patient himself had liver disease. After eating spoiled food containing toxins, the burden on the liver was increased. The toxins directly caused significant damage to liver function, and at the same time caused damage to kidney function, which aggravated the condition.
In fact, before this, food poisoning caused by eating leftovers also happened from time to time. In fact, the causes of food poisoning are also different. Here are some common reasons.
What are the causes of food poisoning from leftovers?
bacterial food poisoning
Salmonella typhimurium. It can be found in daily protein-rich foods. Therefore, we can see that the shelf life of various cakes and milk is relatively short, and it is not recommended to eat after the shelf life. Common leftover fish, meat, etc. also have its figure.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus. It is a halophilic bacterium commonly found in seawater, so food poisoning from seafood is often associated with it.
Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcus aureus produces Staphylococcus aureus toxin, the main cause of food poisoning is not the bacteria itself, but the toxin it produces.
To sum up, Salmonella typhimurium and Vibrio parahaemolyticus are live bacteria, and Staphylococcus aureus is a toxin.
Nitrite poisoning
Nitrite is more common in pickled vegetables, which can cause hypoxia in poisoned people, because nitrite will combine with iron in hemoglobin, resulting in a decrease in the ability of hemoglobin to carry oxygen, thus causing disease.
A typical manifestation of the patient is lip cyanosis, which means that the lips that should have been red turn black, which is a typical manifestation of blood hypoxia. Because the most sensitive part of the human body to hypoxia is the brain cells, it is more dangerous to ingest a large dose of food containing nitrite at one time.
However, as an appetizer in the hot summer, pickled vegetables are very popular with white rice porridge or with pumpkin porridge. It is also one of the traditional delicacies. Why is it related to food poisoning?
Note that there is a dosage problem here, even if it is not leftover pickles, there is a risk of nitrite poisoning if you eat too much. Especially if you eat a lot of pickled vegetables on an empty stomach, the risk of poisoning will increase. It is no problem to eat a little to increase appetite at ordinary times.
other poisoning
Other food poisonings include moldy peanuts, corn, rice (aflatoxin), sprouted potatoes (solanine), moldy sugarcane, etc.
Can you still eat leftovers?
Leftovers can be eaten, but they are not recommended.
It is not difficult to buy a small electronic scale now. When cooking, everyone can plan carefully and plan the amount of food according to the number of people, so as to reduce the generation of leftovers.
If you really want to eat leftovers, then try not to reheat the leftovers after one meal. After all, repeated heating will reduce the taste of the ingredients, and the nutritional value will also decrease, especially vitamins will be destroyed.
The following two must pay attention to:
- Heat through. Sufficient heating is very important, especially some meat dishes are rich in nutrients and bacteria multiply quickly. If the heating is not sufficient, there is a risk of food poisoning. They must be boiled and kept for a period of time.
Bacteria can be killed by boiling, but the toxins produced by bacteria are not necessarily destroyed immediately. They are often more resistant to heat than the bacteria themselves, so it must be boiled and maintained for a period of time. How long is this period of time? 5 minutes is recommended, but if the leftover time is relatively long, it is recommended to extend to 15 minutes.
- Timely. Do not store food for too long. Too long, and bacteria multiply slowly, even at low temperatures, and toxins form slowly.
In addition, scientific storage of leftovers can also greatly reduce the risk of food poisoning.
How to store leftovers scientifically?
Subpackage. If the leftovers cannot be eaten at one time, divide them into several portions and separate them with fresh-keeping bags. And reduce cross-contamination of different leftovers.
Freezing is preferred. At 4°C, the growth rate of bacteria is significantly faster than that at -20°C, so if the amount of fish and meat is large, first consider freezing.
Mark. You can put a small label on the fresh-keeping bag to write the time of freezing or fresh-keeping as a reminder. Leftovers that have been left for too long are best thrown away.
In summary
Although eating leftovers and entering the ICU is an exception
But the risk of food poisoning must not be ignored
And repeated heating will destroy nutrients
If you really want to eat leftovers, don't eat leftovers for too long
And make sure to boil it for a while before eating
Expert of this paper: Dr. Tao Ning, Associate Professor, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences