A Woman Became Violently Ill After Accidentally Eating Toxic Potatoes
Mashed potatoes, they're arguably one of the best comfort foods. Unfortunately, for one woman from Denver, Colorado, the cozy side dish turned into a night filled with discomfort.
Family physician Dr. Samuel Choudhury (@drsamuelgp) posted a video on Instagram highlighting the woman's story—things quickly went south after she consumed mashed potatoes she made earlier in the day.
She woke up in the middle of the night vomiting, and also suffered from severe abdominal cramps and a pounding headache. Given the severity of her symptoms, she made her way to the emergency room. It was at the ER that doctors discovered that the woman had fallen victim to Solanine poisoning, which is caused by a neurotoxin from potatoes.
In his video, Dr. Choudhury explained that the potatoes the woman used to make her mashed potatoes had likely turned green and started to sprout. Once this happens, the potatoes can potentially become poisonous.
"These potatoes have turned green," said Dr. Choudhury. "Because they were not kept in the dark, literally. You could say that they were let in on some light causing them to sprout and turn green. The green part contains the poison. And when you consume a large amount of these, you can get diarrhea, vomiting, headache, irregular heart rhythm, and in severe cases, death."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website confirms that when "potato tubers" (the specialized stems of a potato plant) are present and turn green, they can have a high concentration of solanine. They note that you don't necessarily have to toss the potato in these cases. "You do not need to discard green potatoes. Just peel the skins, shoots and any green color; that is where the solanines concentrate," states the USDA.
In the comments to Dr. Choudhury's video, people seemed to side with the USDA's take on not throwing out the affected potatoes.
"Omg just cut the sprout out and peel, my parents are potatoes farmers, for generations 😂 they just want u to spend money scaring you," read one comment.
"Grandma would just cut that part off," another user added.
Definitely something to keep in mind when Thanksgiving rolls around!
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