Betel nut with cigarettes is extremely powerful. Most of my friends know this sentence, and some colleagues around me also like to chew betel nuts, but fortunately, he is relatively temperate. He often chews betel nuts during the night shift, and he says that chewing this can refresh himself.

In the list of carcinogens of the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization, betel nut is classified as a kind of carcinogen, and 6% of oral cancers are related to chewing betel nut. Areca catechu is a tropical plant, native to Malaysia, and mainly distributed in Hainan, Yunnan, Taiwan Province and other places in China. There are as many as 36 kinds of betel nut known in the world. Betel nut belongs to evergreen trees, which are tall, with an average height of more than 1 meters, and some are as high as 3 meters. The betel nut we eat is the seed of the betel nut tree.

Areca catechu can be divided into medicinal and edible. The edible Areca catechu is the whole fruit of Areca catechu, and the medicinal Areca catechu is the dried peel of Areca catechu. Their processing methods are also different. Medicinal betel nuts need to be boiled in water and then dried to take their skins. The edible betel nut can be divided into fresh betel nut and dry betel nut. The fresh betel nut can be eaten directly, while the dry betel nut is soaked in various strong alkaline or irritating flavors and fragrances, and then dried, or smoked and dried (the traditional method of smoking is no longer advocated). I think what my colleague bought should be made by this processing method.

alkaloids such as arecoline, arecoline, demethylarecoline, demethylarecoline, isodemethylarecoline, arecoline, homoarecoline, etc. are the main components of arecoline, and they also contain tannins, fats, amino acids and sugars. The functions of these substances are briefly introduced below.

arecoline: On November 26th, 22, an article in The Lancet-Oncology introduced that arecoline was classified as a class 2B carcinogen, and the reason why it was classified as a class 2B carcinogen was that the evidence of arecoline's carcinogenicity to human body was not known or was insufficient, that is, it might be carcinogenic to human beings. Many people say that chewing betel nut is enjoyable. Why is it enjoyable? I think arecoline is at work. Arecoline has a cholinergic effect, which can promote the secretion of saliva and sweat glands and stimulate the secretion of endogenous adrenocortical hormones. Some people say that it will produce excitement, which is estimated to be the reason for betel nut chewing addiction.

arecoline: arecoline can also stimulate the secretion of endogenous adrenocortical hormones and produce more adrenocortical hormones. "The dark musk deer makes people blush with jasmine, and the red tide makes the cheeks drunk with betel nuts" and "The red tide makes the cheeks more charming, but who knows that Nong is drunk with betel nuts". These two poems by the great poet Su Dongpo describe what I said above. Su Shi was exiled to Hainan, and he must have chewed betel nuts, so he wrote this poem.

Long-term excessive consumption of areca catechu, arecoline and arecoline will lead to oral submucosal fibrosis under various actions. If you continue to chew areca catechu without paying attention at this time, it may induce cancer-causing gene mutation in sensitive people and then induce cancer.

Besides these two main alkaloids, areca tannin can't be ignored. It is found that areca tannin may cooperate with arecoline and arecoline to cause oral submucosal fibrosis. Oral submucosal fibrosis is a chronic oral disease, which causes mucosal sclerosis, and it can cause difficulty in opening mouth and affect oral function over time. At the same time, it is also a precursor before oral cancer, which means it is a precancerous disease.

some people will take chances and think that the incidence of oral cancer is so low that it will not be found. however, long-term excessive consumption of betel nut will still lead to reproductive health problems such as decreased sperm motility and abnormal ovulation, as well as abnormal metabolism of vitamin B12, calcium and cholesterol. So for your health, please don't eat betel nut too much for a long time.

Areca catechu can be used as medicine. The toxic and side effects of Areca catechu can be weakened by processing and compatibility, so as to achieve the effect of treating diseases and saving lives.