Fern is a dish we often see on the dinner table, the recent online news that this dish contains carcinogenic ingredients, to which we interviewed the experts, they agree, pointing out that the fern contains "proto-fern glycosides" is a carcinogen, ferns or less to eat for the better, the natural and traditional food is not necessarily safe. The fact that it's not necessarily safe is a good thing.
A number of studies have found that fiddlehead fern may cause cancer
Fiddlehead fern is a representative of traditional wild vegetables, and it is the "king of mountain vegetables", and many people also dig fiddlehead fern in the mountains, thinking that it is green, non-polluting, nutritious, and even anticancer, and it is regarded as "longevity vegetable". It is known as "longevity vegetable". And fern root powder is from the wild fern rhizome refining and processing of a starch substance, the restaurant to do the hot and sour fern root powder, is a very high click rate of a cold dish food.
Chinese Agricultural University Food Science and Nutritional Engineering Associate Professor Zhu Yi told reporters, like to eat fern is mainly China, Japan, South Korea and other countries, and the fern cancer research, Japan did the most in-depth, the earliest discovery of ferns have a kind of fern glycosides called "original fern" is carcinogenic, which is also the Japanese people found.
According to Zhu Yi, an epidemiological study conducted in the 1990s showed that eating a lot of fiddlehead ferns at a young age would increase the risk of stomach cancer in adulthood. Epidemiological studies of this kind have been conducted in Japan, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, and the results are similar. Even in places where ferns are abundant, the milk produced by cows eating grass with ferns in it may contain a small amount of proanthocyanidins. However, the milk all needs to be sterilized at high temperatures, a process that can bring down the level of carcinogens in the ferns dramatically.
And science writer, member of the Scientific Squirrel Society, and Dr. Yun Wuxin, a food engineering doctor, was concerned about fiddlehead ferns causing cancer a few years ago. He pointed out that "fiddleheads cause cancer" is supported by solid scientific evidence, eating fiddleheads can lead to higher rates of esophageal and stomach cancers, and the fiddleheads' "proto-fern glycosides" are the main culprits of these symptoms. As early as a hundred years ago, people have noticed that this plant can cause cattle poisoning and even death, and animal experiments have also confirmed that the fern can indeed cause cancer in animals.
Second, steaming water immersion can reduce the content of carcinogens but will not be eliminated
Ju Yi said, the fern in the original fern glycosides, the current World Cancer Organization rating it as a 2B carcinogen, the original fern glycosides in animal experiments do show a carcinogenic ability.
However, people usually eat fiddleheads, fiddleheads will be dealt with, because directly eat fiddleheads raw is not tasty, in most cases have to go through the steaming and then fried, so that the method, are able to let the original fern glycosides to a certain degree, in addition to water immersion, alkaline water or grass ash treatment, can also reduce the original fern glycosides, "but these are only to let the content decline , not elimination."
On the basis of the results of the current epidemiological survey, "fern eating more is still a risk," Zhu Yi suggested, or need to control the frequency of eating fern, as well as the amount of fern eating. As long as the amount of control, occasionally eat less, there is no need to panic too much. Fern is similar to the case of bacon, sausage, barbecue meat, are with cancer risk food, eat a little bit do not have to worry too much, do not eat a lot of long-term.
Science writer Yun Wuxin also told reporters that fern is not an unavoidable ingredient, there is no need to eat, it brings the risk of "with the amount of food and the frequency of consumption, as with smoking".