Death And Dangerous Foods
How deadly is obesity?
Obesity is one of the most silent killers in America today. Death from obesity is not normally a form of death cited on death certificates, however obesity attributes to over 1,000 premature deaths in America each year. Usually it shows up as a primary illness as either heart disease or diabetes or other of the main ten top causes of death. But as a contributing factor at least over 1,000 people can be considered dying prematurely from the effects of obesity.
How deadly are food additives?
Food additives are hidden killers that have killed over 5,000 people since 1965 alone. During that period of time, additives were put in food that we had no idea were there. Say an additive like monosodium glutamate, for example. People don't realize they're allergic to it until after after they've ingested it. And then the additive causes rapid heartbeat, and it looks like they're getting a heart attack, but they're actually dying from an allergic reaction to the additive. So it isn't known how deadly food additives are until you actually try them.
How can I die from eating hair?
Some people develop nervous habits--you'll see some people that'll twirl their hair and they'll start nibbling on it. But if you actually start eating it, that's when the problem becomes fatal. There's one particular girl who had eaten three meals a day, and she had died in the early 20s from starvation. When they did an autopsy they realized that there was a hairball inside her stomach the size of a soccer ball. What happens here is that hair is not digestible, so it cannot be broken down and the body can get no nutrients. So, by eating hair, you can die from malnutrition and starvation because the stomach is blocked and any nutrients cannot be absorbed.
How likely am I to die of botulism?
Botulism is a natural occurring bacterium. However, it becomes dangerous to us when it is found in dented cans, or in food supplies. Botulism used to be one of the main killers back a hundred years ago, and actually only the invention of the tin can allowed for food spoilage to be reduced to a minimum. But, still people that eat from dented cans or eat from uncovered food in their refrigerators do die from botulism, in fact over twelve thousand each year.
Is Pica a potentially dangerous condition?
Pica is eating any foreign object, from hair, to burnt matches, to dirt, to coins. Now, there is a number of people who have this mental illness that eat all kinds of foreign objects, and obviously that causes their fatality. But most recently the record was a Frenchman two years ago who had died by ingesting over seven hundred and fifty dollars worth of coins, so they tried to keep most of the small change away from him around the house, but they couldn't do it. So they had found that volume of money in his stomach. But it happens for any type of eating anything, so when they tell you don't put a pen in your mouth or a coin in your mouth as a kid, they are trying to actually prevent you from developing Pica.
What is "botulism"?
Botulism is a naturally occuring bacterium that occurs in the environment. And it's in all types of foods. But once it's placed inside a can, and that can is damaged, the interaction between the oxygen and the botulism toxin starts to form a deadly combination that can be fatal to us. Usually you'll get this from infant botulism. For small children, they can get it from honey that's not sealed professionally, or any types of foods that are left uncovered. So over 24,000 people have died from botulism, infants and adults, since 1975.
How can eating raw meat be fatal?
One of the parasites that are found in raw meat is called listeria, and that is usually the number one most fatal type of parasite that is found in raw meat. One out of five people that ingest it will die. It usually affects people with compromised immune systems or young people or older people. However, from uncooked meat, this is where the parasite can live, in meat that is only cooked to temperatures of less than 140 degrees, or meat which is not refrigerated properly. It's very hard to kill this parasite. So, even food that reaches high temperatures are found to still contain small portions of it. On very small levels we can live with it, but when it goes to a higher percentage it's very, very fatal.
How likely am I to die from E.Coli?
E. Coli is a naturally occurring bacterium that lives in our intestines. In normal doses E. coli helps us to digest food. But under the conditions where levels of E coli become higher than those we can normally eliminate, this is what causes fatalities. And many times E coli poisoning occurs from unpasteurized beverages. Fruit drinks that are unpasteurized do not kill the E. Coli bacteria. So apple juice, various types of apple cider that go under the name of natural, for example. They are unpasteurized. They contain much more E Coli causing over the last 20 years 15,000 deaths from unpasteurized food and drinks.
Can my barbeque grill be fatal?
Barbequing is one of the oldest forms of cooking. I think the caveman had died from barbeque fumes as the number one cause of death. We still love the barbeque. Barbeque fumes in properly ventilated areas are fine, there's only been 200 deaths in the last few years from people that have been using their barbeques indoors. However, more than 4000 injuries occur from barbeques to children that are under five that want to poke things into the barbeque or knock the barbeque over while it's hot.
How can ice cream be fatal?
Ice cream is deadly. You know the old song, I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice cream". Ice cream trucks come into neighbourhoods, into every community in America during the summer. When that bell rings kids start salivating just like Pavlov observed in his experiment on German Shepherds, and they run towards the Ice Cream truck. Unfortunately over the last ten year study period, over nine-hundred fatalities have occurred, involving children going towards ice cream trucks. Believe it or not the majority of them are after they have the ice cream. They seem to be more alert crossing the street, getting to the truck, then after they have the ice cream in their hands. Another way ice cream can be fatal, is that a homemade ice cream contains a high amount of salmonella. So there are over thirty deaths a year from home made ice cream, or improperly refrigerated ice cream. Then with all that ice cream larger fatalities occur, because each heaped teaspoonful of ice cream contains way more then the recommended level of cholesterol that the government says will keep us healthy. So I scream, we all scream, but watch the ice cream.
How can food allergies kill me?
Food allergies are related to not only the types of foods, but the additives that sometimes are put inside foods. Some people are allergic to shellfish, which has to do with the chemical makeup of iodine that is within the seafood and the shellfish. It's not actually the oyster or the shrimp that's killing them, but they're allergic to iodine. So they have to know what type of ingredient the food possesses in order to prevent being fatally affected by food allergies. The problem is that most people don't realize the food allergies they have until they have some type of adverse reaction. Some of the symptoms you will have in an allergic reaction to food is oftentimes you'll either break out in a rash or you'll start sneezing uncontrollably. The sneezing is telling your body that you're allergic to that particular food, particularly peanuts. If children or adults are allergic to peanuts, usually people realize that an uncontrollable fit of sneezing will happen before the fatal level of toxins reach the body.
Which foods are most likely to cause fatal choking?
Fatal choking from foods occurs at all ages - the number one food is hotdogs, carrots, celery and peanuts. Most of these chokings on those food groups occur in children under four. For older people, choking usually occurs on various meats like steaks or different things in restaurants that aren't chopped properly. People may choke to death when they try to talk while they are eating.
How likely am I to choke to death in a restaurant?
More people choke to death in restaurants than they do at home for one reason: the embarrassment factor. When people are out dining at a restaurant, even though they know they're choking, they're reluctant to cause a scene. Now, many restaurants have Heimlich maneuvers and other things that are trained to help people for choking. But still, more fatalities -- over 11,000 have occurred in the last five years -- in restaurants, because of the secondary cause. They were too embarrassed to signal for help in time. So if you're choking in a restaurant, don't worry about how cool you look, just let them know what's happening and they'll save your life that way.
Can I die from indigestion?
Indigestion alone will not kill you, it is usually a symptom of something else that has gone wrong. If you eat spicy foods or you eat too fast, you know the phrase, it's not sitting well. Actually, that's a medical term for when there is dysperia which means that the indigestion is causing a chemical malfunction within the body and is trying to get rid of the food faster than normally allowed to process. So what happens is that if you eat too much of the same type of food your body will react, developing peptic ulcers or causing other types of illnesses. So indigestion is again one of those things that is telling you to alter your eating habits or eat different types of foods as your body changes throughout the different cycles of your life.
