1828 Thud

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

"Wife Swap" was on earlier this evening. I walked past the kitchen TV in time to see one of the wives described as a health nut, and it showed her making a "green drink" that she requires her children to drink every day. I saw her cutting rhubarb in the garden, chopping up the rhubarb leaves, and stuffing them into a blender to make the drink. Health nut? Rhubarb LEAVES?

Wikipedia: "Rhubarb leaves contain poisonous substances. Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, a corrosive and nephrotoxic acid that is present in many plants. The LD50 (median lethal dose) for pure oxalic acid is predicted to be about 375 mg/kg body weight,[citation needed] or about 25 g for a 65 kg (~140 lb) human. While the oxalic acid content of rhubarb leaves can vary, a typical value is about 0.5%,[7] so a rather unlikely five kilograms of the extremely sour leaves would have to be consumed to reach an LD50 dose of oxalic acid. However, the leaves are believed to also contain an additional, unidentified toxin.[8] In the petioles, the amount of oxalic acid is much lower, only about 2-2.5% of the total acidity[9], especially when harvested before mid-June (in the northern hemisphere), but it is still enough to cause slightly rough teeth."

Ok, 11 pounds to kill a 140 lb person. But I imagine a few ounces every day for a child can't be good for them, or their kidneys. It's not one of those things where a lot is bad but a little is good, like, say, aspirin.

Thud.
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