Most HARMFUL Foods People Keep EATING

they say you are what you eat and if that's true then going by the jaw-dropping bombshells i've got coming up most of us are surprisingly dangerous you may not know it but many of these foods you eat every day contain hidden toxins parasites and poisons that can cause disturbing and sometimes deadly side effects from poisonous cherries to worm infested sushi get ready to explore the terrifying truth behind these tasty treats [Music] processed meat if you're a committed carnivore i've got some ba

d news for you processed meat may taste delicious but it comes with some alarming risks it turns out any meat that's been modified to improve taste or increase shelf life like salami bacon or sausages is classified as a group 1 carcinogen by the international agency for research on cancer that means that based on countless extensive studies scientists are certain that eating processed meat increases your cancer risk the problem comes from the way processed meat is prepared nitrates and nitrites

are used to keep meat fresh for longer but when we eat them our bodies convert them into chemicals called nitrosamines these can damage our dna contributing to cancer risk over time when meat is cooked at high temperatures like on the barbecue more of these harmful compounds are produced increasing the risk even further in fact a study of half a million meat eaters in the uk found that eating 76 grams of either red or processed meat a day the equivalent of just three slices of ham increases your

risk of bowel cancer by 20 percent and this doesn't mean that you have to go vegan but nutritionists agree that limiting your intake of processed meat is definitely a healthy choice so instead of bringing home the bacon try something non-processed like free-range chicken turkey or even a meat-free alternative if these startling facts turned you off ham click the like button and if nutritionists will have to pry sausages out of your cold dead hands slap that subscribe button instead given that i

post fascinating content every day of the week clicking both is an equally tasty option now let's sample some more dangerous foods casu marzu from mozzarella to parmigiano-reggiano italy is famous for its delicious cheeses but did you know that the italian island of sardinia is home to the world's most dangerous cheese a regional specialty with a stomach turning secret ingredient casu marzu which literally means rotten cheese gets its ripe flavor from thousands of live maggots i'm not kidding t

o produce this eyebrow raising delicacy a fly infested wheel of cheese is stored in a dark hut for two to three months the fly eggs hatch into maggots which munch on the cheese digest it and excrete it in the form of a thick soft cream brave diners then spread that creamy cheese onto flatbreads and tuck in there are two rules for eating kasu marzu rule 1 always close your eyes before you take a bite the cheese fly maggots used to make kasu marzu can jump up to six inches in the air and you don't

want to land in your eye rule two once the morsel is in your mouth be sure to chew thoroughly any maggots that get swallowed alive could set up camp in your intestines potentially resulting in a parasitic infection for this reason it's illegal to buy or sell kasumarsu in the eu or u.s in spite of its reputation as a health hazard sardinians claim the cheese is a powerful aphrodisiac would maggot cheese get you in the mood for love let me know down in the comments below fruit juice okay so fruit

juice isn't exactly a food but it's made from food so i'm gonna discuss it anyway it may shock you to learn that according to u.s obesity expert dr robert lustig calorie for calorie fruit juice is worse for you than fizzy drinks sounds crazy but a 2019 study on 14 440 american adults found that each 12 ounce daily serving of juice was associated with a 24 higher mortality risk compared to drinking none at all the same quantity of soda meanwhile only increased mortality rate by 11 so why is jews

so bad for us well most of the sugar in fruit is fructose which has some pretty unhealthy side effects it's addictive and can trick our brains into thinking we're still hungry even when we've consumed our fair share of calories when we eat a piece of fruit the fiber content counteracts these effects by slowing the absorption of fructose and helping us to feel full juicing meanwhile releases the sugars in fruit while tearing apart most of the fiber as a result drinking juice has very few of the

health boosting benefits of eating fruit and is linked to obesity tooth decay and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes yikes tasty though a glass of morning oj may be i'll probably be sticking to a glass of water from now on fugu would you be willing to risk certain death in order to eat this what you're looking at is puffer fish sushi known as fugu a much sought-after delicacy in japan the fish is reportedly so delicious that every year people are literally dying to try it i'm not exaggerating

puffer fish are laced with tetradotoxin a poison 1200 times deadlier than cyanide each puffer fish contains enough to kill 30 people and there's no known antidote regardless many japanese chefs spend two to three years earning a special license that allows them to prepare fugu and serve it after carefully removing the toxic skin and organs because of the intensive training required to earn a fugu preparing license the dish can cost upwards of 200 given that eating incorrectly prepared fugu can c

ause paralysis and death it's banned in the eu the uk and most of the us if you're absolutely determined to try it remember that nearly all fatalities occur when untrained or unlicensed people repair the fish so make sure your fugu is served by a puffer professional red hot chili peppers a spicy chili pepper can leave you feeling pretty hot and bothered but few people realize the side effects of munching on excessively hot chilies can be much more gruesome than merely a painful toilet visit the

next day of course chili peppers can't actually burn you unless they're on fire when you eat them instead chilies contain a chemical compound called capsaicin which activates the neurons in our brains responsible for feeling heat this tricks our brains into activating our burn defense system which is where the trouble can begin this can cause inflammation as blood vessels send more blood to the affected area vomiting as your stomach tries to get rid of whatever's burning it and even blistering a

s your body inflates fluid-filled sacs to protect deeper tissues the hotter the pepper the more extreme the side effects as our bodies attempt to douse the imaginary flames if you want to avoid these symptoms take a peek at the scoville scale before you pick up your next pepper this scale measures the concentration of capsaicin in different varieties of chili ranking them according to heat your average jalapeno pepper measures a moderate 5 000 while the ghost pepper which boasts 1 million heat u

nits is so hot it's even been weaponized by the indian army in the form of chile grenades the official hottest chile in the world the carolina reaper meanwhile reaches a whopping one million five hundred sixty nine thousand three hundred units there's even a new pepper known as pepper x which reportedly boasts an astounding 3 million 180 000 scoville units though this figure is yet to be officially confirmed would you be crazy enough to take on pepper x let me know down in the comments below sav

age soda we all know soda isn't exactly the healthiest choice but did you know the excess sugar in sweetened drinks can damage our cells making us look older one recent study found that too much soda can actually alter the parts of our chromosomes linked to aging known as telomeres drinking a daily 20-ounce serving over three years was found to lead to changes consistent with getting 4.6 years older for a non-soda drinker over longer periods these changes wither skin and raise the risk of an ear

ly death sadly diet drinks aren't much better though they contain fewer calories they're packed full of artificial sweeteners which can actually cause you to put on weight when we taste artificial sweeteners our brain assumes we've consumed sugar and prepares for an influx of calories but when they fail to arrive we're left craving the calories our brains were expecting making us likelier to overeat later in the day so with dangers on both sides of the fence it's probably best to avoid being a s

ucker for the fizzy stuff entirely would you eat a wriggling writhing octopus gross as it sounds this dish is actually considered a delicacy in korea it's called san nakji and it's made by killing a small octopus and eating it while the residual nerve activity keeps it twitching the unusual delicacy comes with a substantial health warning if diners don't chew their morsel thoroughly it can prove deadly even after the octopus is killed the suction cup's on its tentacles can still attach to surfac

es meaning they can stick inside of your mouth or throat on the way down once attached the tentacles can be devilishly difficult to remove creating a choking hazard in fact six daredevil diners die every year from choking on sannakshi you might call it the octopus's revenge i'd call it a reason never to eat it farmed salmon there's something fishy about farmed salmon maybe it's the fact that despite being rich in omega-3 it's absolutely riddled with harmful chemicals specifically norwegian speci

mens of the fish are unusually high in polychlorinated biphenyls or pcbs hazardous industrial chemicals that have been banned in the u.s since 1976. pcbs were used for insulation in electrical equipment but when inadvertently consumed by humans they're classed as a probable cause of cancer and are known to damage the immune system and cause reproductive problems so how did these chemicals end up in norwegian farmed salmon well farmed salmon are fed pellets made from the ground remains of small f

ish as a result of improper waste disposal by factories along the waterways they reside in these tiny individual fish contain trace amounts of pcbs and other harmful industrial chemicals when multiple fish are concentrated into a single pellet the result is unusually high in these chemicals farmed salmon then consume these pellets absorbing the pcbs into their fatty tissues which are ultimately eaten by humans in 2018 toxicology researchers found farmed salmon contained five times more toxins in

general than any other food tested so next time you fancy fish you may want to stick to the wild kind fast food with high levels of sugar sodium saturated fats carbohydrates and calories fast food isn't exactly healthy most people realize the regular consumption of fast food is linked to obesity heart disease and diabetes but did you know it's also bad for your brain a 2011 study published in the public health nutrition journal found that those who regularly eat fast food are 51 more likely to

suffer from depression although more research is needed to establish precisely what causes this link scientists agree that eating junk food affects our brains in a number of troubling ways research from western university in ontario for example revealed excessive consumption of high-calorie food can actually restructure the brain resulting in poor impulse control and cravings this is because eating junk food triggers the release of dopamine giving us a powerful feel-good rush if we experience th

is high too often our brain responds by reducing the number of dopamine receptors meaning we need to consume more junk food to achieve the same dopamine high with this elevated tolerance regular junk food eaters can start to feel unhappy if they don't get their junk food fix the best advice is to keep fast food to a minimum if you want to keep your mind and body in tip-top condition cherries did you know that all cherries contain a deadly poison the tasty red flesh is safe to eat but the cherry

pit contains a naturally occurring substance called amygdalin when we ingest this compound our bodies break it down into the infamous poison cyanide in significant quantities this is poison don't panic you'll probably be fine if you accidentally swallow a cherry pit hole the poison is contained within the seeds at the center of the pit which is indigestible this means in most cases it'll pass through your system intact preventing your body from absorbing the lethal substance hidden inside howeve

r if you cut crush or chew the pit the poison could get into your bloodstream preventing your cells from using oxygen the amount of amygdalin in a pit varies from cherry to cherry but generally two to three are enough to produce potentially deadly symptoms other stone fruits including apricots plums and peaches also contain the poisonous substance though you'd probably be at more of an immediate risk of choking with those similarly apple seeds also contain amygdalin although the quantity is so s

mall it would take upwards of 100 to kill you still it's probably best to avoid munching apple seeds like peanuts hot dogs as you already know processed meats increase your risk of cancer but that's not the only reason you might want to beat your hot dog habit these sausage-shaped snacks are actually a leading cause of choking in children under 14 meaning they should be served up with a side order of extreme caution makes sense when you think about it hot dogs are soft slippery and the perfect s

ize to block an airway in fact the american academy of pediatrics is so concerned about the risk that in 2010 they called on manufacturers to redesign the iconic hot dog shape until that happens though you might want to thinly slice hot dogs before serving them to children or yourself if you can't be trusted to chew do you have an idea for a new hot dog shape let me know down in the comments below bagels now would you believe me if i told you that bagels are one of the most dangerous foods in yo

ur kitchen that's true but not for the usual reasons that make food dangerous every year about 2 000 americans end up in the emergency room having cut their hands preparing bagels in fact these embarrassing slip-ups are so common that doctors have a name for them bris or bagel-related injuries the problem is bagels often need holding in place to be sliced this is why the majority of bris are sustained on the non-dominant hand which holds the slippery bagel during the treacherous cutting process

and bagels aren't the only foods to watch out for when handling knives in 2019 researchers at emory university warned about an epidemic of injuries caused by cutting avocados with more than 27 thousand incidents reported between 2013 and 2017. avocados are round and slippery a risky combination when you're handling a knife leading the phenomenon to be nicknamed avocado hand mind your fingers people nutmeg did you know that your favorite festive spice is hiding a toxic secret nutmeg contains a su

bstance called myristicin which can affect the central nervous system causing wild hallucinations vomiting and in extreme cases death once myrostycin is absorbed in the body it stimulates the release of a protein called cytochrome c which causes cell death and in significant quantities leads to organ failure as a result it's highly toxic just one teaspoon of the spice is enough to cause symptoms of myristicin poisoning and two teaspoons could kill you luckily most recipes that include nutmeg onl

y require small amounts that feed multiple people but definitely think twice before you sprinkle too much over your christmas eggnog otherwise that myra styson could have you feeling like death and seeing double raw almonds as innocent as they seem you might want to think twice before picking wild almonds the almonds we see in shops are a tasty variety known as the sweet almond but these nuts have an evil twin known as the bitter or wild almond which is highly poisonous when eaten raw bitter alm

onds contain amygdalin the same substance you find in cherry pits which breaks down into cyanide even a small handful of bitter almonds is enough to cause severe poisoning while between 7 and 50 could kill you depending on your weight bitter almonds were once the only variety around until a few thousand years ago when a genetic mutation developed which inhibited the nuts ability to produce amygdalin this gave rise to the sweet almond which does still contain amygdalin but only in trace quantitie

s meaning eating them won't make you ill after thousands of years of selective planting it's now rare to see bitter almond trees at all in fact they're highly regulated in the u.s where it's illegal to grow or sell them commercially for food they're still eaten in some parts of the world though and can be found hidden in german fruitcake greek syrups and even in japanese kitkats but don't worry too much these bitter almonds are cooked to reduce the amygdalin content making them relatively safe t

o consume just don't go adding bitter almonds to your raw only diet ackee fruit have you ever seen one of these before this is an ackee the national fruit of jamaica which plays a starring role in many traditional jamaican dishes the fleshy center of this tasty tropical treat has a nutty flavor and a soft texture and pairs perfectly with salt fish be careful though because the ackee fruit has a dark side unripe ackee contains a poison called hypoglycin which causes an illness known as jamaican v

omiting sickness as the name suggests this involves nasty nausea and diarrhea and in severe cases it can even lead to a coma or death luckily the amounts of hypoglycin massively diminish as the fruit ripens which means they're perfectly safe to eat as long as they're picked at the right time so next time you're in jamaica remember to only look out for the ripe red pods that have split along the seams unless you have a very strong stomach pasta and rice did you know that if you leave cooked rice

or pasta out of the fridge for too long they can undergo a deadly transformation spores of bacterium called bacillus cereus commonly live in uncooked pasta and rice and can survive the cooking process when a rice or pasta dish is left to sit for several hours at room temperature these spores can grow into bacteria which multiply and secrete harmful toxins known as enterotoxins once absorbed by our bodies these attack our organs causing everything from vomiting to fatal liver failure further cook

ing or reheating won't remove the toxins from your food and several strains of this hearty bacteria are cold tolerant meaning they can survive and multiply even when the dish is stored in the fridge that said while it's not 100 effective getting those leftovers in the fridge pronto is still your best bet for avoiding a rice or pasta related demise who would have expected such a betrayal from these heroes of the pantry eggs eggs are at the center of an intense debate and i don't mean sunny-side u

p versus over-easy for years scientists have been arguing about whether their high cholesterol content is bad for our health cholesterol is a fatty substance that our bodies use to build cells but too much cholesterol can clog our blood vessels restricting blood flow and increasing heart disease risk in fact a 2019 study of 30 000 adults found that for each half an egg eaten per day risk of heart disease increased by 6 while risk of an early death rose by eight percent on balance eggs are a grea

t source of protein and vitamins and do have a whole host of health benefits so cutting them out entirely may not be wise research has linked phosphatidylcholine a nutrient found in eggs with a reduced risk of alzheimer's and the american heart association suggests that up to seven eggs a week can be part of a healthy diet and just remember to cook them thoroughly as raw eggs can carry salmonella a bacteria which can cause severe food poisoning salmonella can survive even if an egg is lightly co

oked so it's safest to prepare eggs that are firm all the way through your foodie friends might roll their eyes but food safety is no yolk cashew nuts you may think you've eaten a raw cashew nut or two in your time but cashews sold as raw in shops have actually been roasted or steamed removing dangerous toxins truly raw cashews look like this they're the seed of a sweet sour fruit called the cashew apple while the fruits are edible the shells containing the cashew nuts contain urushiol a substan

ce also found in poison ivy this can cause rashes or burns if it touches the skin and is toxic when ingested depending on your sensitivity to poison ivy even a handful of raw de-shelled cashew nuts could be enough to kill you as the urushiol can leak through the shell into the nuts so unless you cook them first to remove the urushiol you'd have to be nuts to eat a handful of raw cashews sushi if i told you your sushi might come with a side order of parasitic worms would you still eat it a recent

global study showed that fish used in sushi are now infected with 283 times more parasitic worms than in studies carried out in the 1970s while the exact reasons for this are yet to be determined it's a pretty horrifying concept in most cases our digestive systems kill off these worms before they can do us any damage but on rare occasions they can set up camp throughout our bodies and cause nasty infections just look at these horrifying x-rays showing one chinese man with a severe tapeworm infe

ction contracted from regularly eating poor quality sushi luckily incidents as extreme as this remain rare as most sushi chefs are trained to remove worms still if you're making sushi you're best off flash freezing your fish beforehand in order to kill off any unwelcome larvae oh and never under any circumstances eat gas station sushi that's just asking for trouble brazil nuts did you know brazil nuts are probably the most radioactive ingredient in your kitchen well it's true and here's how braz

il nut trees can grow up to 160 feet tall and have expansive root systems which burrow deep into the earth to draw minerals due to the country's unique mineral composition the soil in brazil contains unusually high quantities of the naturally occurring radioactive element radium which is absorbed by the tree roots and fed into the nuts as a result brazil nuts can be a whopping 1 000 times more radioactive than other foods in your kitchen though this is usually still not enough to be concerned ab

out that said you might feel more comfortable choosing non-brazilian brazil nuts this is easier than you think as almost 50 percent of the world's supply is now grown in neighboring bolivia although some radioactivity will still likely be present it'll be at a lower level due to the lower concentration of radioactive elements in the soil wherever you source your brazil nuts though you shouldn't be eating more than three a day as they're a rich source of selenium an essential mineral which can be

toxic in large quantities you should be fine as long as you don't go nuts everything in moderation has this video changed your mind about any of your favorite foods let me know down in the comments below and thanks for watching [Music] you