undefined | Better HN

0 pointscyberax2y ago0 comments

You can actually consume a _lot_ of cyanide without negative consequences, your body can detoxify it easily in small quantities. You can dissolve a lethal dose of cyanide in a bottle of water, and you'll be fine if you drink it in small sips over the course of a day.

Cyanide is so toxic because it has a high affinity for iron ions, so it deactivates iron-containing enzymes that are crucial for respiration. But in ferrocyanide it is _already_ combined with iron.

Ferrocyanide compounds like Prussian blue are even sometimes used as an antidotes for heavy metal poisoning.

0 comments

wouldbecouldbe2y ago

Yeah, just because it doesn't directly harm a human in small dosis, doesn't mean it's a good idea to just add it to the daily diet of a human.

We simply don't know, and haven't research the longterm effect of small dosis on a daily intake. Especially combined with other conservatives & chemical additives in small dosis.

You can't deny there are some major diseases in the modern world on a rise and we have no idea why.

Yet here everyone always so sure that everything we're doing with food additives, pesticides and chemical processing is super safe.

There's just no need to eat these things, just eat normal food.

cyberaxOP2y ago

> We simply don't know, and haven't research the longterm effect of small dosis on a daily intake.

For cyanide? We actually do. Cassava roots contain quite a bit of it, and they are used as a staple in some places in Africa. You can indeed can get chronic poisoning, but it requires A LOT of cyanide.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse