Toxins in foods

In this article we analyze some toxins present in food, able to develop adverse effects in our body. These toxic substances are:

ENZYMATIC INHIBITORS: legumes - such as soy, beans, chickpeas, etc. - contain substances that act as inhibitors of proteases, lipases, amylases and other enzymes. These inhibitory substances - at high doses, certainly not achievable with a balanced diet - can cause various adverse effects. The first effect is at the level of the pancreas, with pancreatic hypertrophy, the second, instead, consists in a reduced growth of the organism.
LECTINE: lectins are proteins, glycoproteins or lipoproteins, which are part of the plant family of fitoemaglutinins, so called because they favor the aggregation of red blood cells.

Toxic substances in food are found in the seeds of about eight hundred plants, of which six hundred of the legume family. Once ingested, they are bound to the intestinal epithelial cells, reducing the absorbing capacity of the intestine. Normally, these proteins are inactivated by cooking.

GLUCOALCALOIDS: glucoalkaloids derive from some solanaceous such as potatoes, aubergines and tomatoes. The substances in question - which can develop and accumulate within these plants - are the solanins. Excessive introduction into the body of solanine (dosage greater than 20 mg per 100 grams of solanacea) may cause an irritant action and inhibit the action of acetylcholinesterase.
OXALIC ACID: we find it mainly in tomatoes, spinach, tea and cocoa. Oxalic acid is toxic because it binds calcium making it no longer available to our body; furthermore, the precipitating calcium crystals cause damage to the kidney and vessel tissue. Also in this case it is very difficult to take a quantity of oxalic acid that causes these effects, precisely because the quantities to be taken are very high (we are talking about more than two kilos of tomatoes and more than half a kilo of spinach).
PHYTIC ACID: it is found in cereals, legumes and dried fruit. Phytic acid binds the divalent and trivalent metals, important for cellular functioning. Phytic acid can therefore reduce the absorption of copper, zinc, iron and calcium.
TOXIC AMINO ACIDS: these "anomalous or atypical" amino acids are very different from the classic amino acids used for the formation of proteins. An increased introduction of these abnormal amino acids causes NEUROLACTIRISM. The main causes of this consequence are DABA (L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid) and ODAP (3-N-oxyl-diamino-propionic acid), mainly present in the seeds of the chickling. Neurolactirism is characterized by weakness and muscular muscle stiffness, up to the paralysis of the lower limbs. Another very dangerous pathology is FAVISM. This pathology is characterized by the lack of an enzyme, which is glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase. An individual who presents favism can produce only small quantities of NADPH (necessary, among other things, for the functioning of glutathione, therefore useful for the antioxidant action and for the integrity of red blood cells). For this reason, when people with favism take small amounts of food, such as beans, which contain the toxic amino acid 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, can go against hemolysis of red blood cells and in severe cases even to death .
CYANOGENETIC COMPOUNDS: these food toxins are found mainly in the seeds enclosed in the core, such as peach, apricot or cherry. An example of cyanogenic compound is given by amygdalin, a glycoside able to produce hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide is a mitochondrial poison that hinders the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), essential for our body.
VASOACTIVE SUBSTANCES, such as tyramine contained in fermented foods, such as cheeses, leavened products, beer, wine and coffee. Tyramine is an indirect sympathetic camouflage, able to empty the vesicles containing norepinephrine and adrenaline, causing a massive release of these neurotransmitters, especially at the cardiac and vascular level. The consequence is a hypertensive crisis. In depressed patients, whose treatment involves the administration of MAO inhibitors, tyramine is not degraded causing hypertension.