STAY FREE FROM FOOD POISONING

Unsplash

Before we look at food poisoning proper, let's cast our minds back to what food is all about and possibly poison. The reason for going back to have a brief reminder on the above is to clear the air and bring to knowledge the differences that exist between food, poison and food poisoning

Before I continue ,let's purse a little to answer this question, have you been a victim of food poisoning before?
If yes what was your experience in terms of the symptoms and how did you remedy the situation?

Food is any substance that is when taken to the body, digested it gives energy and nourishes the body. Food is very essential for the healthy growth of living things and human beings at large. Without food, living things will be devoid of energy, since it is food that give energy to the body (carbohydrates). Sometimes the food which gives energy and nourishment to the body can be a source of great discomfort to an individual or a group of persons. When this happen it can be generally said that this food is unfit for consumption. This may arise as a result of certain factors that has come to play. Such as deterioration of food substances, over ripe fruits, exposure of food to the natural environment thereby exposing the food to pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli , Entamoeba histolytica etc.

Since poison is any substance that is harmful to the body. Food poisoning is therefore illness caused by contaminated food. This contamination can be from bacteria, parasites, toxins or viruses. Sometimes food poisoning can be life threatening depending on the level of poisoning, meanwhile in the other hand it can be a very minor case.

Food poisoning may arise from the consumption of contaminated food for example eating of food that has been exposed to house flies attack. House flies carries some pathogenic bacteria on their legs as a result of perching on faeces this usually happens in the rural area where open defecation is mostly practiced. The faeces contains pathogenic bacteria such as E.coli which is a normal Flora of the colon, and being passed our from the colon through defecation becomes pathogenic if it finds it way back into the colon.
The resultant effect is that it may cause diarrhoea. Another example is the consumption of over ripe fruits like banana, the organism called Entamoeba histolytica since the organism (protozoan) naturally feeds and over ripe fruits, it is therefore possible that as it feeds, it gives birth to other protozoans of it kind thereby increasing the population. When an individual consumes this fruit that has been contaminated by the generation of the protozoans, he or she may go down with a kind of poisoning called Intestinal amoebiasis this causes the individual to enjoy his or her stooling while some blood maybe spotted in the faeces.

Have you ever heard a case of people being poison in a food where others had eaten and nothing happened especially in an occasion?
Let's get our minds there, food like salad, barbecue etc. garnished with Bama mayonnaise or the likes for example, those who feeds on the above food gets to enjoy and love it, but when allow to stay for a longer time, the texture changes, the taste changes too, those who later come to feed on eat gets home with a discomfort in the stomach. This happens because the bacteria present in the food substances has found a growth medium and the multiplication of it generation makes the food to have a change in texture and other things.

Pexels

Although different ailment may have similar symptoms, the symptoms of food poisoning will include cramping, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.
Pain areas: in the abdomen or rectum
Whole body: chills, dehydration, dizziness, fatigue, fever, light-headedness, loss of appetite, malaise, or sweating

Since most of the food poisoning are caused by microorganisms, it is therefore important to keep them away to avoid food poisoning, this can be done by the proper practice of hand washing, washing of food substances properly, food should be prepared in a clean environment and ready to eat food should be separated from others who may harbor some certain amount of microbes such as sea foods, chicken meat etc. Meat should be properly cooked before consumption.

At the initial, since during food poisoning, an individual gets to defecate frequently due to the effects of diarrhea, and at times this combines with vomiting, during this time, important electrolytes is being lost from the body. The first aid to be given here which will help restore the lost electrolytes include oral rehydration salt. In a simple terms salt and Sugar solution should be given to such individual before thinking of what next to do. If the above does not help, the person should be made to visit an health facility since self medication can be dangerous.

Pexels

Thank you for going through this piece of mine. As a graduate of microbiology I am delighted to share my knowledge with you and I hope you learned something.
I invite my friend @zekanem, @goodybest and @vudeme123 to participate in this contest.