Topic: Did my love of Rhubarb nearly kill me

[Obelixx]

Never pick after July.  TTaste and texture go downhill, oxalic acid levels rise - very bad for people prone to arthritis or gout - and the plants need a rest so they can use their leaves to build up their roots for next year's crop.

You can make rhubarb and strawberry jam and rhubarb chutney and rhubarb compote for storing so you can enjoy rhubarb in moderation from July to April when the first forced crop is usually ready.

Episodes with the heart are always worth checking out, whatever the cause.  You may be doing irreparable damage to your heart muscles and one day it will just stop pumping because it's worn out so please, moderation in rhubarb consumption and common sense in health maintenance to the fore.  Your wife might have passing murderous thoughts for filling her freezer with rhubarb but I'm sure she'd rather you were certified healthy or treated for any underlying problem.

[Allotment-junkie]

See a doc it may be Gallstones or Acid Reflux / Oesophagitis as certain foods set these off

[macmac]

Rice pudding anyone ?  ;D

[Dandytown]

Better not let my wife no or I'll be getting rhubarb for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[Bugloss2009]

I know this is a serious tread and all, but every time i see it I can't help thinking that "Did my love of Rhubarb nearly kill me?" is a forgotten song by The Smiths

[Deb P]

 ;D ;D ;D....you never know!

[Kea]

A bunch of students at a Uni hostel in NZ in the town I was living in, were made very ill by Rhubarb which was picked late in the season. Only the students who had eaten the rhubarb were ill.

[grannyjanny]

My OH had severe pains in his kidney area after eating a bought rhubarb crumble late in the year. Obviously we don't know when it was harvested ::).

[betula]

I am quickly going off Rhubarb

[grannyjanny]

I love rhubarb but a couple of years ago it seemed that every time I ate it I got terrible pains in my thumbs. Arthritis thought I ::) so I gave it away. It turned out I had trigger thumb after lugging approx 150 bags of manure & 120 bags of rubbish when we cleared the plot. I can't really ask fit back though can I, no I can't ;) ;D.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Oxalic acid clogs up your kidneys. Symptoms include:

Abdominal pain
Burns and blisters where the acid contacted the skin
Collapse
Convulsions
Kidney problems
Low blood pressure
Mouth pain
Shock
Throat pain
Tremors
Vomiting
Weak pulse

I suggest you had something else.

[Crystalmoon]

OMG Im shocked by all the awful things Oxalic acid can do to you :o

[Stopp]

Oxalic acid is in many plants ...... pinched from Wiki ..


Oxalic acid and oxalates are present in many plants, including black tea, and occur naturally in animals. 


Members of the spinach family are high in oxalates, as is sorrel, and a, "steady diet of raw leaves," is not recommended.[9] Rhubarb leaves contain about 0.5% oxalic acid and Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) contains calcium oxalate crystals. Bacteria produce oxalates from oxidation of carbohydrates.[3]

So how do animals cope with eating raw leaves all the time??   :-\

[pansy potter]

Everything in moderation and at the right time of year ;D

[pumkinlover]

Thanks Stopp- I guess the answer is complex and down to evolution- some life forms can live where it would instantly kill others.

But you've answered something for me- I heard recently that you should not feed a lot of spinach to chickens- I think you have explained why! :)

[gazza1960]

your rhubarb query made me wonder if it was also affecting me kidneys after reading about toxins in late season stems doing just that,I only mention it as being a "Diabetic" I guess mine might be more prone to infection
than your normal Jo public.

After getting shot of the water works infection with anti,s,me kidleys are still nagging and next time im at the quacks I will mention if Toxins from rhu can be absorbed and leave after effects as mine are stil nagging me 4 weeks later.....this after also having an ultra sound that found nada......phew.

That said,ive now stripped our Rhu back and wont be eating any till the new season,but interestingly none of the other plot holders knew that Rhu after July was a tad dodgy.

anyway,nuffo the scare mungering and back to the lotty  !!!!!!!!!

I hope you dont get any more grief yourself.

Gazza

[ceres]

Clearing out some old stuff and came across a Radio Times from 1957.  Surely Mr Pastry can't be wrong?  ;)

[Crystalmoon]

Ive just sown sowm spinach & was planning on eating alot of it as winter salad leaves.....would it be safer to cook it instead? Im just recovering from hepatitis so really dont want to put my liver/kidneys etc under any starin. Thanks for any advice x jane

[ceres]

I'm not aware of there being any doctors on the forum but even if there were, it's not safe to take medical advice from anonymous people on the internet.  In your shoes, I would ask my GP next time I had an appointment and/or phone NHS Direct and ask them.  You're absolutely right to take no chances with your health.  Good luck!

[betula]

Well we have allabout liverpool [something like that]he is a GP but don't suppose he comes on to do medical consultations.