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Mushroom poisoning is not common, but it remains quite real. Even completely edible, beneficial mushrooms can be dangerous to the body. You need to know in what cases mushrooms can cause poisoning, and what to do in such a situation.
What are mushrooms
In general, champignons that fall on the dining table can be divided into several types:
- Forest. These are edible mushrooms, collected independently from the forest, peeled and cooked at home. Forest fruit bodies are not harmful to health if they were collected in a clean area, and if during the collection they were not confused with another inedible species.
- Shop. Champignons are often purchased in stores - these are the most popular mushrooms that can be found on supermarket shelves. Mushrooms for sale are grown on special farms, and if they are fresh and stored according to all the rules, then it is quite safe to eat them. The stores sell both raw and canned fruit bodies.
- False. False champignon poisoning is especially dangerous. You cannot find such mushrooms in a store, but in the forest or in spontaneous markets they often come across. False champignons are very similar in appearance to real ones and may belong to the same family, but they should not be eaten. False mushrooms include red, yellow-skinned and flat-lobed mushrooms, as well as very poisonous pale toadstools.
Even harmless mushrooms can cause poisoning.
In addition, false counterparts usually give off an unpleasant odor of iodine or carbolic acid.
Is it possible to poison mushrooms with champignons
Although champignons are considered one of the safest mushrooms, poisoning is possible even with their use. In this case, poisoning can occur in almost any situation, regardless of the form in which the fruit bodies hit the table.
What mushrooms can be poisoned
The greatest danger in terms of poisoning is represented by mushrooms independently collected in the forest. Theoretically, they can be eaten unprocessed, but you can easily get poisoned with raw mushrooms, in practice they are more often harmful than beneficial.
During their growth, fruit bodies accumulate many toxic substances in the pulp - this is true even for mushrooms collected in an ecologically clean forest. Fruiting bodies that grow near roads, industrial zones or large settlements contain even more harmful compounds. That is why it is recommended to boil or fry the fruit bodies before eating, in which case most of the toxins will be destroyed from high temperatures.
You can get poisoned with fried mushrooms, despite the heat treatment. This happens most often when using false mushrooms, accidentally confused with true ones.But also boiled or fried fruit bodies can lead to poisoning if they are not processed correctly or eaten when they have already begun to deteriorate.
Is it possible to get poisoned by store mushrooms
Mushrooms grown for sale on special farms are in many ways safer than fruit bodies brought from the forest. They certainly do not contain harmful toxins in their pulp, since they grow on a clean substrate and do not receive any toxic substances either from the soil or from the water.
Store mushrooms are not always fresh and safe
But, nevertheless, you can poison yourself with store mushrooms - the symptoms will be the same as with intoxication with forest mushrooms. The greatest danger is posed by fruiting bodies that are too stale on the supermarket shelf. If spots appear on the caps, or the plates on the underside have darkened, then you should not buy the product.
Often, poisoning occurs due to canned mushrooms from the store. If you can see that the liquid inside the jar is too cloudy, the mushroom bodies are very dark, and the lid on the container itself is swollen, this indicates that the canned food is spoiled and cannot be bought.
Why can you get poisoned with mushrooms
Among the causes of poisoning with edible mushrooms, several main ones can be distinguished:
- When self-collected, the fruiting bodies were confused with twins, and thus poisoning from the false champignon occurred.
- Fruit bodies collected in the forest grew on unfavorable soils and managed to accumulate many toxic substances in their pulp.
- Shop mushrooms were stored incorrectly or lay on the shelf for too long, because of which they managed to deteriorate.
- Canned fruit bodies were prepared in violation of the technology, or the tightness of the jar was broken during storage.
- Fried or boiled fresh mushrooms were left for a long time at room temperature or in the refrigerator, because of which they began to deteriorate and become toxic.
You can get poisoned by fried and pickled fruit bodies
Symptoms and signs of mushroom poisoning
Poisoning symptoms differ little from standard symptoms. If a person is poisoned with champignons, then intoxication develops on average 2-6 hours after eating the fruit bodies, and is manifested by the following symptoms:
- nausea and vomiting;
- severe cramps and abdominal pain;
- weakness and cold sweats;
- dizziness and headache;
- recurring diarrhea.
In rare cases, yellowness of the skin may occur, this happens if the poisoning has led to toxic damage to the liver.
The danger of mushroom mushroom poisoning
At first glance, harmless mushrooms in case of poisoning can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Against the background of intoxication, often develop:
- dehydration - with severe diarrhea and vomiting, the body loses a large amount of fluid, the process is accompanied by a drop in blood pressure and heart rhythm disturbances;
- acute gastritis - with severe poisoning, the mucous membranes of the stomach become inflamed, and if intoxication is not treated, then gastritis can become chronic;
- acute pancreatitis - you can get poisoned with fresh mushrooms so that it provokes inflammation of the pancreas, which is accompanied by acute pain and fever.
Canned mushrooms are especially dangerous in case of poisoning
One of the most dangerous consequences of poisoning is botulism - a toxic damage to the nervous system, which develops mainly against the background of the use of spoiled canned mushrooms.
Treatment for mushroom poisoning
First aid for intoxication with edible mushrooms includes several standard measures:
- When poisoning occurs, it is necessary to induce vomiting and empty the stomach. To do this, you should drink at least 5 glasses of water one after the other, and then artificially empty the stomach, preferably several times in a row.
- Toxins that have entered the intestines must be bound and removed from the body, for this you should take activated charcoal or Smecta, and then wait for the bowel to empty. You can also use a laxative.
- In case of mushroom poisoning, it is necessary to drink plenty of fluids - this will prevent the onset of dehydration.
In case of mushroom poisoning, you need to remove toxins from the body as soon as possible
When is it worth seeing a doctor
In general, for any mushroom poisoning, it is recommended to call an ambulance. However, many people prefer not to see a doctor if they are intoxicated with mushrooms. Since mushrooms are not poisonous, at first glance it seems that poisoning cannot lead to serious consequences.
However, it is imperative to see a doctor if:
- the poisoning was caused by canned mushroom food, it can lead to the development of deadly botulism;
- symptoms of poisoning do not go away for 2 days or more;
- intoxication is accompanied by a pronounced loss of strength, palpitations and dizziness;
- poisoning occurred in a pregnant woman, teenager or person with chronic diseases of the digestive system.
If too many toxic substances enter the body during poisoning, then even champignons will begin to pose a serious threat to human health and life.
Prevention measures
As practice shows, you can get poisoned with mushrooms, and the signs of intoxication will be very noticeable. But the situation can be really prevented if you adhere to a few simple recommendations:
- When picking mushrooms in the forest, you only need to put in the basket those fruiting bodies, the edibility of which is beyond doubt. Young mushrooms should be preferred.
- You need to cook mushrooms immediately after harvesting, observing all the rules for cleaning and heat treatment.
- In the store, you need to evaluate the appearance of the mushrooms, the color of the cap and bottom plates, and also look at the expiration dates.
- If mushrooms are bought canned, you need to take champignons in glass jars and check the transparency of the brine and the color of the fruit bodies inside the jar, and also see if the lid is swollen.
It is recommended to buy champignons only in trusted stores. It is better not to buy mushrooms in the markets and from unfamiliar sellers.
In order not to get poisoned by mushrooms, you need to be careful when collecting or buying
Conclusion
Mushroom poisoning rarely leads to serious consequences, however, these mushrooms can cause significant harm to health. Before using a mushroom product, you need to carefully check its quality, and in case of symptoms of intoxication, try to quickly remove toxins from the body.
