On 11/05/2012 22:13, wrote:
Martin wrote:
That is more or less correct. But in Japan young bracken shoots are
cooked and eaten as the delicacy "mountain greens". They don't taste
particularly good to eat and I avoided them after working out the
translation. Some details on the active ingredient - nasty stuff...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptaquiloside

Forms a powerful alkylating agent and seriously damages DNA.

Which is odd, since Japanese cuisine and longevity are always lauded
about (tending to people pointing fingers at how healthy eating fish
is).

I think they do wash it copiously to prepare it, but IMO it was
absolutely not worth the effort. An explanation of why was "being in
touch with nature" which seemed odd in a concrete jungle like Tokyo.

And compared with Fugu fish where a bad dissection can be immediately
fatal due to neurotoxins this is just a minor long term risk.

A fair number smoke like chimneys too, but their national health system
is extremely good and cancers are picked up quickly. There is a high
rate of cancers of the lungs, mouth and digestive tract in Japan, but
nothing compared to the much higher health risks of obesity in the West.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown