How many bananas do you need to eat to die?
It is known that everything is good in moderation. This applies not only to pleasant but harmful things, but also to fruits, such as bananas. Their benefits are talked about at every corner, but we want to talk about the harm, even the mortal danger. There have long been rumors online that bananas have a lethal dose. What is the lethal dose of bananas?
Let's start with the fact that bananas, in addition to vitamins, contain a large amount of calcium. It is because of this that it is recommended for children and adults to eat. But large doses of calcium are not only unhealthy, but also dangerous. Experts have long debated how many bananas are dangerous to life. Some believe that even six fruits eaten at once pose a threat. Others argue that the lethal dose is much higher.
There have been no recorded cases of death from overeating bananas in the world. But it happened that vitamin lovers ended up in the hospital for gastrointestinal dialysis. This happened after eating a dozen or more bananas. As we see, the legend of 6 pieces does not stand up to criticism.
Does this mean there is no lethal dose of bananas? Let's get down to science. A medium-sized banana contains approximately 400 mg of potassium. The body can absorb about 4000-4800 mg per day without harm. That is, 10 bananas a day will not harm you. But a larger amount can already affect your well-being, but not kill.
It’s better not to approach the dangerous line, because additional factors can influence the situation, such as general health, the presence of chronic illnesses, age, etc. What is good for one person may be dangerous for another.
An “overdose” of bananas has very unpleasant symptoms. The heart rate slows down, stomach upset begins, and clouding of consciousness occurs. Death is quite possible. But calculations of calcium doses dangerous to the human body showed that for fatal poisoning you would have to eat 400 bananas one after another.
It turns out that we are surrounded by many other products, the dangers of which we did not even suspect.