Worldwide Beekeeping
General Discussion => Any and Every Thing => Topic started by: blueblood on June 23, 2023, 07:49:08 pm
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Hi Friends! It's been a while. I had a friend ask about Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in honey. Mentioned that it can make a person ill and affect the liver. I had never heard of it before and so turned to Google. Very complicated explanations. I suppose honey is suspect because bees mingle with the herbs/plants that contain this compound and possibly taint the honey? So, I have turned to the most respected database of keepers in the world. What say ye?
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So I've been getting into herbs recently, and this is the chemical that makes people concerned about comfrey, borage, coltsfoot, etc. My understanding of it is this: the scientific studies that show that these plants are dangerous have subjects consuming abnormally huge quantities of these plants (i.e. one study on comfrey was feeding lab rats comfrey as 50% of their diet, and they developed liver lesions). Under normal conditions both animals and people using these herbs as medicine would be consuming FAR less of the plant, and therefore far less of these compounds, which aren't dangerous in small quantities. While some of these plants' nectars do contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, again, the amount would be so small that unless you ate (drank?) gallons and gallons of the honey, it wouldn't affect you in any negative way.
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It sounds like the bacon story. They said bacon would cause cancer. It was all the talk until someone released how much it would take. It was said that if you ate 350 lb. of bacon a day for 250 years, it would give you cancer. It stopped the news immediately.
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Though I hadn't heard of this particular concern, Iddee is right on. This kind of scare-mongering has been going on for a long time, especially when it concerns natural products.
I grew up hearing that butter was unhealthy and margarine was a healthier option. The only opposing view to this came from a lady named Adele Davis.She said that hydrogenated oils were bad for health. This was in the 50s.
Now butter is popular again...go figure. :)
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This kind of scare-mongering has been going on for a long time
I like your choice of words, neil. Scare-mongering is used in many facets of life.