stories : Nagging Question
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Pumpkin Pie HighIs nutmeg really a mind-altering substance? |
Will I start seeing things if I ingest too much nutmeg?
“It’s common knowledge among spice merchants that nutmeg is supposed to be a hallucinogen,” says Tom Erd, owner of The Spice House, in Chicago. “But I’ve tried eating it, smoking it, and drinking it, and nothing’s happened to me.”
Probably because he didn’t eat, smoke, or drink enough.
Nutmeg and its sister spice, mace—the seed and the membrane that covers it, respectively, from the Myristica fragrans tree—both contain a substance called myristicin. A potent narcotic compound, it can cause hallucinations when eaten in large amounts. However, it also causes serious dry mouth, nausea, and vomiting that make it an unlikely candidate for recreational drug use.
The key word here is large. A sprinkling of nutmeg on your eggnog latte is not going to turn the barista into a lizard. According to several medical reports, it would take somewhere between 5 and 15 grams of grated spice (about one to two whole nutmeg seeds) to induce any sort of narcotic reaction. Fatal nutmeg poisonings are rare—the last reported case was in 2001—and most occur from eating copious amounts in an attempt to get high. (The drug requires several hours to take effect, during which time people sometimes ingest more, thinking they have not eaten enough.)
To add a certain je ne sais quoi to baked goods, you can’t go wrong with nutmeg. To trip out, you’d probably have better luck smoking banana peels.
Wow, um, I never knew that about banana peels. Thanks, Chow?
Oh, it's a hoax... but one with a venerable history. Inspired by the 1967 hit song "Mellow Yellow", there were probably hundreds of hippies who spent hours smoking banana peels and wondering when they would get high. And probably some investors who rushed to buy United Fruit stock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananadine
Chowhound whats wrong with you,stop corrupting kids and stick to food.I don't know who does these articles but between the one about asparagus pee and this one I'm about to leave Chowhound and any more offensive articles they'll be a mass Exodus.People have limits.Why destroy such a great site?Thats foolish.
Oh, lighten up. Some of us enjoy ALL the dirt on food. Why put a fence around certain areas of curiosity and say we won't go there? If you're not interested, then don't click on that topic.
That article on bannadine was hysterical. Thanks for the link.
Never heard this about Nutmeg -- I'll use it at my next cocktail party.
Ooops - I meant the trivia, not nutmeg, ha ha.
I actually witnessed someone have a nutmeg "trip", when my best friend and I were 14. We learned about it in some drug education film or other, with which we were bombarded (I'm talking about the early 70's, and those films were good for giving one ideas more than anything else). Her name was Michele, and she swallowed a Heaping Handful (probably about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of it. Later that day, she had quite an experience, and I wasn't sure if she was faking it or not, but decided she probably wasn't, because if she had been, it would've been Oscar-worthy. A heaping handful of nutmeg, though? YUCK!!!!
Hoax? you eat a tablespoon and post back please.
No way. How about YOU do it?
BTW, the song "mellow yellow" was not referring to bananas.
What it does refer to, I will leave to your imagination, or further research.
Folks, the secret is....
COMBINE the banana peels AND the nutmeg............
Why do you think banana bread is REALLY GOOD ??!!!
:-)
Overdosing on nutmeg causes temporary impotence in men, so beware... I'm not aware of any permanent damage and you'd have to eat quite a bit, either way no reason to avoid it as I see it.
After reading some "trip reports" on Erowid, I think there is good reason for ordinary people to avoid it. Of course, ordinary people wouldn't down tablespoon after tablespoon of nutmeg powder in order to get high.
2 WARNINGS. I used to eat nutmeg in a banana milkshake, great taste. Had about 20-25 trips (1-2 teaspoons; 5-10g). HOWEVER, when researching the subject, I came across somewhere on the internet that it is (1) carcinogenic to the liver. So I stopped doing that.
Also, I found that after a while the mere taste of it made me gag. I think my liver recognised the stuff and was telling me something because now I find it very hard to eat anything with the taste of nutmeg in it as it makes me nauseous. (2) So if you like your food with nutmeg on it, do not use it as a hallucinogen.
As for the value judgements, humans have used all kinds of herbs and substances for millenia for all kinds of reasons, both for their psychotropic and biological effects. When humans discovered that fermented starch gave them a buzz and relaxed their digestion, but also caused nausea, disorientation and mood disturbance, withdrawal effects, and erectile dysfunction, that did not stop them using it. And I won't get onto Carl Sagan's theory about the co-evolution of hemp (seed;flowers) and human physical health and consciousness.
I now eat a lot of raw 'live foods', man that gets me HIGH! (Seriously)