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If I were to ask you whether it’s safe to drink snake venom,
you’d probably have a very firm answer right away.
Either you’d automatically say no, because snakes wield deadly poisons…
Or, if you’re a science pedant, you might unequivocally say yes,
because snakes wield venoms, not poisons.
Well, I’m here to tell you that actually, both those answers are wrong
— and at best, the correct answer is... maybe?
Let’s start with the surefire no.
The science pedants out there are right when they point out that
venoms and poisons differ — namely, by the route of administration.
Both fall under the broader umbrella of “toxins”, meaning they
cause problems in relatively small amounts.
But venoms get into you via wounds, like a snake bite,
while poisons are either inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.
And yes, this difference matters when it comes to how toxins affect you!
Since venom goes directly into your bloodstream, it doesn’t need
to be able to survive a trip through your stomach.
So, venoms often contain big, somewhat delicate molecules
that can be inactivated or destroyed by your digestive juices.
But before you run out to do a shot of snake venom, let’s move on
to the misconception behind that solid yes answer.
You see, there may be no evolutionary reason for venom toxins
to work when consumed, but that doesn’t mean that they never do.
What you really need to know is the venom’s oral toxicity:
how different amounts affect you when ingested.
And oral toxicities tend to be lower than injected ones.
That’s in part because of those digestive juices we mentioned.
Also, there’s the physical barrier of your gut lining—so odds are,
some of the stuff just passes through you without getting absorbed.
But that doesn’t mean venoms are guaranteedly drinkable.
For instance, the venom of the blue-ringed octopus contains
the potent paralytic tetrodotoxin, which is roughly 40 times less toxic
when swallowed than when injected.
But still, it’s a super deadly poison!
So if you did somehow manage to obtain a shot glass full of venom
from these golf ball-sized octopuses, you definitely wouldn't want
to drink it.
I can’t actually say it would kill you, because we haven’t tested
this venom’s oral toxicity.
But that’s kinda the thing—we haven’t tested most venoms that way.
There simply hasn’t really been a reason to!
So we don’t know if they’re safe to drink.
Though, there we do have some evidence to suggest they aren’t.
For instance, in a study published in 2015, rats that ingested
cobra venom ended up with damage to their livers
reminiscent of what happens after a regular bite.
Plus, there’s been at least one case where someone almost died
after drinking snake wine, a beverage prepared by steeping
an entire venomous snake in alcohol.
And this guy wasn’t suffering from run-of-the-mill alcohol poisoning.
He was admitted to the hospital because his blood had stopped
clotting properly — a symptom often caused by snake venoms.
And he got better after receiving antivenom.
Researchers in Australia are actually hoping some venom toxins
work orally… on insects, that is.
That way, they can more easily be used as pesticides.
And so far, 70% of the spider venoms they’ve tested killed
the fruit flies that ate them, which sounds promising
as far as pesticides go!
Now, that doesn’t mean they’re dangerous for us to drink.
But still, the research is further evidence that venom toxins
can do their nefarious work when ingested.
So... can you drink snake venom?
I mean… maybe? It could depend on the species of snake?
But we haven’t done the tests to find out, and making assumptions
based on the difference between venoms and poison is a terrible idea.
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