[Music]
now we all accidentally swallow
unintended things from time to time ice
cubes
gum even whole pieces of candy and we
ingest small seeds from fruit too like
the seeds from strawberries or
blackberries we should stop doing that
right yeah but what would happen to your
body if you swallowed a whole pit like
from a cherry follow me
first let's take a short walk through
the digestive system it starts when you
chew your food and swallow your food is
help down your throat by your saliva
which has enzymes in it that help break
it down muscles in your esophagus help
carry the food to your stomach your
stomach moves the food around using more
enzymes and acids to break it down into
smaller particles then our liver uses
bile to break it down even more
finally it moves through the small
intestine where it's separated into what
the body needs and what it doesn't who
food has a long journey before our body
can get what it needs now let's look at
what you should know when you swallow
something that your digestive system
doesn't expect like a cherry pit one
cherry pits are indigestion don't worry
you'll be fine the pit will pass through
your digestive system but it'll stay
whole remember those enzymes and
digestive juices I mentioned they aren't
able to break down something like a
cherry pit when it gets to your
intestines they'll just say we don't
need this and the pit will be shown the
door - well swallowing the pit give me
stomach discomfort the pit may be
uncomfortable to swallow but you
probably won't get a stomach ache you
may feel some symptoms of indigestion if
you have a pre-existing stomach
condition in general the pit should pass
through pretty easily especially if
you've eaten other food recently there
are other ended to digest foods that we
eat all the time like corn beans and
seeds that don't give us too many
problems the hard work of the digestive
system knows what to do 3 never eat the
seeds cherries belonged to a group of
fruits called stone for
other fruits in this category include
peaches mangoes and apricots fruits
belonging to this group all have a pit
in the middle and this pit holds the
seeds the shell of the pit is
indigestible but if you break it open
and chew and swallow the seats then you
might be in trouble
the seeds of stone fruit contains
cyanide which could quickly put you in
the hospital for what is cyanide glad
you asked it can be a gas but it's also
a salt a highly toxic one it comes in
several compounds but the one found in
the seeds of stone fruits like cherries
is hydrogen cyanide which binds with the
natural sugars in these fruits this
substance is manufactured on an
industrial scale to make plastics metals
paints and synthetic fibers those
working with it must take a lot of
safety precautions such as wearing an
oxygen mask and other protective gear
died due to my body well it's not good
within minutes you'd have symptoms like
headache dizziness and weakness every
organ in your body uses oxygen from
cells to work properly cyanide would
bind with enzymes in our tissues to stop
this process in other words our major
organs would stop getting oxygen and
shut down don't worry the good news is
that there's an antidote
it's called hydroxocobalamin this
compound turns cyanide into a substance
that can be removed from the body by the
kidneys have you ever swallowed the
seeds from a stone fruit and experienced
these symptoms ooh let me know in the
comments number 6 would I survive I
would I just don't know about you no
seriously if you think you've chewed and
swallowed some seeds from a cheery fit
or other stone fruit and you get medical
attention ASAP
you'll survive the ingestion of cyanide
is still dangerous but not quite as
dangerous as it is when it's inhaled in
its gas form don't do that if it's
ingested you still have plenty of time
to get medical attention hours in fact
but that doesn't mean you should wait
the faster you seek medical attention
and get that antidote
the better your body will be able to
recover seven are there any other foods
that contain cyanide
well plants including many that we
utilize as a food source develop these
compounds that contain cyanide as a
natural defense against insects
besides the fruits in the stone fruit
group I mentioned watch out for lima
beans cassava roots and bamboo shoots
they need to be fully cooked before
eating don't forget that apples also
contain seeds even though they don't
have a pit and these contain cyanide too
also bitter apricot pits also known as
kernels contain the highest amount of
cyanide in the stone fruit group eight
precautions now if you're munching on a
bag of delicious cherries try to
remember to spit out those pits keep a
small dish beside you or a trash can
chew the fruit around the pit slowly
even though that outside shell is
indigestible it's better to be safe than
sorry as a general rule never chew or
swallow any kind of pit or kernel
swallowing pits presents a choking
hazard to all so be careful of how you
dispose of the pits if you have pets
pits and seeds from stone fruits are
toxic to some animals too now don't go
around being afraid of cherries or
refusing to eat them to put cherries
back on your good list here are some fun
facts we've been eating cherries since
the Stone Age fossilized cherry pits
have been discovered in prehistoric
caves in Asia and Europe the Greek
author Theophrastus wrote about cherries
in his history of plants in 300 BC
noting them for their help in getting
rid of excess salts in the body now the
cherries we eat today came to America in
the 1600s brought over by Europeans back
then they were mostly used in pemmican a
delicious meat dish that uses both
pounded and dry meat melted fat and
other ingredients like cherries to give
it a sophisticated burst of flavor there
are more than 1000 varieties of cherries
there are sweet ones and tart ones about
500 of each well we only eat about 20
varieties
so not all cherries are in mass
production in the US cherries only come
from a few states Michigan grows the
majority of tart cherries Washington
grows 62 percent of the sweet cherries
felt by California and Oregon these
sweet cherries are the ones that are so
popular to eat during the summertime
just remember to spit out those pits
turkey is the world's leader in the mass
production of cherries giving us 335
thousand tons of cherries each year and
you won't believe the simple ingenious
way they're harvested farmers use a big
mechanical grip which shakes the tree
and loosens the cherries the average
cherry tree grows about 7,000 cherries
that's enough for Grandma to make 28
cherry pies hmm let's do the math ah
let's not cherries are loaded with a lot
of stuff that's good for you like
antioxidants and essential vitamins
naturally sweet cherries will fix that
sweet tooth and are low in calories so
they're a great healthy snack they can
also be used in cooking to give your
meal a healthy boost despite the name
the Japanese cherry tree isn't famous
for cherries it's known for its gorgeous
buds and their amazing smell it's
considered the national flower of Japan
and represents empathy beauty and
acceptance of destiny
Canada gets credit for baking the
biggest cherry pie in the world which
weighed nearly 40,000 pounds they still
hold that record to this day which was
previously held by Traverse City
Michigan
well they don't hold the record for the
biggest cherry pie anymore Traverse City
still holds an annual National Cherry
Festival since 1925 the festival
celebrates all things cherry for two
days with cherry themed food pie-eating
contests a cherry pit spitting contest
hey sign me up and
they even crown a cherry queen back in
Roman times cherries were part of the
soldiers food rations as they were
marching along two soldiers would spit
out the pits essentially planting a new
cherry tree they eventually spread
throughout the entire Roman Empire the
record for a cherry pit spitting contest
is 93 feet said by Brian Krause in 2004
a cherry pit spitting contest is held
every year in Eau Claire Michigan I
can't think of a better reminder for you
to spit out those pits okay if you
learned something new today then give
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remember spit out those pets and stay on
the bright side of life