Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/07/03/chinese-vlogger-thinks-shes.html
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Do they sell this on Goop?
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Hm, agave, what might that be good for?
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Geez, that really sucks. I hope there’s no permanent damage.
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She almost died doing what she loved.
Darwin Award runner up…
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Uh that looks nothing like aloe vera.
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Last month I pulled a weed out of a flower pot. Something compelled me to taste the root. I did, breaking it and just put the tip of my tongue to it. It was bitter and I think a bit numbing. I washed my mouth out, but it linger despite barely touching it.
I am not sure why I am sharing this…
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Did we learn a lesson about plant identification, or about internet fame or…?
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I was going to say, “Can’t we let Darwin win a little?”
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There are many plants called aloe, so the “real” got the name vera (=true/real in Latin) to highlight that is the one that you are supposed to look for
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There’s a good chance your body is lacking some vitamin or mineral which is present in that root. However, while your body might be able to pick up via smell or touch that the root in question is a source, it may fail to recognize the presence of other things like poisons, so YMMV etc.
Pro tip#1: if your dog is eating grass all the time buy a better brand of dog food. (You’ll actually save money.)
Pro tip #2: if you’re stranded and dying of starvation and those berries look luscious, follow this protocol:
- touch the outer skin of the possible edible against the inner forearm, wait 24hrs for negative reaction
- touch the juice or inner pulp against forearm, wait 24hrs for negative reaction
- skin/pulp against the lips (w/waits between)
- skin/pulp against the tongue (w/waits between, no swallowing!)
- try a tiny nibble (wait again)
- try a bite (wait again)
etc
Of course this is a 16-day process and you could have keeled over by then so you can shortcut if absolutely necessary: - pulp to forearm (wait 24)
- pulp to tongue (wait 24)
- tiny nibble (wait 24)
- small bite (wait 24)
But that’s still 4 days, so you can cut the waits to 12hrs if you have to, bringing it down to two days. And of course you have plenty of space on your forearms so you can be parallel testing (keep track!)
Umm, what’re we talking about?
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There’s a good chance your body is lacking some vitamin or mineral which is present in that root.
I have heard people claim this but I have never seen any evidence for it. There’s a good chance it is a myth.
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I think I wondered, “This looks like a skinny carrot kinda. Why don’t we eat things like this? I bet it tastes bad.”
I am well aware many plants are poisonous, but I was fairly confident just a taste wouldn’t kill me.
Had a dog who would do this occasionally. Almost every time it was on an empty stomach. Its like his stomach was upset and he’d eat grass to throw up on purpose but I think every time he did it there was almost nothing there. He’s gone now, though.
Good to know!
I know some animals will eat clay or the like for certain minerals. I’ve heard it too, and especially pregnant women craving dirt or other odd things. But could be wives tales as well.
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I have to concur that the fronds the woman is holding don’t look very much like aloe vera fronds.
As an aside, aloe vera itself isn’t very tasty in it’s natural form, but at least it won’t hurt you.
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Dandelion root? Roast it! Artisanal coffee!
There’s probably a reason why “aloes” is a word synonymous with ‘bitterness’.
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Probably.
Agave americana sure as heck isn’t poisonous.
No reference to the vlogger who had his girlfriend shoot him “4 teh viewz”?
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Two fold incident…
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She was not aware of what she was actually going to ingest
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Someone told her it was Aloe Vera…
Elementary Watson… the question is whom would wish her to eat a poison plant?
The plot thickens… as it were
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everyone knows you don’t eat agave, you drink it!!!
it contains a number of toxins, just the sap from the outer skin.
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