In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

It's always worth being a little cautious, because wild forms of most
food plants have rather higher toxin levels than cultivated forms.

What evidence do you have that wild forms have higher levels of toxins
than cultivated forms? Does wild rhubarb have more oxalic acid than
cultivated forms? How are you defining "toxins"?

Er, do you REALLY not know how many cultivated plants have been bred to
have low levels of plant toxins? Yes, that includes rhubarb. And I
am using toxin in its normal sense.

However, we need some toxins in our diet, which is why we use spices
in our food!

Now I really don't understand that. What "toxins" do we /need/ in our
diet?

No, nor do I, and I believe nor does anyone else. But research has
found that low levels of toxins, as found in spices, are necessary
for our digestive systems to work properly.

No, using poisons instead of toxins is not an improvement.

Something like vitamin A, perhaps, which becomes poisonous in large
quantities? Any what has that do do with spices?

No, I am referring to things with no known metabolic function, and which
are not nutritious. Spices 'work' by containing small amounts of various
toxins - look it up.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.