Can you eat rhubarb raw or is it poisonous?

When the first poles start in April rhubarb are offered at the vegetable markets and the tart and sour aroma unfolds in the nose, spring is in full swing. Until Midsummer Day, rhubarb is a welcome guest in German kitchens and is used in many ways to make jam and cakes. Despite its pleasant taste, however, care must be taken that not only the leaves of Rheum rhabarbarum are poisonous. Even if you want to eat rhubarb raw, you should pay attention to a few things.

Rhubarb: poisonous or not?

If you want to eat rhubarb raw in the spring, you will likely hear from a multitude of people that it would be best not to. And that is entirely justified, if a little exaggerated. Rhubarb contains the so-called Oxalic acidfound in a wide variety of leafy vegetables and other foods including:

• spinach
• sorrel
• Manigold
• Beetroot (leaves)
• manioc
• Amaranth

Rheum rhabarbum is mainly found in leafy vegetables with the highest content of oxalic acid (

Clover acid), which after the harvest time from the 24th June even rises so that the plant can prepare for winter. Hence, one should stop eating the plant apart after harvest time will. In the amount of 100 grams of rhubarb there is 460 milligrams of acid, what Symptoms of intoxication as soon as it is consumed raw. You can eat the vegetables cooked without hesitation, but the raw consumption of rhubarb is also possible, only depending on several factors:

• Diet
• Kidney disease, gout, rheumatism or people with biliary disorders
• Eat parts of plants (flowers, leaves, stems peeled or unpeeled)
• after or before the typical harvest period

The leaves contain particularly high amounts of acid. You should never eat these. This is also the case with the blossomthat tastes rather unpleasantly bitter before it is cooked. It then resembles broccoli in aroma with a slightly sour note. You may only eat the sticks of rhubarb in their raw state, whereby a rule of thumb applies: the greener the stick, the more toxic acid it contains. Therefore, you should only eat the pulp. To do this, peel the stems. This can inhibit the risk of poisoning, but not completely neutralize it. Yes, rhubarb is poisonous, but this is overdramatizing.

How does clover acid affect the body?

A major problem with the question of whether rheum rhabarbarum harms humans is the common belief that excessive consumption of raw rhubarb can form kidney stones. The acid binds to minerals found in the body, including iron, calcium, and magnesium. If the acid binds to calcium too often, too much of it is deposited in the kidneys and leads to kidney and bladder stones. However, the acid is not the only reason for the formation of kidney stones. Human nutrition is of the utmost importance here and includes the following deficiencies:

• insufficient water absorption
• insufficient potassium and magnesium are absorbed through food or preparations
• excessive consumption of table salt
• Gut flora disorder due to an unbalanced diet
• chronic acidosis

The acid is especially poisonous for adults when their bodies are weakened due to deficiency symptoms in the organism and existing diseases. Healthy people who have a balanced diet can eat rhubarb raw as long as they can in moderation to do. Of course, this does not apply to children. Due to the smaller organism, it is not recommended to let children eat the plant raw, as the quantities are too high here. Therefore, children and people with pre-existing symptoms should not enjoy Rheum rhabarbarum in its raw state. There are also some foods that are 100 percent effective against the acid:

• Dairy products
• Citrus fruits
• Raspberries, Bananas, grapes
• avocado
• nuts
• legumes
• full grain
• Dates, figs, plums

Above all, dairy products and citrus fruits should be mentioned here. The citric acid breaks down the clover acid thoroughly and exogenous calcium also works against the acid. A balanced diet with lots of vegetables, fruits, proteins and fatty acids is the perfect "antidote" against the acidity of rhubarb. The dairy products act as a "distraction" for the acid. This then binds with the calcium from the dairy products and is therefore not deposited in the body, but is channeled out of the body via other routes. Even a yogurt is sufficient for this, which can also soothe the intestinal flora.

Note: Allergy sufferers often have a harder time following a balanced diet. Therefore, if the allergy sufferer cannot eat dairy products or citrus fruits, it is better to avoid raw rhubarb.

How to prepare rhubarb?

Rhubarb can be prepared in a variety of ways. In addition to the well-known culinary delights such as jam, cake and compote, you should definitely juice the plant once. The resulting syrup is wonderfully piquant. You can also freeze the knotweed plant and keep it long before it is used.

Beware of pregnancy

If you feel hungry for the knotweed plant during pregnancy, you should definitely pay attention to the points mentioned above. While it's fine in itself if you do it occasionally one or two poles of the delicious vegetables raw, but you should make sure that your body is stressed during the pregnancy months. Although symptoms of fatigue or the like do not affect the general effect of the clover acid, your intestinal flora can be disturbed during this time. You should because of this always consume dairy products with raw Rheum rhabarbarum or this one consume cookedto compensate for the effect again.

Note: If pregnant women have previously had problems with the above-mentioned deficiency symptoms and diseases, they should definitely refrain from consuming raw rhubarb. During this time you should pay more attention to the diet so that the child does not suffer from it.