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Toxic squash syndrome

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Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#41

Post by jey »

argiope wrote: post #15

This reminds me of the story about a mysterious outbreak in Mozambique https://www.damninteresting.com/the-curse-of-konzo/ , which without giving too much away bears some similarity. It's a pretty good read for a Sunday.

Tldr: People in Mozambique started presenting with polio-like paralysis. However, on further examination by specialists, it was clear that their symptoms were not consistent with a diagnosis of polio.

Explanation in ROT13: Nsgre zhpu vairfgvtngvba, vg jnf qrgrezvarq gung gur rssrpgf jrer qhr gb puebavp plnavqr gbkvpvgl qhr gb gur cerfrapr bs plnabtravp tylpbfvqrf va fbzr pnffnin inevrgvrf, naq pnffnin ebbg vf hfrq nf n fgncyr sbbq bs ynfg erfbeg va nssrpgrq nernf bs Zbmnzovdhr. Nyfb, na vanqrdhngr vagnxr bs "fhyshe-pbagnvavat nzvab npvqf" (zrguvbavar?) erqhprq gurve novyvgl gb arhgenyvmr plnavqr. Fbyhgvba: rng n inevrq qvrg, naq jura rngvat pnffnin ebbg, qba'g rng gur fxva.

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#42

Post by herodotus »

At a brunch many years ago my wife made a Zucchini salad. On my first taste, I stopped eating it and warned all the guests. Everyone stopped, except one friend, who, unfortunately was somewhat OCD (but otherwise a wonderful person). Unfortunately, part of his condition is that he cannot waste anything, especially food. He insisted on eating the salad. I only found out (a) about cucurbitacins and (b) that my friend could not leave food uneaten after this incident. Had I known both things at the time, I would have taken the salad away.

My friend was quite ill for about a week, including some internal bleeding. Thankfully, he recovered fully.

Moral: don't let your guests do the polite thing if you realize something is not right!

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#44

Post by djmips »

orthoxerox wrote: post #38
rubicon33 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was hoping for the same, so lets discuss... Anyone have strong opinions about only allowing squash commits, vs allowing merge commits? Having used both professionally, I don't think the benefits of squash commits only outweigh the hurdles for new developers. Merging is just easier, and I don't think the merge commits in master are really all that jarring?

I used to be a big proponent of rebase+squash, but migrated everyone to merge+no-ff. I needed the previous commit to be easily accessible for CI purposes, and merge+no-ff gives it to you without the additional hassle of rebasing.

Can you expand on what merge+no-ff means?

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#45

Post by djmips »

jey wrote: post #41
argiope wrote: post #15

This reminds me of the story about a mysterious outbreak in Mozambique https://www.damninteresting.com/the-curse-of-konzo/ , which without giving too much away bears some similarity. It's a pretty good read for a Sunday.

Tldr: People in Mozambique started presenting with polio-like paralysis. However, on further examination by specialists, it was clear that their symptoms were not consistent with a diagnosis of polio. Explanation in ROT13: Nsgre zhpu vairfgvtngvba, vg jnf qrgrezvarq gung gur rssrpgf jrer qhr gb puebavp plnavqr gbkvpvgl qhr gb gur cerfrapr bs plnabtravp tylpbfvqrf va fbzr pnffnin inevrgvrf, naq pnffnin ebbg vf hfrq nf…

TLD-Decode: Cassava root can be poisonous. Don't eat the skin. Other foods can help blunt the poison.

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#46

Post by djmips »

nibbleshifter wrote: post #25
scarygliders wrote: post #14

From a very young age I rejected eating cucumber. It never "tasted right" to me, and it always makes me have horrible cucumber-flavoured burps. Blech! I can't abide grapefruit or melon either, though I don't know if those are included in the list of potentially toxin-producing plants in the article. Also, never been that keen on pumpkin. Basically any kind of food of the above ilk. Especially though with the cucumber…

I have some reason to believe that cucumber aversion might be genetic. I recall coming across something about it a while back while looking into the cilantro soap gene thing, apparently there's a few similar genes that cause other food aversions (eg: kale, cucumber, etc). One suggested reason for this trait is literally "avoiding getting poisoned".

I eventually allowed cilantro in my diet and don't notice the 'soap' thing much anymore. Is there actually a gene in play?

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#47

Post by nibbleshifter »

djmips wrote: post #46
nibbleshifter wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have some reason to believe that cucumber aversion might be genetic. I recall coming across something about it a while back while looking into the cilantro soap gene thing, apparently there's a few similar genes that cause other food aversions (eg: kale, cucumber, etc). One suggested reason for this trait is literally "avoiding getting poisoned".

I eventually allowed cilantro in my diet and don't notice the 'soap' thing much anymore. Is there actually a gene in play?

Apparently yes, there's a common gene that does seem to come into play.

I wonder if repeated exposure causes you to stop noticing it?

https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate...

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#48

Post by olliej »

clmay wrote: post #18
olliej wrote: post #10

I have a friend who is mercifully* mildly allergic to the entire ragweed* family so I guess this means that there is an up side to it :D * It's not a common allergy and the fruit and vegetables in encompasses are often used lightly in all sorts of foods without being explicitly listed. She once even got a cocktail with something (possibly cucumber?) * All squash, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, etc

I don't understand, why are you calling this the ragweed family? Ragweed is an asterid and has basically no meaningful botanical relationship to any of the plants you listed (outside of all being dicots), which are all cucurbits.

She has always said ragweed, and so I assumed she knew.I am not a botanist.

Sorry, in addition to the above, also chamomile, if that helps.

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#49

Post by dang »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #9
dang wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It did, but our software replaces URLs with canonical URLs when it finds them. I didn't realize this was having the effect of stripping Wikipedia anchors. We may need to make an exception for those.

Is there a public list of HN's special cases? Like how GitHub repos are listed by user path, I think some sites show subdomains, if there are URL patterns that do or don't get stripped off submissions. Would be interesting to read if it's not sensitive.

No, I'm afraid it would be way too much work to publish and maintain such a list, so the question boils down to asking "is the code public", and I'm afraid it isn't.

Re: Toxic squash syndrome

#50

Post by ars »

pmoriarty wrote: post #24
ars wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always taste zucchini before using them in a dish. You can eat them raw, so just taste a piece and if it's bitter don't use it. These toxins are quite bitter tasting, so you'll detect that as well as old zucchini that just don't taste good.

I use a lot of frozen, sliced zucchini that I buy in bags from the grocery story... It's there some way to test them for safety before using them? Since they're already sliced it seems like I'd have to taste each slice to be sure no slice is bitter.

I would suggest a random sampling. Maybe taste 1% of them, and if you find a single bad one throw away the entire bag or return it.
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