Eating brinjal may be exposing you to the risk of smoking: Study
30 Oct 2014 4:10 AM IST
‘The nicotine content of brinjal is higher than any other edible plant and the amount of nicotine consumed by eating this vegetable may be comparable to being in the presence of a smoker, depending upon the cooking method,’ the study said.
The presence of nicotine in the body fluids of non-smoker is usually taken as evidence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. However, it can also be due to frequent use of brinjal in food. Both environmental tobacco smoke and frequent use of brinjal in food come under passive smoke, which causes many of the same diseases as direct smoking, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular ailments.
The research paper is based on a study of brinjal productivity and also data of top 10 brinjal-producing states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Haryana to correlate with the smoke diseases.
West Bengal, which leads in brinjal production in the country, also accounts for half of the country’s total cancer cases. Andhra Pradesh accounts for an estimated 12 lakh cancer cases every year. Other brinjal-producing states also have high incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other smoke diseases.
The study concludes that in comparison of other vegetables, higher nicotine content in brinjal and higher incidence of lung and other cancers as well as of cardiovascular diseases in the states with higher brinjal production, indicates that the vegetable as a source of a passive smoke can be one cause in increasing such diseases.
The presence of nicotine in the body fluids of non-smoker is usually taken as evidence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. However, it can also be due to frequent use of brinjal in food. Both environmental tobacco smoke and frequent use of brinjal in food come under passive smoke, which causes many of the same diseases as direct smoking, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular ailments.
The research paper is based on a study of brinjal productivity and also data of top 10 brinjal-producing states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Haryana to correlate with the smoke diseases.
West Bengal, which leads in brinjal production in the country, also accounts for half of the country’s total cancer cases. Andhra Pradesh accounts for an estimated 12 lakh cancer cases every year. Other brinjal-producing states also have high incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other smoke diseases.
The study concludes that in comparison of other vegetables, higher nicotine content in brinjal and higher incidence of lung and other cancers as well as of cardiovascular diseases in the states with higher brinjal production, indicates that the vegetable as a source of a passive smoke can be one cause in increasing such diseases.
Next Story
