Guess what? Some veggies have a bit of nicotine, but there’s no need to swear off salads just yet!
With all the news of individuals hospitalized from excessive vaping, many are now scrutinizing and cutting down their nicotine intake for better health.
Surprisingly, it’s not only cigarettes and vapes that contain nicotine; certain everyday vegetables do too.
However, it’s no excuse to skip your veggies since the levels of nicotine in them aren’t nearly enough to cause concern.
Nicotine, known for its high addiction and danger in large doses, turns out to be present in some of our favorite vegetables, but don’t worry, the amounts are far too low to pose a real risk.
Even though it might sound appealing to be addicted to veggies, the nicotine content in them is too insignificant to harm you.
Ever wondered which of your go-to veggies might have hidden traces of nicotine?
Get ready to see eggplants, tomatoes, cauliflowers, green peppers, and potatoes in a new light!
According to the tobacco-free nicotine product company Haypp, “Most of the foods that contain nicotine are from the plant family known as Solanaceae (also known as nightshades), where the alkaloid can be found.”
“In these plants, the nicotine content is measured in micrograms (µg); one million µg equals one gram.”
Tomatoes, for example, have about ‘7.1 µg/gram of nicotine’, and this amount decreases as the tomato ripens.
Green peppers are also contenders with ‘anywhere between 7.7 to 9.2 µg/gram of nicotine’ and potatoes typically contain ’15 µg/gram of nicotine’.
If you mash your potatoes or use them while they’re still green, the nicotine concentration can jump to ‘around 52 µg/gram’ or ‘about 42 µg/gram’, respectively.
Cauliflowers, though not nightshades, contain ‘around 16.8 µg/gram’.
Eggplant tops the chart with ‘100 µg/ gram’.
Fortunately, these amounts are merely trace levels, and as Haypp reassures, they’re not enough to impact you negatively even with regular consumption.
While a staggering 10kg of eggplant is needed to match the nicotine level of a single cigarette, what actually happens to these minuscule nicotine amounts in your body?
Haypp explains that when you consume vegetables with trace amounts of nicotine, they just pass through your system without issue, as your body can easily process these small quantities.
When a Reddit user posted about veggies containing nicotine on the r/todayilearned thread, it sparked some humorous reactions.
One user quipped, “I hope my family doesn’t find out they’ll start trying to smoke potatoes since cigarettes are so expensive.”
Another joked, “That’s why I’m always eating fries.”
And a helpful comment pointed out, “And before people go crazy over it, there’s a literal buck-ton more in tobacco products.”