Signs and treatment of seafood poisoning. In what cases is seafood poisoning possible and how to treat it? Is it possible to get poisoned by seaweed?

Seafood poisoning is not uncommon. Delicacies can provoke allergic reactions, unpleasant symptoms, and severe intoxication. How does an overdose of seafood manifest itself, what to do to restore normal functionality of the body?

How does poisoning occur?

The seafood group includes many representatives of the animal world that live in the sea and ocean. They have a unique composition, contain many useful substances, and are rich in vitamins and microelements. The food is often included in diets due to its low calorie content.

You can find seafood in different stores, raw, canned or frozen. A feature of such food is its short shelf life.

Despite the many beneficial ingredients, it is recommended to remember that excessive consumption of marine life can cause serious poisoning. There are several factors of intoxication.

Factors:

• Eating food with bad expiration dates. Failure to comply with the rules and storage time leads to the growth of bacteria in seafood. Once in the body, they release toxic substances that have a negative effect on the body.
• Often, salmonellosis bacteria may be present in seafood food. They die during heat treatment, but people do not always adhere to this rule. The result is serious poisoning.
• All seafood dishes contain large amounts of protein. With excessive consumption of such food, the functioning of the intestines and stomach is disrupted, and protein poisoning from seafood occurs.
• Often, the inhabitants of the seas and oceans become a “storage” of heavy metal salts that got into them during life or due to improper technological processing.
• This type of food cannot be re-frozen - the structure of the substance is disrupted, and harmful microorganisms may multiply.

Most often, poisoning is caused by a low-quality product.

Varieties of seafood

There are quite a few types of seafood, but there are several that most often provoke poisoning.

1. Mussels and oysters. Both products are rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In the ocean, they filter water, which often contains the remains of poisonous plants. There is no danger for mussels or oysters, but a person will be poisoned by such food.
2. Shrimps. A popular dish, unfortunately, is often a carrier of harmful bacteria or is stored incorrectly. However, shrimp are grown artificially; various substances are often added to the water to promote the rapid growth and development of seafood.
3. Squid. Contains many useful elements and is a nutritious dish. Helps restore the immune system, promotes better functioning of the cardiac system. You can get poisoned if squid are caught in environmentally polluted waters. These inhabitants can cause severe mercury poisoning.
4. Octopus. The taste and beneficial properties are similar to squid, but have a specific appearance. Poisoning is caused by foods that are improperly prepared.
5. Crabs and lobsters. Also very useful when used correctly. However, they can cause intoxication in humans in the presence of E. coli or high levels of methylmercury.

The most popular dishes are served in many restaurants. However, it is recommended to remember moderation and not overuse seafood.

Symptoms of seafood poisoning

Symptoms of seafood poisoning are similar to those of any food overdose. What is typical in this case, how long does it take for intoxication to appear?

Signs:

• Nausea, vomiting,
• Stomach ache,
• Formation of gases
• intestinal disorder,
• Dizziness and headache
• Increased body temperature
• Urine becomes dark
• Irritability, nervousness,
• In case of protein poisoning, there is a smell of acetone from the oral cavity,
• Loss of appetite, complete absence of it,
• Swelling,
• Weakness, apathy, lethargy,
• Increased flow of saliva.

In case of oyster poisoning, convulsive manifestations may develop.

Symptoms of poisoning are diagnosed gradually and depend on the severity of intoxication. The first signs of seafood overdose are diagnosed after a short period of time.

First aid and treatment for intoxication

Regardless of what caused the poisoning, it is necessary to call a team of doctors. While waiting for their arrival, the victim is provided with possible first aid aimed at alleviating the condition of the body. What to do at home to make the patient feel better?

Actions:

1. In the absence of spontaneous vomiting, it must be induced artificially. The patient drinks up to one and a half liters of clean water. By pressing on the root of the tongue, a gag reflex is provoked. This procedure is repeated several times until the water comes out without any impurities.
2. If there is no diarrhea, saline laxatives can be used.
3. The victim is given any sorbent to more quickly cleanse the stomach and intestines of toxins.
4. To restore the water-salt balance and to avoid the development of dehydration, it is recommended to give the patient the drug Regidron, or replace it with a large amount of clean water. You need to drink often, in small portions.
5. If you have vomiting and diarrhea, it is not recommended to take medications that stop them - the body tries to remove toxins on its own.
6. A person is provided with access to fresh air and peace.

In case of severe poisoning, the victim must be sent to a medical facility for further treatment. A hospital visit is also required in case of intoxication in children, elderly adults and pregnant women.

In a medical institution, the patient is thoroughly diagnosed, then the appropriate treatment is selected. Medicines are prescribed to restore the functionality of organs and systems, and various medicinal solutions. Antibacterial agents and vitamin therapy are used.

During the recovery period after poisoning, it is necessary to maintain proper nutrition, exclude unhealthy foods, smoked foods, sweets, and alcohol from the diet.

How long does it take for the body to fully recover? With proper treatment, recovery occurs after a certain number of days.

Consequences and prevention

An overdose of seafood does not cause serious complications or consequences. In most situations, there is a malfunction of the digestive system and a violation of the intestinal microflora. In severe forms of poisoning, exacerbation of chronic diseases, development of diseases of the liver, kidneys, and gall bladder are possible.

Allergic reactions to seafood can lead to attacks of suffocation, the appearance of angioedema, and death. Failure to help with dehydration can lead to irreversible changes and death.

It is possible to avoid poisoning by following preventive rules.

Rules:

• It is recommended to purchase seafood from trusted retail outlets,
• When purchasing, pay attention to the appearance, packaging, shelf life of such food,
• If there is a large amount of ice on seafood, then it is recommended to refuse the purchase.
• Use canned food with caution, the marinade should be transparent, without impurities,
• You need to remember that seafood has a short shelf life, so you need to eat it quickly and not store it for a long time.

When properly treated, seafood poisoning goes away quickly and does not cause serious problems for patients. In severe cases, qualified medical assistance is required.

“Food of the Gods” (seafood) - video

Poison.info

Causes of seafood poisoning and methods of treatment.

Seafood is a “luxury” food, because it is quite expensive, very tasty, rich in nutrients, but low in calories. There are many ways to prepare seafood, from adding to salads to creating soups and mousses. But don’t be mistaken about their safety, because it’s very easy to get poisoned by seafood.

There are several common causes of poisoning with this product:

• Stale. The shelf life of seafood is short, and therefore it often happens that we eat rotten products. It is not very easy to identify this, especially if we are dealing with a prepared dish in which the smell is reliably hidden under sauces, seasonings or aromas of other products.
• Salmonellosis. Marine inhabitants are often infected with various bacteria, including salmonella. With high-quality heat treatment, the pathogen most often dies, after which the seafood product is harmless to humans. Therefore, doctors advise not to consume any fresh seafood products. By frying or boiling seafood, you can reduce the risk of poisoning.
• Protein poisoning from seafood. Protein is important for the body, as it is responsible for the construction of new cells, but sometimes circumstances arise in which a beneficial substance can cause significant harm to a person and even lead to severe poisoning. If there is too much protein, the gastrointestinal tract may simply not cope with absorption. This will lead to protein rotting and, as a result, intoxication.

Some doctors draw the attention of buyers to several more reasons, which, although less common, do not lose their relevance:

• unsealed packaging. Perhaps in cases where seafood is purchased in supermarkets. To detect it, you need to check the bag and make sure that it is not leaking or leaking air.
• improper storage. Many buyers frequently defrost and freeze seafood in an attempt to extend shelf life. The signal for buyers will be the presence of pieces of ice or water in the bag.
• the use of growth stimulants and prohibited dyes, which are used to give a beautiful appearance and increase size.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW! It is not recommended for children under 3 years of age to consume these seafood products, since the body is not yet adapted to process and quickly absorb large amounts of protein, which can lead to seafood poisoning.

The causes of poisoning may differ depending on what kind of seafood we are dealing with, because each of them has its own characteristics. Let's look at the examples of several marine inhabitants: oysters and mussels, shrimp, squid.

• Poisoning from oysters and mussels can have one cause. This is due to the fact that they actively filter water during their life. It happens that the water contains toxic algae, which, although they do not infect the mussel or oyster, can harm humans in the future. Mussel poisoning can cause specific symptoms such as tingling in the lips and swelling of the neck and entire face, which leads to impaired skin sensitivity.
• Shrimp poisoning. The reason most often is their contamination, which occurs during artificial cultivation. To do this, antibiotics and various medications are periodically added to the water, which are aimed at protecting the future product from infection with harmful bacteria. As a result, this leads to shrimp poisoning.
• Squid poisoning. Often this type of seafood is caught in environmentally prohibited and polluted places, which leads to symptoms of severe mercury poisoning, which take longer to treat than usual. Squid poisoning is not common, but it requires no less attention.

What are the symptoms of seafood poisoning?

Signs of intoxication often do not differ from each other, and therefore it will not be difficult to identify poisoning. We also recommend paying attention to the time at which symptoms appear, because if they appear faster, this may be a signal that the situation has become more complicated and specialized medical care is required.

• dizziness, which can go from mild to severe, nausea, and in some cases vomiting (the occurrence depends on the body and the amount of seafood eaten). Symptoms appear 30-40 minutes after eating.
• bloating and loose stools, which is accompanied by severe sharp pain in the abdomen. Appears after 1-1.5 hours.
• an increase in temperature, which, depending on the severity of poisoning, can even reach 38-39 degrees.

Seafood protein poisoning has several specific symptoms, including the smell of acetone coming from the mouth and lack of appetite. In more severe stages, urine color changes from light to darker.

First aid for seafood poisoning

Poisoning from oysters or any other seafood is more dangerous than food poisoning, and therefore it is recommended to consult a doctor after providing first aid. The following actions will help relieve pain and slightly improve the patient’s condition:

• it is necessary to rinse the stomach. To do this, give the victim a drink of up to one and a half liters of water or a weak solution of permanganate. It is also necessary to provoke a gag reflex. In case of severe poisoning, it is recommended to repeat the procedure a couple more times.
• after washing, taking the sorbent will be effective. The most commonly known remedy is activated carbon.
• a large amount of fluid that will help avoid dehydration.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW! No matter how severe the diarrhea is, you should not take medications, as this can stop or slow down the removal of toxins from the body.

Homemade recipes to combat intoxication

1. Ginger juice and honey. It is necessary to mix a few drops of ginger juice and honey in a 1:1 ratio and give it to the patient to drink. The product will help relieve abdominal pain and relieve inflammation. By the way, if necessary, ginger can be replaced with basil.
2. Boiled water diluted with lemon juice. It is used immediately after poisoning and helps in removing toxins.
3. Dill water or tincture of caraway seeds. Helps with bloating, large gas formation, and also relieves cramps. Dill and caraway seeds are bought at the pharmacy and brewed according to the instructions.

Remember also that you should not use any medications without a doctor’s permission, as this can only harm your health!

How to prevent poisoning?

There are several steps that can be taken to minimize the possibility of poisoning from fish, mussels, squid, oysters, etc.

To do this you need:

• choose to purchase seafood only those retail outlets that specialize in selling this type of product.
• pay attention to the expiration date and refuse those products that do not have visible labeling.
• do not buy seafood on sale, as their cost may be underestimated for completely unknown reasons.
• Do not purchase seafood that has been frozen several times. This will be evidenced by the large weight of the package.
• cook seafood at home or eat it in good restaurants, because buying it in ready-made form can be very dangerous, since absolutely everything can be hidden under spices.
• Do not store it at home in cooked form, but consume it on the same day.

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medtox.net

In what cases is seafood poisoning possible and how to treat it?

Home page Poisonings

Seafood poisoning occurs when you eat low-quality fish, shrimp, mussels and other seafood. The benefits of these delicacies have been proven by doctors and nutritionists, but few people know how dangerous intoxication with them can be.

Danger and features of seafood poisoning

No one is immune from intoxication, regardless of whether they are homemade or you ordered them at a restaurant.

Protein poisoning from seafood has a number of features. They are sold frozen, it is impossible to assess their quality and freshness. Factors influencing the unfitness of products for consumption:

• long transportation,
• violation of storage rules,
• processing methods.

Eating expired food can cause intoxication.

Seafood dishes are often ordered in a restaurant, but it is not possible to trace how they were prepared.

Symptoms of protein poisoning

Eating low-quality or improperly prepared foods that contain a lot of protein can lead to protein poisoning.

Symptoms of intoxication from seafood eaten occur due to the lack of carbohydrates and abundant protein (muscle meat) in the human diet. It can be triggered by its excess, poor nutrition, body characteristics, doping abuse, and overeating.

Seafood

Shrimp, oysters, and mussels can be grown artificially. This method of breeding seafood delicacies uses growth stimulants and other chemicals that have a negative effect on the human body.

The risk group includes poisoning by mussels and crayfish. Manifestation of symptoms:

• pain in the stomach; feeling of nausea;
• bouts of vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• feeling of general weakness;
• migraine;
• dizziness.

Crab sticks

They do not contain crab meat, but are made from fish with the addition of taste stimulants and flavorings. Intoxication is similar in severity to the condition of protein poisoning. Additional symptoms:

• cardiopalmus;
• increase in body temperature.

Poisoning with shrimp or mussels is more common than with crabs, this is due to their general availability and popularity.

Protein poisoning

• bloating;
• the appearance of sharp pain in the abdomen, stomach;
• nausea, vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• increased body temperature;
• dizziness, general deterioration of health;
• loose stools;
• smell of acetone from the mouth;
• change in urine color to darker.

Symptoms appear approximately 1-2 hours after consumption.

First aid

It is necessary to see a specialist to avoid complications. Intoxication can occur anywhere and at any time. Correctly provided assistance to the sick person reduces the risk of complications and significantly improves the condition of the poisoned person.

First aid:

1. Colon lavage.
2. Acceptance of sorbent. Activated carbon (at the rate of 1 tablet per 10 kilograms of weight), enterosgel and other medications to cleanse the stomach.
3. Drink plenty of fluids or a special solution to prevent dehydration.
4. Symptomatic treatment. At high temperatures, it is necessary to take antipyretic tablets; for uncontrolled vomiting, antiemetics are recommended; to relieve pain and spasms, antispasmodics are recommended.

If pregnant women become intoxicated, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor or call an ambulance.

The child's digestive system will not be able to fully cope with heavy foods.

Treatment methods for intoxication

Therapy must begin by identifying the causes. If this is due to the consumption of low-quality shellfish or their overeating, treatment can be carried out as follows:

• rinse the stomach with plenty of water, artificially induce vomiting (if there is no vomiting), give an enema or take a laxative (if there is no diarrhea);
• eat activated carbon to reduce the degree of intoxication;
• drink as much boiled water as possible until complete recovery;
• limit physical activity;
• Follow a low protein diet for 7 days.

Bodybuilders may experience protein poisoning when consuming sports nutrition (protein). In case of overdose, you must:

1. Do not add it to food for at least a week.
2. Drink plenty of fluids - at least 4 liters per day for 1 day;
3. Stop training for a few days.

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Self-treatment with home remedies

At the first signs of poisoning, the patient is given drinks prepared with the following ingredients:

• honey and ginger;
• water with lemon juice;
• dill water;
• rosehip decoction.

Using any of these methods will relieve bloating, help remove toxins from the body, and bring bowel function back to normal.

Guar gum can be used as a laxative. It has absorbent properties, normalizes intestinal microflora, and helps restore the functioning of the digestive system.

Drug treatment of intoxication is prescribed only by a doctor. Taking medications without consulting a specialist will aggravate your health condition and cause irreparable harm.

Possible exacerbations and prevention

Self-medication, incorrectly selected methods of therapy for intoxication, advanced stage, non-compliance with recommendations lead to serious consequences of poisoning. Complications can include diseases such as:

1. Pancreatitis.
2. Kidney failure.
3. Inflammation of the liver and bile ducts.

Preventive measures:

• buy seafood in specialized stores, pay attention to the date of manufacture and packaging (must be intact and of proper type);
• order food only from trusted restaurants or cafes;
• do not overeat foods with a lot of protein;
• do not abuse protein diets;
• When using sports nutrition, you must strictly adhere to the recommended dosage and regimen.

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toxicos.ru

Protein poisoning

Protein is the main building material for our body. It is thanks to protein that the formation of new cells and tissues, the formation of immunity and the absorption of other elements by our body is possible. It’s difficult to assess visually, but everyone can watch how the muscles grow and increase in volume.

Without a sufficient amount of protein entering the body, this would not be possible. But recently, a disease such as protein poisoning has become increasingly common. Previously, this term was used only in livestock breeding circles in situations where the animal’s diet was unbalanced and its protein content was many times higher than carbohydrates.

However, these days, protein poisoning is becoming a common condition in more and more people. Below we will try to figure out why such poisonings occur, how to recognize them and how to treat them.

Causes of protein poisoning

As the name implies, the cause of this intoxication is the intake of too much protein into the body, which it simply cannot digest. This happens due to improper, unbalanced nutrition and the causes of poisoning can be divided into the following categories:

Protein diets

This category includes diets that limit carbohydrate intake but require large amounts of protein-rich foods. This can be dangerous for people with problems with the digestive system, since leftover protein foods can begin to rot in the intestines, which causes protein poisoning.

In addition, excess protein in the body creates an excessive load on the kidneys, which may not cause harm to a healthy person, but for someone who had health problems at the beginning of the diet, consuming large amounts of protein-rich food can cause serious disruptions in the functioning of all body systems .

Also dangerous is the diet that previously only professional bodybuilders resorted to during preparation for competitions - drying the body. Here, too, practically only proteins are consumed, and if not approached correctly, such a regimen can cause significant damage to the health of a losing weight “athlete.”

The presence of a large amount of protein in the diet can lead to gout and obesity in the long term, especially if proteins are combined with fats and alcohols.

Proteins

Professional athletes strictly follow the instructions when taking proteins and other nutritional supplements. Only in this case, nutritional supplements help achieve muscle growth and do not harm human health. But many beginners, trying to get the visible results of their efforts as quickly as possible, significantly exceed the permissible dose.

This leads to protein poisoning and sometimes ends up in the hospital. You should be wary of the protein shakes that are gaining popularity among the masses. We should not forget about the permissible norm, because the principle of “more is better” here works exactly the opposite.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms, due to their high content of vegetable protein and beneficial microelements, are an excellent product for those who do not eat meat or limit their consumption. However, they can also cause protein poisoning.

Firstly, if a person has never eaten mushrooms before and ate a huge plate for the first time, then there is a high probability that the digestive system will react to this behavior with a malfunction. In addition, we should never forget about the possibility of allergies.

Secondly, mushrooms collected in a contaminated area can also cause severe intoxication. Fungal tissues have a good ability to accumulate chemical elements from the environment, especially heavy metals. That is why one of the most important rules when picking mushrooms is to stay away from landfills, highways and industrial enterprises.

Thirdly, when picking mushrooms, you should be careful not to put darkened, wormy or old mushrooms in the basket, and also, of course, be able to distinguish edible mushrooms from poisonous ones (for example, false honey mushrooms or russula). There are a huge number of inedible mushrooms that can easily be confused with those that can be eaten. That is why, before you go “hunting”, you should remember well all the signs by which the poisonous counterparts of everyone’s favorite honey mushrooms, boletus mushrooms and chanterelles are identified.

Poor quality products

If protein-rich foods such as meat, poultry, fish or mushrooms are not cooked correctly, there is a chance that disease-causing bacteria and microorganisms will not be killed and cause toxicity or serious illness.

The rules for storing protein products should not be violated; their shelf life in the refrigerator should not exceed two days (Poultry, fish - 2 days; Meat - 4 days).

Seafood

Quite often, seafood is the cause of poisoning. The fact is that the body can react to such exotic food with an allergy. That is why, when you first meet it, you should limit yourself to a small portion and carefully monitor your body’s reaction. Particular care must be taken when eating shrimp and oysters.

Symptoms

Protein poisoning is characterized by the fact that its manifestations depend on the characteristics of the body of a particular person and the reaction is individual.

However, there are a number of symptoms that occur most often:

• Body temperature is higher than normal;
• Pain and cramping in the abdomen and stomach;
• Diarrhea;
• Dark colored urine;
• Nausea;

One of the most alarming symptoms is acetone odor from the mouth, which indicates a violation of carbohydrate-protein metabolism in the body. If you detect a characteristic odor in a person, consult a doctor immediately.

As mentioned above, each body reacts differently to protein poisoning. The above signs may indicate food poisoning, but excess protein is not necessarily the cause.

First aid measures for poisoning

1. If a person feels unwell some time after eating, the first thing to do is try to empty his intestines. If this cannot be done naturally, it is worth giving an enema.
2. It is also worth emptying the stomach of food debris; to do this, you can artificially induce vomiting. To do this, drink several glasses of water and press on the root of the tongue, provoking the urge to vomit.
3. After the stomach is completely cleared of incoming food, the patient should take any enterosorbent drug, usually activated carbon, but there are more modern and effective analogues.

You should also remember to drink regularly, because clean water will help the body cope with intoxication and avoid dehydration.

If, after providing first aid measures, a person does not get better, or his condition begins to worsen, he should seek qualified medical help. In particularly severe cases, protein poisoning causes severe damage to the patient’s kidneys and liver, and this condition requires hospitalization and treatment in a hospital, under round-the-clock supervision of medical staff.

Fortunately, such severe forms do not occur so often and most likely gastric lavage and medication will be sufficient to remove toxins from the body and maintain the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.

Recovery period

Like any poisoning, protein intoxication causes damage, first of all, to the stomach. Therefore, after the patient’s condition improves, a gentle diet becomes the main treatment. At first, it is better to give preference to light vegetable soups, gradually including other foods in the diet.

To summarize, I would like to note that a person’s diet should be balanced. By maintaining a balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your diet, you can almost guarantee to protect yourself from such a nuisance as protein poisoning. Indeed, in addition to mild forms, which are manifested by short-term stomach upset, this disease can provoke kidney problems, which are very difficult to treat and not in all cases.

In any case, if signs of poisoning are detected, urgent measures should be taken and, in severe cases, seek qualified help. When introducing previously unknown protein foods, especially exotic seafood, you should be attentive and careful, always try in small portions and give the body time to get acquainted with the new food.

A varied diet, in which there is no unnatural preponderance in favor of only one element, is the key to human health. The human body is designed in such a way that it cannot function normally without receiving a sufficient amount of carbohydrates and fats, not to mention vitamins and microelements. After all, even sugar, or rather glucose, which is increasingly being urged to stay away from, is absolutely necessary for the human body in small doses.

Seafood belongs to the luxury category of food: it is not cheap, tasty, satisfying and rich in valuable substances. You can buy frozen semi-finished products in a store and cook them at home, or order a ready-made dish in a restaurant. Seafood poisoning is not uncommon today, because in the pursuit of enjoying their favorite shrimp salad or mussel soup, people sometimes do not think about the danger seafood can pose.

How does poisoning occur?

A person can become poisoned by seafood for three reasons.

Expired date

The most common reason is stale food. If seafood turns out to be rotten, consuming it can cause severe food poisoning. Determining if seafood is stale can sometimes be difficult, especially if shrimp or squid are part of a salad seasoned with a spicy sauce.

Salmonellosis

If a marine life has been infected with salmonella bacteria, then the person who eats such a product also runs the risk of contracting salmonellosis. If seafood has been properly cooked, the infectious agent may die. Therefore, it is not recommended to consume fresh seafood. They must be boiled or fried.

Protein poisoning

Seafood is a source of protein, which is important and beneficial for the construction of new cells. But if there is an excess of this valuable substance in the body, then the gastrointestinal tract risks being unable to cope with its digestion. As a result, the protein quickly rots and intoxication begins. The result is protein poisoning. Therefore, you should not eat seafood.

Poisoning with a specific seafood

Let's consider several types of poisoning, depending on a particular sea creature consumed by humans as food.

These are varieties of mollusks enclosed in bivalve shells. Their meat is rich in phosphatides, polyunsaturated fatty acids and beneficial microelements. But due to the special way of life of these marine animals, they often turn out to be harmful to the human body.

The fact is that the sea water that they pass through and thus filter may contain particles of toxic algae. The oyster or mussel itself does not become infected, but becomes a carrier of dangerous poison.

Poisoning from oysters and mussels often occurs due to eating these delicacies raw. It is impossible to recognize an infected shellfish by appearance. It is possible to determine whether a seafood product is poisonous or not through special research. But not a single restaurant will put their suppliers’ products through a laboratory, so the risk of getting poisoned by mussels and oysters is 50/50.

Shrimps

Another popular seafood product classified as a delicacy. Shrimp are rich in calcium and protein and at the same time have low calorie content, which is why they are so loved by those who are watching their figure.

You can get poisoned by shrimp not only because they are contaminated or because you eat a product with improper storage technology.

When artificially growing shrimp, chemicals and antibiotics are added to the water, which are designed to destroy viruses and bacteria. Seafood is soaked in these substances and then reaches the person’s table. The result is chemical poisoning.

Squid is a mollusk from the order Cephalopods. Not only healthy, but also has an original taste. Its meat is nourishing, but easily digestible, and the content of valuable elements is several times higher than in chicken or turkey. Squids are consumed boiled and dried.

The danger of squid lies in the fact that if they are caught in a non-ecological place, then when eaten they can cause severe mercury poisoning. Therefore, it is not recommended to buy this seafood in dubious places. Some people are allergic to squid meat.

The same cephalopods, but they look a little different: they have a pronounced head section and eight tentacles. Octopuses are similar in taste and beneficial qualities to squid, but they are eaten less frequently due to their higher cost.

Octopus meat poisoning most often occurs due to improper preparation of seafood and its heat treatment. It is important to thoroughly rinse the carcass and tentacles with running water, clean them of mucus, cut out the ink sac and then boil them.

If you prepare this seafood correctly, you will get a healthy and tasty dietary dish. Otherwise, the octopus meat will not only be tough, but also dangerous to health.

Crabs and lobsters

The meat of these two animals is not only a pleasant and unusual taste, but also a storehouse of useful elements and vitamins (B1-B3, B5, B6, PP, A, potassium). Lobsters (or lobsters) are similar in appearance to crayfish, but in taste they are much superior to them. Various dishes are prepared from lobsters: soups, soufflés, mousses.

This is interesting: Crab sticks, which are sold in any store and are affordable for everyone, do not contain real crab meat. This is a surrogate made from fish protein, starch and other additives.

You can be poisoned by crab or lobster meat due to E. coli or large amounts of methylmercury. In China, there is a known case of mass poisoning by lobsters caught in a non-ecological place.

Symptoms of seafood poisoning

Regardless of the type of marine life consumed as food, the signs of intoxication will be similar:

• dizziness, nausea and vomiting, starting 30-40 minutes after eating;
• sharp pain in the abdomen, bloating and diarrhea - opens after an hour and a half;
• increased body temperature: this is how the body reacts to severe food poisoning.

If a person had an allergy to protein, then the main symptom of protein poisoning will be the smell of acetone from the breath, caused by a metabolic disorder. In a serious condition, a person’s urine color may change – it becomes darker. No appetite.

First aid measures

Protein poisoning is an unpleasant phenomenon, its main cause is poor nutrition, namely: lack of carbohydrates and abundant amounts of protein (muscle meat). Previously, a similar term was used in relation to animals, but recently, such poisonings are found among people.

Protein poisoning is a fairly rare but dangerous phenomenon, accompanied by a list of painful signs and symptoms that requires timely medical treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to know what the main manifestations and symptoms of such an illness are in order to provide first aid to a sick person in a timely manner.

Causes

More recently, protein poisoning has become familiar to humans. A huge number of people admitted to the hospital with food poisoning have a huge amount of excess protein, which became the cause of the sudden illness. What is this connected with? The answer to such a question is obvious.

The main reason is poor human nutrition.

There are the following reasons associated with protein intoxication:

Incorrect use of proteins

Bodybuilders know that the use of protein and special nutritional supplements that provoke muscle growth is strictly prohibited without following the instructions in the accompanying instructions. However, a large number of gym goers, striving for quick results, significantly exceed the permissible dose of the drug. Such a violation causes serious poisoning with unpleasant symptoms, which is accompanied by urgent hospitalization in a hospital department.

Protein that promotes weight loss

This method of eating has a strict restriction on the consumption of carbohydrates. Such diets include the following: Kremlin and Dukan. Such diets are most dangerous for the category of people who have gastrointestinal problems and diseases.

Poor quality food

Another important cause of protein intoxication is spoiled, contaminated products, as well as those whose heat treatment and cooking technology are impaired. This is especially true for meat, mushrooms and poultry, which have certain cooking rules. If you violate the duration of heat treatment, you can get protein poisoning. It is quite dangerous to eat protein products that are stored in the refrigerator for more than forty-eight hours.

Seafood poisoning

If you have never eaten rare seafood (octopus, oysters), you should not eat them in large quantities for the first time. First, you need to try a small portion to see how your body reacts. Most people have allergic reactions to seafood, which can cause poisoning.

Symptoms and signs

Each person is different, so everyone exhibits different symptoms and signs of this disease. The main most common symptoms are the following:

• Strong headache;
• prolonged feeling of nausea;
• dizziness, loss of consciousness;
• elevated temperature;
• sharp, cramping intestinal pain;
• frequent bloody diarrhea;
• increased gas formation, bloating;
• urine becomes dark in color.

If the symptoms described above are detected, immediate medical attention is required to avoid serious health consequences.

First aid

Any ailments present in the body that do not disappear within a few hours require urgent medical attention. As first aid, the victim needs to drink an effective and fast-acting laxative. You can give an enema. Then you need to wait for the ambulance to arrive, since the doctor will be able to make the correct diagnosis and treat the patient.

If necessary, the victim will have his stomach washed out and given a special enema. Thanks to such procedures, all protein products that cause such an illness will be removed from the human body. Remember, to avoid such health problems, you must adhere to a proper, balanced and nutritious diet. The food you eat should contain proteins, fats, carbohydrates and fiber in sufficient quantities. Be careful and eat right, then there will be no health problems!

Holidays on the sea coast are replete with impressions and emotions. A special place is occupied by gastronomic delights - mussels, sea fish, shrimp and - it is very difficult to resist such a feast of the belly.

But it is cocktails made from seafood that most often become the reason that your vacation will be completely overshadowed. Why is it so easy to get poisoned by seafood and how to protect yourself from trouble?

There are several reasons for severe seafood intoxication:

• allergy;
• violations of preparation and storage standards;
• expired products;
• salmonella;
• consumption of large amounts of seafood (protein intoxication).

An allergic reaction when eating shrimp and mussels is caused by the presence of chitin in them, a substance to which many people have an individual intolerance. Often the cause of an allergic reaction in the body is protein contained in high concentrations in these foods.

Protein is rather slowly and difficultly absorbed by the human body, as it is foreign to the beneficial intestinal microbiocenosis. Allergies most often occur when eating crayfish, octopus, oysters, and lobsters, especially if a person eats them for the first time and in large quantities.

Improper preparation and storage of food, without observing sanitary and hygienic standards, is the second most common factor that provokes severe poisoning. Most often this is due to the purchase of delicacies on the beach, when they lie in trays under the scorching sun and very quickly become unusable.

The state of the kitchen in a cafe on the sea coast, as a rule, leaves much to be desired, many workers do not have sanitary books, delicious delicacies are not prepared in the best conditions, which opens up a wide path for the penetration of pathogenic and intestinal infections.

Expired products are very common. It is almost impossible for the average person to distinguish a fresh product from an expired product. Oysters and shrimp are cooked in a large amount of seasonings, which obscure the taste, which is why a person does not feel the staleness of the food eaten.

Salmonellosis is a diagnosis that doctors often have to make to people vacationing at sea, and, as a rule, most of the victims had consumed oysters or shrimp the day before. The presence of dangerous bacteria is associated with improper preparation of products - insufficient heat treatment, which is why the pathogenic flora does not die.

The dangers of seafood

Each sea creature that is suitable for human food has its own specific substances that can have a toxic effect on the body.

The table describes the most commonly consumed seafood and the substances contained in them that cause toxic infections:

Oysters, mussels	They absorb harmful elements from dirty sea water, which are toxic to humans. Served raw, the absence of heat treatment is a favorable environment for the active reproduction of pathogenic microflora.
Squid	Intoxication with squid meat is a rare but serious case. The cause of poisoning is poor-quality or insufficient heat treatment of the product, high content of mercury and its compounds in squid meat. Squid fishing, in most cases, takes place in dirty waters.
Lobsters, crabs	The meat contains E. coli and the substance methyl mercury; production is carried out in contaminated waters, which is why the meat contains a large number of harmful elements.
Shrimps	They are grown on an industrial scale, with chemicals added to the water for the active growth of shrimp. Shrimp meat absorbs chemicals that are toxic to the human body.

Symptoms and clinical picture

Symptoms of poisoning are the same when consuming all types of seafood:

• nausea;
• gagging;
• abdominal pain;
• bloating;
• attacks of dizziness;
• severe diarrhea;
• darkening of urine;
• increased body temperature;
• neurological disorders;
• acetone odor from the mouth (with protein intolerance);
• lack of appetite;
• headache;
• weakness and lethargy.

The symptomatic picture begins to appear quickly - 1-2 hours after consuming a low-quality product.

First aid

Treatment of food poisoning should be carried out in a hospital, under the supervision of a doctor. On their own, based on only one sign, a person without a medical education cannot determine what caused the rapid deterioration of his condition.

If intoxication is caused by excessive consumption of seafood high in protein, first aid measures will be enough to remove the toxin from the body and normalize the condition. If substances of chemical elements or intestinal pathogenic flora enter the body, treatment should only be carried out by a doctor.

Prehospital care measures include the following:

• – you can induce vomiting by drinking a saline solution, a weak solution of potassium permanganate, or placing two fingers on the root of the tongue;
• between gags, the victim should be given a large amount of water at room temperature to drink;
• the room in which the victim is located must be well ventilated, with dim light, bed rest and complete rest are ensured;
• It is not recommended to use medications to normalize body temperature, which is not higher than 38 degrees, as it will put additional stress on the liver. To bring down a temperature from 38.5 and above, drugs such as Ibuprofen or are used. Syrups should not be used; they are highly acidic and irritate the gastric mucosa.

If the following signs appear, you should consult a doctor:

• the presence of blood streaks in the stool;
• double vision, decreased visual acuity;
• excessive salivation;
• foam at the corners of the mouth;
• urinary retention;
• rapid decrease in pressure;
• impaired coordination of movements;
• convulsions;
• holding your breath;
• attacks of paralysis.

It is not recommended to take medications to relieve diarrhea; toxic substances leave the body naturally with feces. Drugs to normalize stool are used only if the diarrhea does not go away on the second day.

With timely assistance to the poisoned person, the symptoms of intoxication will begin to subside on the second day. Depending on the severity of the poisoning, it will take 1-3 days to normalize the general condition; restoration of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract occurs after 1-2 weeks.

During treatment and during the rehabilitation period, you need to follow a diet. The consumption of fried and fatty foods, hot spices, marinades, pickles and seafood is limited.

Possible complications

Food poisoning from seafood can lead to serious consequences if treatment is not carried out in a timely manner.

It is important to remember that if, when providing first aid, the patient’s condition does not improve (vomiting and diarrhea continues for more than 1 day), you must immediately consult a doctor.

Intoxication leads to the development of diseases such as acute pancreatitis, nephritis, inflammatory processes in the liver, gallbladder dysfunction, and bile stagnation. Due to dyspeptic disorders, severe dehydration, exhaustion, and electrolyte imbalance may occur.

In case of severe poisoning caused by an individual allergic reaction to chitin or protein, angioedema and anaphylactic shock may develop; without medical assistance, death cannot be ruled out. Poisoning is especially dangerous for young children and pregnant women.

Prevention methods

To ensure that your vacation on the seaside does not end in unpleasant surprises in the form of toxic infection, it is necessary to follow preventive measures regarding the consumption of food.

1. It is recommended to buy oysters, squid and shrimp in specialized stores where food is stored correctly, in special refrigerators.
2. It is strictly not recommended to take mussels by weight; it is better to purchase the product in original packaging. You can eat mussels and oysters raw only if they were caught in front of the client and he is sure of their shelf life. When buying packaged exotic food, you need to carefully inspect it and check the expiration date.
3. If the packaging is swollen or shows signs of damage to its integrity, there is no need to purchase such products. The same applies to buying heavily frozen shrimp in ice. They may have already been thawed and re-frozen several times, which will have an extremely negative impact on their quality.
4. Mussels are not a dietary product; their high protein content can cause serious poisoning. Their use must be dosed in small portions. It is from overeating heavy seafood that a person develops nausea and severe vomiting.
5. Seafood cannot be cheap, if in a cafe the price of a serving is significantly lower than in other places, this indicates that the product is expired and of poor quality. The presence of too many spicy and pungent spices in a seafood dish, unless the client himself asked for it, may indicate that the products are expired and spices have been added to drown out the foreign smell and taste.
6. Careful inspection of packages with exotic food and their moderate consumption is the key to ensuring that your holiday at sea will not be spoiled by food poisoning.

Shrimp can boast of enormous popularity both among gourmets in fashionable restaurants and among regulars of bars and pubs. Housewives also love them for their ease of preparation and a wide selection of recipes for dishes that can be prepared with these seafood.

However, shrimp poisoning is also not a rare occurrence. The cause of poisoning is bacteria that can infect shrimp.

Shrimp fishing is carried out everywhere - from the cold northern seas to the warm equatorial waters. Depending on their habitat, shrimp vary in size. Small shrimp live in the northern seas, but their larger counterparts are caught in warm waters. However, many fishing companies sell farmed shrimp.

In order to protect crustaceans from diseases and harmful microorganisms, producers actively use antibiotics and chemicals that enter the shrimp tissue through water. Eating them can cause serious harm to one's health.

Causes of poisoning

You can get poisoned by shrimp for several reasons. Firstly, it may be a simply spoiled product (due to improper storage or expired expiration date). Secondly, the reason may be in the shrimp itself, when its meat for one reason or another becomes contaminated.

Let's look at each of the reasons in more detail.

Best before date

Oddly enough, this is the most common cause of poisoning. All seafood, like fish, are famous for the fact that they lose freshness very quickly, and poisoning from a rotten product is especially difficult. Often in a cafe or restaurant it is quite difficult to determine whether the shrimp in a dish is fresh, since they are often seasoned with hot and spicy sauces that mask the stale smell of the product.

Salmonellosis

The salmonella bacterium, which sometimes contaminates seafood, is easily transmitted to humans, causing salmonellosis. Fortunately, the bacterium dies at a relatively low temperature (over 40° C), so proper heat treatment reduces the risk of infection to zero. It is for this reason that it is extremely undesirable to eat raw seafood that has not been cooked.

Protein poisoning

Shrimp are extremely rich in protein, which is an important building material for the human body. However, when a person eats more protein than their digestive system can process, protein toxicity, also called protein toxicity, occurs. This scenario is quite easy to avoid; you just need to observe moderation when consuming shrimp.

Symptoms of poisoning

As with many food poisonings, the first signs of intoxication of the body will appear within the first two hours after eating, and will be as follows:

1. Nausea, vomiting
2. Weakness, possible dizziness
3. Cutting pain in the abdomen, bloating
4. Diarrhea
5. Possible increase in temperature
6. In case of protein poisoning, the patient develops a characteristic odor from the mouth, reminiscent of acetone.

The first step is to help the victim’s body get rid of spoiled food, and only then begin treatment.

First aid measures

If the cause of poisoning is shrimp or any other seafood, contacting a doctor is mandatory. This is due to the fact that it may not just be poisoning, but a viral infection. In the latter case, hospitalization may be required.

However, before the doctor arrives, it is quite possible to carry out a number of activities that will not cause harm, but, on the contrary, will help the body cope with the toxin.

1. Gastric lavage. To do this, it is worth preparing as much water as possible, at least four to five liters. The water must be boiled or bottled; you can dilute a weak solution of potassium permanganate. If you don’t have it in your home medicine cabinet, plain water will also work. It is necessary to drink water, and then use vomiting to cleanse the stomach. This procedure must be repeated until only water remains in the stomach.
2. Since the poisoned body loses a lot of moisture, it is necessary to combat dehydration. For this purpose, there are special preparations such as Regidron, which are diluted in water and perfectly replenish the water-salt balance of the body. It is advisable to drink frequently, but little by little, so as not to provoke vomiting.
3. Start taking enterosorbents according to the instructions. They will also help the body by binding and removing toxins that poison it.
4. Under no circumstances should you take medications aimed at stopping diarrhea. This will prevent the body from ridding itself of toxic substances and will significantly slow down the recovery process.

In any case, only a doctor can decide on the further course of treatment, so you should not rely only on home first aid measures.

Severe forms of poisoning require treatment in a hospital.

Also, a signal to immediately consult a doctor or call an ambulance is that the poisoned person is a child, an elderly person or a pregnant woman.

But even if a healthy adult has been poisoned, it is highly advisable to consult a doctor, because vomiting and diarrhea can be symptoms of an intestinal infection and failure to seek medical help in a timely manner will be very costly.

Recovery

In the first twenty-four hours it is better to abstain from food and only drink. Boiled water or weak tea will do.

After improvement has occurred, you can begin to introduce light soups into your diet - chicken and vegetable broths. Then you can gradually expand the list of foods you eat, avoiding everything fried, salty and spicy. Carbonated drinks should also be avoided for a while.

How to choose quality shrimp

General safety rules for choosing a product are the same for all seafood, not just shrimp.

This is a smart choice of store - you should not buy seafood at the market or from an unknown supplier. It is better to go to a large store that can provide a quality certificate for the product upon request.

The second important point is packaging. It must contain complete and clear information about the supplier. If the quality of the label leaves much to be desired, this is a reason to be wary. Most often, this is a sign that the shrimp were packaged in an underground workshop.

After purchasing, you should not violate the rules for storing shrimp; we must not forget that the raw product spoils very quickly, which can lead to harmful consequences.

When cooking, the temperature regime is very important, because it is at high temperatures that most dangerous bacteria die.

However, there are a number of nuances on how to choose quality shrimp.

• A healthy shrimp should have an even shell color and a curved tail;
• If the shell looks dried out, the meat is yellowish, and there are black spots on the shrimp itself, then these are old specimens;
• If the shrimp's tail is extended, this indicates that the shrimp was caught dead. Eating such individuals is undesirable, as it is associated with a high risk of poisoning;
• It is undesirable to have snow and a thick layer of ice in the bag. These are signs that the product has been frozen more than once;
• If a shrimp's head is black, then it goes to the trash bin, as this is a sign of illness. But green heads, although they look unusual, are not an alarming sign. This simply means that the shrimp fed on a certain plankton.

To summarize, it is worth noting once again that there are a number of simple measures that can, if not reduce to zero, then at least significantly reduce the likelihood of shrimp poisoning. This means a competent choice of products, compliance with storage terms and conditions, and eating only thermally processed products.

If you eat in moderation, the risk of protein poisoning also tends to zero. Expectant mothers should not get too carried away with shrimp, because their body may not be able to cope with a large dose of exotic protein.

If a person does become poisoned by seafood, one should not refuse medical help, since seemingly harmless sea creatures can be carriers of pathogenic bacteria.

With timely assistance, poisoning passes quickly enough, without leaving any negative consequences for the body.