How the puffer fish gets you high, zombifies you, and kills you

I wasn't too sure where to put this but...

io9.gizmodo.com...

Puffer fish, or fugu, is well-known for being a dish that stands a good chance of killing the person it's served to. But people still eat it — partly because some people like living life on the edge, but mostly because all people like getting high. Find out how the puffer fish helps them get there.

These fish are considered the second most poisonous vertebrates in the world. They contain a toxin 1,200 more deadly than cyanide. It's in their skin, their ovaries, their gonads, and their liver. One fish can kill thirty people.

The poison, tetrodotoxin, is actually produced by the bacteria that the fish allows to colonize its various parts. Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin, meaning it takes out the nervous system as it moves through the body. This may sound like a relatively painless death, with the brain going offline quickly. That's not the case. The toxin starts with the extremities. The first place people notice it is in the lips. Then the fingers. There's a tingling numbness, and a loss of control. This is a sign that it's time to get to the hospital. The toxin moves inwards from there, taking out the muscles, often causing weakness, while paradoxically bringing on vomiting and diarrhea. Then tetrodotoxin hits the diaphragm. This is the large, muscular membrane in the chest that lets the lungs breathe in and out. The respiratory system is paralyzed while the person is still fully conscious. Eventually the toxin does get to the brain, but only after the person involved has felt their body being paralyzed completely, entombing them inside. Even then, some people aren't lucky enough to completely lose consciousness. There are people who report being conscious, either occasionally or continually, throughout their coma.

It turns out that neurotoxins, though vicious killers, get people pretty high, provided the doses are low enough. One scientist, who had been bitten by a snake with neurotoxic venom, described it as the kind of peaceful light-headed feeling that people are supposed to get in the last few moments before they drown. That, combined with a tingling body, is enough to risk lives for. In fact, one of the complaints of fugu enthusiasts is that the chefs know their business too well, and too cleanly remove the organs from the fish, leaving just thin, safe slices of fish for the disappointed guests to eat. Some guests dredge their portions lightly in the toxin to feel the tingle.

So i've honestly always wondered why people eat fugu fish and how in the hell people ever discovered you could eat them in the first place. This kind of enlightens me a bit now. Still not sure if I ever want to try it. Neurotoxins scare the # outta me. The idea of slowly becoming paralyzed from the inside out is absolutely horrifying.

I'll stick to the fish I know I can tolerate well. I have no interested in getting high from fish. I even avoid salmon because of it's interaction with casomorphine in milk products.

a reply to: dug88

This kind of thing has always amazed me about the plant world, of the 1000s of plants that can be used as food, or medicine, there are thousands that can take you out.

In Chinese Medicine there are a number of deadly plants that are processed in bizzare methods nullifying their toxicity and then used as medicine...one such preparation is Fu ze, this is the poisonous root of monkshood (aconite carmichael) it is soaked in salt water then dried in the sun 7 times, creating a powerful herb in treatment of the kidneys.

When learning about it in school I remember commenting that Id hate to be one of the people that got stuck trying it on the 5th or 6th soaking and drying.

I imagine with puffer fish as much as anything else, neccesity surely drove the discovery process. Much like vivisecting prisoners to learn anatomy, some poor saps probably were forced to "sample" different bits till one of em lived!

Don't dolphins pass one around getting high of these?.
I used to be a fishmonger and I for one would have loved to train to fillet these. I loved butchering fish Tuna? I would pay to butcher them a joy.

a reply to: dug88

I've never heard a single report of them tasting particularly good so I would never try it. If it was reportedly the nicest tasting fish in the world then I might consider taking the gamble but I've never heard anything like that so no.

I actually always wondered if I'd cave the cajones to try Fugu if I ever had the opportunity.

Speaking of poisonous flora and fauna, think about how the ancients discovered all these medicines and useful stuff. I suppose that they started completely from scratch, just using trial and error, right?

I guess many were probably discovered accidentally, like snake venom, or contact with poison oak or poison ivy, but before modern science existed, I imagine that it was not a pretty picture for the people actually discovering this stuff.

It's actually pretty mind-boggling if you think about it.

Talk about a long hard road...

Junkies, just get Dream Fish its safer less addictive more mind expanding than Fugu.

Several species of fish are claimed to produce hallucinogenic effects when consumed. For example, Sarpa salpa, The Dream Fish, a species of sea bream, is commonly claimed to be hallucinogenic. These widely distributed coastal fish are normally found in the Mediterranean and around Spain, and along the west and south coasts of Africa. Occasionally they are found in British waters.[3][not in citation given] They may induce hallucinogenic effects that are purportedly L.S.D.-like if eaten. In 2006, two men who apparently ate the fish experienced hallucinations lasting for several days. The likelihood of hallucinations depends on the season. Sarpa salpa is known as "the fish that makes dreams" in Arabic.

Other species claimed to be capable of producing hallucinations include several species of sea chub from the genus Kyphosus. It is unclear whether the toxins are produced by the fish themselves or by marine algae in their diet. Other hallucinogenic fish are Siganus spinus, called "the fish that inebriates" in Reunion Island, and Mulloidichthys flavolineatus (formerly Mulloidichthys samoensis), called "the chief of ghosts" in Hawaii. en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Fascinating! cool info, being a plant guy and not too knowledgable regarding fish unless it has to do with cooking, that was really intetesting, thx

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Junkies, just get Dream Fish its safer less addictive more mind expanding than Fugu.

Several species of fish are claimed to produce hallucinogenic effects when consumed. For example, Sarpa salpa, The Dream Fish, a species of sea bream, is commonly claimed to be hallucinogenic. These widely distributed coastal fish are normally found in the Mediterranean and around Spain, and along the west and south coasts of Africa. Occasionally they are found in British waters.[3][not in citation given] They may induce hallucinogenic effects that are purportedly L.S.D.-like if eaten. In 2006, two men who apparently ate the fish experienced hallucinations lasting for several days. The likelihood of hallucinations depends on the season. Sarpa salpa is known as "the fish that makes dreams" in Arabic.

Other species claimed to be capable of producing hallucinations include several species of sea chub from the genus Kyphosus. It is unclear whether the toxins are produced by the fish themselves or by marine algae in their diet. Other hallucinogenic fish are Siganus spinus, called "the fish that inebriates" in Reunion Island, and Mulloidichthys flavolineatus (formerly Mulloidichthys samoensis), called "the chief of ghosts" in Hawaii. en.wikipedia.org...

Are they better than psilocybe??

originally posted by: MteWamp
I actually always wondered if I'd cave the cajones to try Fugu if I ever had the opportunity.

Speaking of poisonous flora and fauna, think about how the ancients discovered all these medicines and useful stuff. I suppose that they started completely from scratch, just using trial and error, right?

I guess many were probably discovered accidentally, like snake venom, or contact with poison oak or poison ivy, but before modern science existed, I imagine that it was not a pretty picture for the people actually discovering this stuff.

It's actually pretty mind-boggling if you think about it.

Talk about a long hard road...

Sometimes I sit and wonder about these things. Like those plants we eat where every part is poisonous except for one small part or even things like hot peppers. I just wonder about all those people that, unfortunately probably first hand, figured out the parts of things we can and can't eat.


a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

That's really cool i've never heard of those thanks for sharing that.

originally posted by: testingtesting
Don't dolphins pass one around getting high of these?.
I used to be a fishmonger and I for one would have loved to train to fillet these. I loved butchering fish Tuna? I would pay to butcher them a joy

.

Weirdo......

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

I couldnt say, but couldnt help my jab there at typical 'popular' narcotics versus 'mind expanding drugs'.

originally posted by: testingtesting
Don't dolphins pass one around getting high of these?.

Bet. Then they have a group sex orgy for 5 hours straight. If one doesnt forget to go up for air during it its considered a dull affair.

a reply to: dug88

consider the 365 points on the body used in acupuncture. Ive heard all kinds of explainations, most I consider ridiculous...but many times to treat different disorders "recipes" of say 10 or vastly more points are needled, who the heck sat down and came up with that?!

eta: legend says the Yellow Emperor did or some other mythical person.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Loli just checked yup they get high on them.
Dolphins have also raped people....i don't trust em.
I could fillet one I reckon though.

a reply to: testingtesting

Why do you think they always have a smile on they face?

Sickos!!!

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss


FISH STICKS for me, please!

a reply to: recrisp

and extra tarter sauce!

It is a trip that you can buy one of the most poisonous creatures on the planet at PetCo.

a reply to: dug88

Wade Davis has long contended that zombies are ‘real’ and the puffer fish is the Haitian witch doctor’s plug for the ‘zombie dust’. Even got a well-cited paper on it at the National Institute of Health: NIH Paper on ‘Zombie Dust’

Wade Davis Wiki