There is a well circulated message on social media especially on WhatsApp claiming that the mixture of egg and banana generates poison that could kill within 5 minutes of consumption.
This post became viral in 2017 and still finds its way in 2018, despite the fact that the message has been debunked based on the absence of any scientific proof.
The viral message reads:
“URGENT!!! Never eat an egg and banana at the same time because their mixture gives a poison that kills within 5 minutes. Do not keep this message, publish it if you are good samaritan”.
DEBUNKING THIS SPOOF
According to Banglore Mirror, a daily English-language newspaper in India, the viral post originated from a fake story about a young man who died on the spot after consuming egg and sweet banana. The fake news stated that after researching the cause of his death, doctors discovered that the mixture of the egg and the banana in the stomach turned into a poison. For this reason, it is advised for people not to eat egg with banana.
HEALTH EXPERTS SAY THIS IS FALSE
Dr. Gusen Mashak Joseph, senior registrar and family medicine of Our Lady of Apostle (OLA), Jos Plateau State declares the statement as false. He said “someone can take banana and develop a problem; someone can also take other fruits and develop a problem. It is all about individual differences as regard to fruits. For the fact that someone ate banana and later remembers that he ate egg and develops a problem doesn’t mean that when one takes egg with banana, the person will die. It is not true”.
“In fact, the combination of banana and egg is used to cure diarrhea and malnutrition in children. Banana is a source of potassium and egg is a source of protein. Also, raw egg can be mixed with raw pap and made into a fine paste before hot water is added to form the pap and banana can be blended to add flavour”, Dr. Gusen concluded.
Noor Jan, a pharmacist and health enthusiastic also shares a similar view. He opined that there are common recipes that use banana and eggs such as banana cake which has been used safely by people for years. According to Jan’s research, banana is enriched with potassium, fibers and vitamin C while eggs are loaded with calcium, phosphorus, fats and proteins as well as a couple of other nutrients which are not toxic to each other.
His statement reads: “there are no such facts that their ingredients will react with each other to form toxins that can harm the human body”.
CONCLUSION
Eating banana and egg at the same time IS NOT poisonous! Each contains vital nutrients that when mixed together cannot be toxic to human health. Nevertheless, as explained by Dr. Gusen earlier on, it all depends on individual differences as regard to fruits.
I have eanten the both and nothing happen