Wood Sorrel I think.

[Mikey P]

It comes off water snails. It's a flat parasite that lives in your liver. Never eat water cress, if you have sheep near the site, as there is a VERY high risk of fluke.

John

Now, do you mean never eat it raw? Or will cooking destroy the parasite?

 

[xylaria]

I cant stand going to the quack, I'm sure I will be OK, whats the worse that can happen?

Liver fluke left untreated can give you cirrhosis. You are along way from home to try and find an organ donor. Liver fluke look like flat slugs (they are about the same size) and will live in a bile duct, and you cant kill them with beer no matter how much you drink. The tiny cysts live on the watercress and take three months to grow in a host to full size.

Too much oxalates tend just give you colic and the kidneys feel abit scorched. If have vomiting and diarrhea you probably have infection from the water which should clear in about a week.

But I still feel you need to see a doctor, and explain that you have been eating uncooked wild watercress. Liver fluke is common in british livestock. They will probably need a stool sample so don't be offend if they ask.

 

[ika a Whiro]

Hi people. Just to let ya know, I have been in hospital for the last few weeks, had a pretty bad liver infection and some real bad toxic shock, but there ya go hey.

I didnt tell them what I had done but mentioned that I had eaten watercress.

So I guess what I have learnt is, dont believe what some toss pot tells you in the pub.

I have sorted the ****e out, he wont be spinning any more advice any more eh?!

 

[KAE1]

Get well soon mate. The thing that amazes me about this site is how much you can learn in a couple of minutes - just read this through and really useful info.
I am the sort of prat who will just grab and eat, so it pays to be in the know.

 

[firebreather]

Glad to see you back mate.

This brings to my mind the old egyptian saying

What does not kill you makes you stronger

as put on there stella beer labels.

 

[Toddy]

Glad to hear that you are recovering, sorry it's been kind of drastic though. I suspect it might have been better to be fully honest with the hospital staff since oxalis isn't a cause of liver fluke, but they seem to have managed.

......
So I guess what I have learnt is, dont believe what some toss pot tells you in the pub.
I have sorted the ****e out, he wont be spinning any more advice any more eh?!

Well, y'know, he didn't lie to you, the stuff *is* edible, he just didn't give you *all* the information, and I don't know many folks who would overdo it on that lot Let's just say that *lots* of people will now know better
Good to have you back

atb,
Toddy

 

[xylaria]

Liver fluke left untreated can give you cirrhosis. You are along way from home to try and find an organ donor. Liver fluke look like flat slugs (they are about the same size) and will live in a bile duct, and you cant kill them with beer no matter how much you drink. The tiny cysts live on the watercress and take three months to grow in a host to full size.

.

I was half kidding when I said this!!!!!

Really I thought just scare a big guy into going to the quacks, so he gets two days worth of pills to stop the uglies hatching. I didn't think it was that serious.

I was wrong on that.

Saying that it does give us all a good lesson on who we take advice off. I am terrified of giving duff advice that might hurt people.

Personally I leave Mother Nature to educate fools who think they are smarter than they are. You can run and hide from a tribe of peed off Maori's but you cant from a ugly parasite that's eating your insides .

Glad you're are better.

If you want proper advice just ask us.

 

[benp1]

wow, this thread's a eye opener. glad you're all better mate - what a shocker!

 

[Barn Owl]

Didn't Ray Mears say they were good for salad in one of the British progs'?
Common sense is the best route,if it's near a path where domestic or humans could have done the business on , or where there's signs of wildlife having passed,don't chance it.
Everything in moderation and if you don't like the taste leave it.Shouldn't be any problems following that route.
Tom.

 

[Jodie]

:yikes: This is why I'm not munching my way through the local greenery until
after I've been on a course (or perhaps two!). Didn't sorrel appear in tartlet form
in 'Wild Food'?

 

[-Switch-]

Didn't sorrel appear in tartlet form
in 'Wild Food'?

That's right, and if I remember correctly it looked like the tartlets were filled with bile.
Both Ray and that irritating professor both said the they were nice, but then they did eat 10,000 year-old mud in another episode so I'm a little dubious as to whether their opinion can be totally trusted

 

[Jodie]

I thought the mud was cool and what a great name
Dr. Steve Boreham is for someone who drills into metres
of soil
http://www.quaternary.group.cam.ac.uk/camqua/36b.pdf

By all accounts Prof. Gordon Hillman is quite the dude.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/ice2004/panels/panel27.html
http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~tcrndfu/articles/FullerSteven GCH Feitschrift.pdf

Long time no see Switch, all well with you?

 

[JonnyP]

:yikes: This is why I'm not munching my way through the local greenery until
after I've been on a course (or perhaps two!). Didn't sorrel appear in tartlet form
in 'Wild Food'?

Sure did, common sorrel, sugar and cream, I think, all mixed up and put in the tartlets...Looked good....

 

[xylaria]

There is a couple of plants that are called 'sorrel' . RM had cooked up common sorrel, which looks like a bit like dock except the leaves are soft and arrow shaped. This is plant is safe to eat raw. Wood sorrel is unrelated plant with three leaves, this is safe to eat raw. Both contain oxalic acid which makes them taste really nice, and can give you gripe if you eat too much. Wood sorrel is harsher. Both should be avoided if you have kidney stones.

Ika A Whiro Became so ill because he got a infection from watercress. Watercress in most nearly every country except the south pacific and parts of new zealand harbours a parasite called fasciola. The disease it causes is classed as a rare tropical disease, as most locals that eat wild plants in infected areas would know to cook or avoid the watercress. I didn't realise that liver fluke was no longer common knowledge in Britain considering how common it is in sheep. Supermarket watercress is checked for the parasite and is grown up stream from livestock.

There is some basic rules for eating wild plants:

• If something is growing in water that is not fit to drink, it is not fit to eat raw.
• Ask for advise like you hunt wild fungi, ie be 100% sure that someone really knows what they are talking about.
• Never over eat.
• If you are ill go to a doctor who can spot things like jaundice cos they are smart like that.
• Remember when travelling just because the Faki can bathe in Ganges it doesn't mean that Vishnu's protection extends to protecting travellers with no local immune system.

There is far more things out there which are tasty than are out to kill you. Happy foraging.

 

[nickg]

Glad to see you back mate.

This brings to my mind the old egyptian saying

What does not kill you makes you stronger

as put on there stella beer labels.

OT i know but I'm pretty sure that it was Nietzsche in Ecce Homo (1888)
was ihn nicht umbringt, macht ihn starker
What does not kill him, makes him stronger.

Ecce Homo, "Why I Am So Wise",
Often paraphrased as "What does not kill me, makes me stronger."

Cheers
Nick
:notworthy
Hey if its good enough for Conan....

 

[ika a Whiro]

Well I'm all good now guys, the stuff you have said was real nice and all, good to see people give a toss really.

Well the guy was taught a lesson, he could have told that to anyone man, a kid or a woman or somethin, at least I was strong and nothin too bad happened eh?

Well this subject seems to have moved on bro's.

 

[twisted firestarter]

Remember when travelling just because the Faki can bathe in Ganges it doesn't mean that Vishnu's protection extends to protecting travellers with no local immune system.

I had the good fortune to travel around India and was eating at a restaurant in Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges. I overheard an arrogant westerner asking the waiter for a pitcher of water straight from the river in a voice loud enough that everyone else could hear. As I sat on the river bank later watching dead bodies float by I wondered if he would suffer the consequences of his actions. The moral? As they used to say on Hill Street Blues- "Let's be careful out there"

 

[-Switch-]

I thought the mud was cool and what a great name
Dr. Steve Boreham is for someone who drills into metres
of soil
http://www.quaternary.group.cam.ac.uk/camqua/36b.pdf

By all accounts Prof. Gordon Hillman is quite the dude.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/ice2004/panels/panel27.html
http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~tcrndfu/articles/FullerSteven GCH Feitschrift.pdf

Long time no see Switch, all well with you?

Sorry Jodie, didn't see this post
Yeah, all's good with me. Back on the forums and not planning on disappearing again any time soon. Thanks for noticing I'd gone!



S0rry, not trying to hijack the thread. (Why the hell does the system edit out the word 's0rry' ?)

 

[Emma]

he could have told that to anyone man, a kid or a woman or somethin

Sure, he could have done. But I doubt that many of them would then go on to

have had it almost every night since

guys we has shed loads

And then when in hospital

I didnt tell them what I had done but mentioned that I had eaten watercress

Seriously, you're blaming someone for your illness because he told you something was edible (which it is) and then you went off and ate "shed loads" of an unknown plant straight away? Without getting at least a second opinion? Without having just a bit and waiting a day or two to see if anything adverse happened?
What if you'd been allergic?

No offence intended (though I'm sure you'll take offence anyway) but you have been rather an idiot.

 

[ika a Whiro]

Sure, he could have done. But I doubt that many of them would then go on to



And then when in hospital


Seriously, you're blaming someone for your illness because he told you something was edible (which it is) and then you went off and ate "shed loads" of an unknown plant straight away? Without getting at least a second opinion? Without having just a bit and waiting a day or two to see if anything adverse happened?
What if you'd been allergic?

No offence intended (though I'm sure you'll take offence anyway) but you have been rather an idiot.

Well I have to say I'm a bit surprised, I didnt think too many people in England were such ******!!

Back home no one would tell you to eat a plant that they say you can eat every day knowing that you cant!!

Whats your problem eh??

The guy told us he knew all about plants, we are in his country, at his mercy, why do what he did?

Get a grip *****!!