Mushrooms are a very useful product for the human body, they contain a huge amount of fiber, protein and various trace elements that are necessary for health. However, it is not worth feeding small children with mushrooms, as they can be dangerous for them.
Why be careful with mushrooms?
The child's digestion is not yet perfect enough to digest the mushrooms without consequences. Children's bodies do not produce the required amount of enzymes to process the protein found in mushrooms. Therefore, a child can be poisoned even by edible mushrooms that are absolutely safe for an adult. Such poisoning is very difficult, out of a hundred children poisoned by mushrooms, six die, and about thirty acquire serious diseases that lead to disability.
Hat mushrooms collect compounds of dangerous heavy metals that can affect the child's body even in small quantities. The combination of several hazardous substances can cause serious consequences, so you should not buy mushrooms from unverified grandmothers in the markets, collect them in the forests near roads and highways.
Nursing mothers should refrain from eating wild mushrooms. In some cases, toxins in the milk have been known to cause poisoning in infants.
Hot humid summers or prolonged drought lead to the fact that the metabolism of fungi changes, which means that their composition also changes. They begin to accumulate toxins in doses that are harmless to adults. However, these same doses can irreversibly affect the child's body.
Nutritionists believe that the lower age bracket for introducing mushrooms into the diet is seven years. From this age, you can feed children with proven mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. Until the age of seven, even completely safe mushrooms can cause unpleasant consequences, since the digestive system cannot cope with them.
In addition to being difficult to digest and absorb, certain mushrooms can cause severe allergies. This primarily applies to russula.
Mushroom poisoning
From the moment of poisoning until the first symptoms appear, it can take from one to nine to ten hours. First, there are sharp pains in the stomach area, then nausea, vomiting and diarrhea occur, which causes dehydration. The baby's skin becomes unnaturally pale, fingers and lips turn blue. Then terrible headaches set in. Seizures may begin. After the first symptoms appear, it is very important to call an ambulance. Before the arrival of doctors, the child should be given warm water, try to provoke vomiting to cleanse the stomach of toxins. After that, you need to give activated charcoal to the child. Further treatment should be carried out in the toxicology department.
