Dangerous Combinations ???

Now, I'm pretty sure that you guys have heard of eating durians with

alcohol is lethal, & there were cases in our country where people had actually died because of this deadly combination.

BESIDES that, I remember receiving an email saying that a girl died of arsenic poisoning after she had consumed prawns and Vitamin C.

ARE THESE TRUE???

Well, although I'm not a fan of the king of fruit, can't say I hate it cause I don't really do.

I just suddenly decided not to eat durians anymore for no reasons back for like...erm... 10 years? Weird huh?

But I like prawns! And when I saw this email I was like, "Are you kidding me?" Somebody died just because she ate prawns with Vitamin C? Food aren't suppose to kill people, they are mean't to be enjoyed without having to fear it might kill you.

For the prawn case, it is NOT TRUE that you will die of arsenic poisoining by consuming prawns with Vitamin C.

Arsenic is a basic element listed on the periodic table of elements. It doesn't form by combining one thing to another.

For fellow foreign students that do not know what a durian is...

ALL HAIL THE KING OF FRUITS!!!

Guys, if you HAVE NOT tried "his royal highness", it's durian season right now, go try it! There is only going to be one outcome, either you'll love it or hate it.

And for those who have tasted it, kudos!

Make sure you take lots of breath mints after that.

And don't fart in class!

Regarding about the lethal combination of durian + alcohol, it seems that durian contains both tyramine and harmaline.

Tyramine

An amine which alevates blood pressure and causes the heart rate to exceed normal range.

Harmaline

A reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO-A). It competes with tyramine for binding to MAO-A so food containing tyramine can be safely consumed.

Bonds that present in reversible inhibition

Hydrogen bonds

Attractive force between one electronegative atom and a hydrogen covalently bonded to another electronegative atom.

Hydrophobic interactions

In chemistry, hydrophobicity refers to the physical property of a molecule (known as a hydrophobe) that is repelled from a mass ofwater.

Ionic bonds

Involves a metal and a non-metal ion through electrostatic attraction. It is a bond formed by the attraction between two oppositely charged ions.The metal donates one or more electrons, forming a positively charged ion or cation with a stable electron configuration. These electrons then enter the non metal, causing it to form a negatively charged ion or anion which also has a stable electron configuration. The electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions causes them to come together and form a bond.

Multiple weak bonds between the inhibitor and the active site combine to produce strong and specific binding. Reversible inhibitors generally do not undergo chemical reactions when bound to the enzyme and can be easily removed by dilution or dialysis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The reversibility means that, instead of binding permanently to MAO-A for weeks until the body replaces the MAO-A enzyme molecules, harmaline binds only transiently, so tyramine can be metabolized as well by competing with harmaline for the binding site on the enzyme.This means that the risk of a hypertensive crisis, a dangerous high blood pressure crisis from eating tyramine-rich food such as cheese, is potentially lower with harmaline.

In absence of alcohol tyramine is converted in the gastro-intestinal tract swiftly to the corresponding N-oxide, BUT... with the presence of alcohol, the conversion is greatly inhibited by Harmaline eventually leading the Tyramine level in the blood above acceptable level. Let's not forget that ALCOHOL increases blood pressure and causes hypertensive as well. Therefore,

Tyramine + Alcohol = insanely high blood pressure

Insanely high blood pressure ---> Stroke ---> Paralysis or DEATH

Well, it kindda make sense once you put it that way.

YET, there is this bunch of people that actually challenged this deadly myth by 'buffeting' on durians with beer and red wine and ended just fine, with nothing more than just a bloated stomach.

So, what's the verdict? Deadly? Or not?

I personally think that durians and alcohol shouldn't go together.

If the combination IS lethal then why did the bunch of people above survived it?

My hypothesis is that they are still young + a bit of luck, their body were able to handle the rocket-high blood pressure. Imagine if someone among them had hypertension or an unknown heart problem, that person wouldn't have gotten lucky enough to survive the test.

What do you think?