Summers have already arrived and in a tropical country like India, keeping our body cool is very important. One of the easiest ways to do this is by having lauki juice.
Lauki or bottle gourd as it is called is a common vegetable which is easily available in all the Indian kitchens. It can really act as a cooling agent for the human body. Not only this, it can also detoxify the blood.
But recently rumors have come up which say that lauki juice is harmful to health. It can even be fatal in some cases. People are under a doubt that whether this is a fallacy or a fact.
Questions arise, even if the lauki juice is harmful, what is the particular chemical which makes it harmful or toxic. Certain experts have however answered the questions.
Researchers have shown that a cucurbitacin is a kind of acid that gives a bottle gourd a bitter taste.
As we all know, now the vegetables are grown in a very artificial manner so as to get full-grown vegetables faster. They are grown under very tough conditions like less water, low fertility of soil, high temperature and high content of acid in the soil which contains excessive amounts of cucurbitacins.
Certain cases have even shown fatal incidents after drinking lauki juice. Problems like vomiting, abdominal pain have been reported.
On the other hand, Dr. Rupali Datta, a nutritionist says that pesticides and insecticides have made the vegetables harmful for consumption. She has further said that one should avoid having bitter lauki juice which can to a certain extent reduce the fatalities.
Consuming lauki juice in excess quantity is also advised by nutritionists to be avoided.
Physicians and nutritionists instruct people to go for organic food or the seasonal vegetables and have also suggested discarding the bitter portion of such vegetables.
Last but not the least, bitter vegetables should be avoided and a proper decision should be made before buying right vegetables from the market.