Myristica fragrans

Koeh097At first pass the article on drug toxicity below was interesting for documenting (unsurprisingly) how toxic alcohol is and marijuana isn’t. However, glancing again at the figure I was mildly gobsmacked to notice that nutmeg is second only to heroin in lethality.  Nutmeg is interesting for a lot of reasons, mainly historical, and I knew it is reputed to have some medicinal use (though I am skeptical), but I had no idea it’s a potentially lethal hallucinogen. 

From Wikipedia:

In low doses, nutmeg produces no noticeable physiological or
neurological response. Large doses of 30 g or more are dangerous,
potentially inducing convulsions, palpitations, nausea, eventual dehydration,
and generalized body pain. In amounts of 5–20 g it is a mild to medium
hallucinogen, producing visual distortions and a mild euphoria. It is a
common m
isconception that nutmeg contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). This is untrue; nutmeg should not be taken in combination with MAOIs but it does not contain them [2].
A test was carried out on the substance which showed that, when
ingested in large amounts, nutmeg takes on a similar chemical make-up
to MDMA
(ecstasy). However, use of nutmeg as a recreational drug is unpopular
due to its unpleasant taste and its side effects, including dizziness,
flushes, dry mouth, accelerated heartbeat, temporary constipation,
difficulty in
urination, nausea, and panic. A user will not experience
a peak until approximately six hours after ingestion, and effects can
linger for up to three d
ays afterwards. Any unpleasant side-effects
would persist throughout this period.[citation needed]

A risk in any large-quantity (over 25 g) ingestion of nutmeg is the onset of ‘nutmeg poisoning’, an acute psychiatric disorder marked by thought disorder, a sense of impending death, and agitation. Some cases have resulted in hospitalization.[citation needed]

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