Cucumbers + milk = poison

[snopes]

Comment: I've heard that eating a cucumber & drinking a pint of milk at
the same time creates a poison. The only reference I know of about this is
in "The Story Girl" by L. M. Montgomery, but I can find no real evidence
beyond this. Is it true?

[musicgeek]

Bad news for the makers of creamy cucumber dressing. Not to mention a Japanese recipe I once made that called for cooking cucumbers in milk.

[snapdragonfly]

What's that delicious cucumber and yogurt Indian dish...haven't keeled over from it yet and I scarf as much down as I can whenever I have the opportunity to get Indian food.

[We'veBeenHad]

Could it be related to those old stories about..I think it was Taft...who was grossly overweight, and during a large gathering consumed a fair amount of cold cucumber salad despite the heat? Supposedly he collapsed and died shortly after of what they called "water cramps."

UL? I'm beginning to wonder if my 6th grade teacher didn't compile the original list of urban legends...aided by her endless supply of Readers' Digests :P

[Johnny Slick]

I think your teacher might have gotten Taft mixed up with Zachary Taylor, who may have died of gastroenteritis after eating iced milk, cherries, and pickles. Then again, he may have died of heat stroke. Still, Taft was the guy with the huge bathtub and he didn't die until almost 2 decades after his Presidency ended (when he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court).

[Lady Neeva]

Sour cream has milk, and I never died from my Dad's cucumber and sour cream salad stuff. Really really wish I'd paid more attention as a child, because that stuff was GOOD and I have no idea what was in it except cucumbers (which he ever so carefully peeled in such a way that each little slice had a cute striped pattern lol...) and sour cream. Possibly vinegar also. In any event it was really good and never killed me.

[franjava]

I know!! Let the cucumbers and milk get REEEEEALLY old and nasty. Would that work?

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

What's that delicious cucumber and yogurt Indian dish...haven't keeled over from it yet and I scarf as much down as I can whenever I have the opportunity to get Indian food.

That'll be Raita. Mmm...

From that page, interestingly:

Cucumber is not included in authentic versions of the dish, because Ayurvedic tradition considers a mixture of cucumber and yoghurt to be harmful to the body

[JessBoo]

I don't think our Indian uses cucumber in their Raita- it's just minty, and it's orange. Delicious.

Isn't tzatziki made with cucumber and yoghurt?

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Lady Neeva

Sour cream has milk, and I never died from my Dad's cucumber and sour cream salad stuff. Really really wish I'd paid more attention as a child, because that stuff was GOOD and I have no idea what was in it except cucumbers (which he ever so carefully peeled in such a way that each little slice had a cute striped pattern lol...) and sour cream. Possibly vinegar also. In any event it was really good and never killed me.

Where was your dad from? Mine was from Kentucky, and he made that, too. Sometimes he put rings of thinly-sliced white or yellow onion in it, too. I think the dresssing was just sour cream thinned with milk or vinegar, plus some salt and pepper.

The peel thing isn't hard to do, either. You don't even have to peel alternate strips: you can run the tines of a fork along the length of the cucumber all the way around and get a similar decorative effect.

Now I need to buy some sour cream and cucumbers. . .

[Mad Jay]

Originally Posted by Tarquin Farquart

That'll be Raita. Mmm...

From that page, interestingly:

That's a misrepresentation because according to Ayurveda, if something is not poisonous, and is taken it moderation, it cannot be harmful to everyone. Cucumber can be harmful to some people, depending on their constitution. According to Ayurveda, the body is made up of differrent components, and different foods have the same components. Since, cucumber and yogurt have high water components, raita can be harmful to someone who has a deficiency of fire component, and beneficial to someone who has overabundance of fire component.

I would rather say that Ayurveda is careful about mixing cucumber with yogurt because the mixture can be potent.

[sparklygirl]

Well, not cucumbers and milk but my SIL always cuts a good portion of each end off the cucumber and rubs each cut end on the fleshy part that is left. She says this "removes the poison" from the cucumber . When she rubs them together the juices from the cucumber foam up just a bit; the foam is kind of milky in color. I have no idea why she believes this. Doesn't she figure most people would be dead or sick since they don't follow her directions?

Sparklygirl

[Lainie]

My parents taught me to cut off the ends because they're often bitter. Some people then rub them to draw out more fluid for the same reason.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Tzatziki (Greek yogurt-based sauce often used on gyros or as a dip) has yogurt and cucumbers in it, and I'm still alive.

Nick

[FullMetal]

Originally Posted by sparklygirl

Well, not cucumbers and milk but my SIL always cuts a good portion of each end off the cucumber and rubs each cut end on the fleshy part that is left. She says this "removes the poison" from the cucumber . When she rubs them together the juices from the cucumber foam up just a bit; the foam is kind of milky in color. I have no idea why she believes this. Doesn't she figure most people would be dead or sick since they don't follow her directions?

Sparklygirl

I'm not sure about the "remove the poison" bit, but I did find that fresh cucumbers from the garden (pickling variety) can be bitter, but if you rub the end like that, it can ease the bitterness...

I love cucumbers, espeically ones fresh from the garden. and i've eaten them with a big glass of milk too... i'm still alive, and never had a problem

[bjohn13]

When I was a kid, my dad used to soak cucumber slices in a concoction made of milk, salt, and pepper overnight and eat it the next day.

Of course, he forced us kids to eat it too. The taste might have seemed like it would kill me at the time, but I'm still alive.

I still don't have any hair on my chest either. I must not have eaten enough.

[Dactyl]

I have cucumbers in my lunch today. I'll down a glass a milk with it.

If I die I'll let you know.

[Dactyl]

Still alive BTW.

[RealityChuck]

There is no combination of individually harmless foods that is poisonous when combined. The chemicals in anything edible are just too mild.

About the only foods that are poisonous individually are poorly prepared fugu and unprocessed green-branch tapioca, as well as some plants, like rhubarb, that have some poisonous parts that aren't eaten.

[Dactyl]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

There is no combination of individually harmless foods that is poisonous when combined. The chemicals in anything edible are just too mild.

You obviously haven't seen Batman.

Posting from beyond the grave