oysters Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Sitting around the kitchen table eating durian with family and friends the subject of not drinking alcohol after eating durian came up. I said its just an old wives tale invented by thai women to get their men to stop drinking. Especially jungle whiskey apparently raises your body temperature to dangerous levels if taken with durian. Has there been any studies to prove whether this is true or false. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA_FARANG Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Well I don't know the scientific or medical basis, but I do know from personal experience the following is true for me. I have high blood pressure for which I must take medication. If I eat Durian, which I love the taste of, it raises my blood pressure. So I have to be careful of how much Durian I eat. If I drink Alchohol, it also raises my blood pressure. So, for practical purposes, at my age and in my health condition, the eating of Durian and drinking Alchohol is a double whammy for me. Combined they raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. How it would affect others I have no idea, but it is not a good idea for me. So I don't combine the two activites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygourmet Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Apparently, in between of eating durian and drinking alcohol, having some mangosteen will do the trick... But this might be another urban legend !?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livwire68 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 this might help you find the answers you want http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/33646-is-it-dangerous-to/page__st__25__p__939117__hl__durian__fromsearch__1#entry939117 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishken Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 just asked my wife wife and she said it is true and has witnessed her friend been sick. she said something to do with your blood so as said befre it could raise blood pressure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Well I don't know the scientific or medical basis, but I do know from personal experience the following is true for me. I have high blood pressure for which I must take medication. If I eat Durian, which I love the taste of, it raises my blood pressure. So I have to be careful of how much Durian I eat. If I drink Alchohol, it also raises my blood pressure. So, for practical purposes, at my age and in my health condition, the eating of Durian and drinking Alchohol is a double whammy for me. Combined they raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. How it would affect others I have no idea, but it is not a good idea for me. So I don't combine the two activites. If you can't combine these products, I would recomend alcohol and skip the durian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnvic Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Has anyone tried to brew alcohol from durian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anton01972 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Well I don't know the scientific or medical basis, but I do know from personal experience the following is true for me. I have high blood pressure for which I must take medication. If I eat Durian, which I love the taste of, it raises my blood pressure. So I have to be careful of how much Durian I eat. If I drink Alchohol, it also raises my blood pressure. So, for practical purposes, at my age and in my health condition, the eating of Durian and drinking Alchohol is a double whammy for me. Combined they raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. How it would affect others I have no idea, but it is not a good idea for me. So I don't combine the two activites. If you can't combine these products, I would recomend alcohol and skip the durian. I second that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) I do think it's true that both durian and liquor are both warming foods. I wouldn't worry about eating durian with a drink or two, but I wouldn't eat a lot durian with a lot of whiskey, and I don't doubt that would make some people sick or even potentially threaten their lives if they were fragile. Heck, people die all the time just from too much booze. Edited July 23, 2011 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Has anyone tried to brew alcohol from durian? Good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partington Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I do think it's true that both durian and liquor are both warming foods. I wouldn't worry about eating durian with a drink or two, but I wouldn't eat a lot durian with a lot of whiskey, and I don't doubt that would make some people sick or even potentially threaten their lives if they were fragile. Heck, people die all the time just from too much booze. With respect, a bit of a myth this ( about alcohol). See quote below. While knowing nothing at all about durian, and not having looked all this up, I think maybe the idea of a warming food, though I've heard the term used in Chinese medicine a lot, might also be a myth in general. If anyone knows for sure I'd be very interested, as I'm by nature sometimes a bit over sceptical. (on the other hand I'm only convinced by evidence based observations though). University of Iowa Health Science Relations and William G. Haynes, MD Professor of Internal Medicine First Published: November 2000 Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed For some people, alcohol is a staple of a football tailgate on a cold fall or winter morning. Being out in the cold, we tend to believe a "little sip" will help take away the chill--and it seems to work. Our faces are flush and our skin is warm, regardless of the temperature outside. However, these misleading signs of warmth hide the chilling facts about drinking alcohol in cold weather. While alcohol may make us feel hotter, it actually aids in decreasing core body temperature. Normally when we feel cold, it is because blood has flowed from our skin into the organs to keep our core body temperature warm. After alcohol consumption, though, blood flows into the skin, giving us that warm feeling and making our faces flush, but leaving our body temperature to decrease rapidly. "Consumption of alcohol undoes many of the human body's healthy reflexes, one of which is keeping the core body temperature warm in cold weather," says Dr. William G. Haynes, Director of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. "We may feel warm from the blood rushing to our skin, but our body is actually losing heat faster, bringing about an increased danger of hypothermia." The absence of this blood flow reflex during intoxication makes it quite possible for a person's body temperature to take a major dip without them even realizing it. In addition, since coma is one of the most common symptoms in young teenagers intoxicated by alcohol, teens run a greater risk by consuming alcohol in colder weather. The decreased core body temperature brought about by intoxication could lead to fatal hypothermia in the case of an alcohol-induced coma in freezing temperatures. If it is frigid outside, your best bet is to stay sober. If you do consume alcohol during the colder months, stay inside or bundle up before you go out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 OK, but I am rather certain durian raises the body temperature (google it yourself) and know from personal experience it tends to do weird things to digestion if you eat a lot of it. Also no doubt it is common to die of too much booze and only too much booze. I think the overall thing is a myth, that you have to religious about mixing them, but a grain of truth that's it's not a good idea to abuse them together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaifkrlim Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotime Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) "Sitting around the kitchen table eating durian with family and friends the subject of not drinking alcohol after eating durian came up." Durian smells like something that just came up. However, the combination given above raises the question of coming up. Quick edit to add that "oysters" must be a hoi wan. Edited July 23, 2011 by Shotime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partington Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Thanks-interesting thread. Looks like there is a good reason to believe that durian and alcohol are a bad mix, since durian contains significant amounts of chemicals that stop aldehyde dehydrogenase from working. This means alcohol you drink, after being broken down to aldehyde, can't be further processed to harmless substances because the protein that does it is impaired. If aldehyde builds up it makes you feel really sick. So I believe the mix could make you feel pretty rough! I'm a bit less convinced about death being a serious concern, though it is theoretically possible. I say this because: 1. Actual pure aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors have been developed as drugs , and are approved for, and prescribed to, alcoholics eg "Antabuse". This is to help them give up-- they take the pills and then if they drink they start feeling so sick they stop. This stuff is more powerful than durian, but I don't think there have been any deaths from taking it or it would not still be approved 2. Quite a lot of Asians , Chinese and Japanese especially (maybe 1 in 3) have inborn genetic aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (the ones that flush instantly after taking a sip of alcohol) --- so they are in a permanent state of what eating durian does to you temporarily--again they rarely die from alcohol poisoning. But in theory if you ate a massive amount of durian and drank a massive amount of alcohol simultaneously I think you could die because you wouldn't feel the alcohol making you feel sick unless you'd eaten the durian long enough before to allow the inhibition to work--- only then would an instant sick feeling make you stop drinking. I'm a bit tempted to try it now actually,to see what it feels like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkjames Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I keep a wide berth of anyone who eats massive amounts of durian... I thought it was beer and durian that caused the problems? Anyways I will stick to beer and leave the durian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oysters Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Some good threads here and interesting. Had the gang over last night and durian was on the table again.I had some while drinking red wine and didnt feel any different.Mind you it was not a big amount. Showed the guys your replies and the results seem 50 50. So my conclusion is that durians can cause death after to much alcohol. If someone gets pissed and hits you over the head with one your not getting up. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilgore Trout Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Well I don't know the scientific or medical basis, but I do know from personal experience the following is true for me. I have high blood pressure for which I must take medication. If I eat Durian, which I love the taste of, it raises my blood pressure. So I have to be careful of how much Durian I eat. If I drink Alchohol, it also raises my blood pressure. So, for practical purposes, at my age and in my health condition, the eating of Durian and drinking Alchohol is a double whammy for me. Combined they raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. How it would affect others I have no idea, but it is not a good idea for me. So I don't combine the two activites. If you can't combine these products, I would recomend alcohol and skip the durian. This article mentions durian wine My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partington Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 OK, but I am rather certain durian raises the body temperature (google it yourself) and know from personal experience it tends to do weird things to digestion if you eat a lot of it. Also no doubt it is common to die of too much booze and only too much booze. I think the overall thing is a myth, that you have to religious about mixing them, but a grain of truth that's it's not a good idea to abuse them together. On the durian and body temperature question. Had a quick look , though a bit hasty as I'm packing for a trip... Very fascinating topic My thoughts: countless pages saying durian is a warming food, and raises body temperature. On inspection all these pages are based fairly specifically on folk tales/ancient chinese medicine. No real evidence other than this. Makes me sceptical as the basis of chinese medicine is sketchy in scientific terms. They attribute things but have no real objective scientific studies to back it up. It reminds me of western medicine pre-science, when everyone was meant to have a mixture of four fluids (humours): phlegm, black bile, yellow bile and blood and all disease was thought to be due to differences in the balances of these fluids. Countless disease treatments were based on changing the 'imbalances' of these by various activities including eating certain things. People swore by this for hundreds of years, until the advent of modern medicine showed it to be completely baseless. I think warming foods will go the same way. I have heard ginseng being described as a warming food also , and so people with "too much heat" (whatever that means ) shouldn't eat it. I actually just saw on the korean channel KBS a documentary where they fed people ginseng and measured their core temperature in a hospital setting. No significant changes. This doesn't surprise me--your body is an exquisite machine designed to keep itself at a fixed temperature. If it changes up or down you shiver or sweat or your metabolism changes to compensate. I could believe for example that durian might make people feel hot, but that is not the same as actually being hotter. You feel hot when you go out of your aircon apartment into the streets of Bangkok, but your body temperature does not change, it's just a subjective sensation. Unless you are sick your body temperature stays constant because thats what it's designed to do. The only science I could find for durian was a rat study, showing no effect of durian on body temperature, but this is rather scanty evidence as humans aren't rats : Cheers IMethods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2008 Dec;30(10):739-43. Hyperthermic effects of Durio zibethinus and its interaction with paracetamol. Chua YA, Nurhaslina H, Gan SH. Source Division of Health Sciences, Management & Science University, Kelantan, Malaysia. [email protected] Abstract Because durian (Durio zibethinus), which is known in Southeast Asia as "the king of fruits", is thought to have special body-warming properties, it should not be consumed with paracetamol due to a risk of toxic effects. The claim of warming properties, however, has not been scientifically proven. This study was conducted to investigate durian's hyperthermic effect and its toxicity when consumed together with paracetamol in rats. Five groups of rats (n=6) were fed with: 1) distilled water (4 ml/250 g), 2) homogenized durian (4 g/250 g), 3) paracetamol solution (2400 mg/kg), 4) durian (4 g/250 g) followed by paracetamol solution (2400 mg/kg), or 5) prazosin solution (15 mg/kg, pregavaged) followed 1 h later by durian (4 g/250 g) and paracetamol solution (2400 mg/kg). Rectal temperature, systolic blood pressure and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were taken from each rat at baseline and after the various administrations at 1, 2 and 5 h. Our results showed that the body temperature of rats in the durian-treated group was not significantly elevated when compared to the control. However, there was a significant decrease in body temperature over time in animals from groups 4 and 5. We did not, however, observe a consistent pattern of blood pressure change. Serum chemical analysis for ALT also did not show any significant change in any of the groups. In conclusion, contrary to what some believe, even though durian was found to increase body temperature in some rats, this increment was not significant. Rats receiving the durian-paracetamol combination showed a significant drop in body temperature, which may explain the belief that the two mixtures are toxic. However, the exact mechanism of toxicity is still unknown. Copyright © 2008 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eefoo Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 The only science I could find for durian was a rat study, showing no effect of durian on body temperature, but this is rather scanty evidence as humans aren't rats : Some are, but that's beside the point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanS Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Apparently, in between of eating durian and drinking alcohol, having some mangosteen will do the trick... But this might be another urban legend !?! No this is not an urban legend mangosteen and durian 1 is acid 1 is alkali so they balance each other out and also stop you getting a tummy upset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaifkrlim Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/29/three-die-two-hospital-after-eating-durian-with-liquor-jambi.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bina Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 there are mny herbs /plants that shouldnt be eaten while taking medications; whichis why homeopathy type meds have to be listed when getting other meds... certain plants with their chemical makeup will prevent certain drugs from working, others increase the chemicals in the herbs... quantity probably is the key factor in any case... just like u dont take tetracycline with milk products as the calcium inhibits absrobtion etc... but im on the list of those that hate durian and like mangosteen. i hate apples and grapes also. i feel ill from them. bina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endure Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Grapefruit is something else you have to watch out for if you're taking some medication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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