I had a massive allergic reaction to pineapple several years ago and my tongue started bleeding. No one could explain why the bleeding occurred and I have to say I'm fairly excited to say I think this explains why that happened. Thank you for this information. :-)
I was born in Mississippi, and my grandparents who lived down there had a fig tree in their backyard. I remember as a kid, over the years I would visit there in summertime (after mom divorced and we moved to New Orleans area). I would sometimes eat the figs from the tree. I recall some of them oozing the white milky stuff, but as far as I can recall my mouth never burned from eating them. They were quite tasty, too. That fig tree had the brown ones. Best figs I ever ate.
I have eaten dozens whole (skin and all) in a single setting and never ever been burned... but I always wait until they are really-really ripe and eat them the day I pick them. I feel bad for you folks that have consistent problems with this. Oh well, more figs for me.
Very informative! I actually eat a lot of fresh figs (not dried), like 8 at once, and I never experience any significant burning sensation, though I know that other people do. I eat the whole fig, not just the inner fruit; they taste really good. What does cause a burning sensation, for me, is raw cabbage and raw Brussels sprouts. If I eat too much of those, it feels like my mouth is on fire.
THANK YOU! I woke up with a very weird inflammation on my eyelid and did a search! I love fresh figs and this is the FIRST I heard of the pitfalls of buying them in the store. You gave me great information and I don't need to panic because I had sticky lips or a burning eyelid. More careful from now on!
The wort remedy is actually effective. I had a stubborn wort on my finger as a child and my grandmother suggested the fig sapp. It was gone after applying it twice daily for 2 weeks
I experienced this for the first time today. Ate a box of figs. The burn seemed minor... but everytime I eat anything since I can feel the irritation on my tongue like a slight jalapeno burn across the top. It has to be because of the figs which were half green half purple/black. I ate a few of them this way and now know what is happening. Thanks for the vid. :)
The fig latex enzyme can be used to break down the proteins I de milk and coagulate it into solid curds. It's a very good vegan alternative to cheese making rennet enzyme, which is retrieved from the stomach of young ruminants.
While you are right, it is also obvious that Rassbrass meant vegetarians. Not every one is familiar with all of the differences of the words vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, etc. It is also understandable that someone could think that vegan is short for vegetarian, due to our society's tendency to shorten and abreviate everything.
lol experimented with this years last unripen figs today(cooking them in cream with sugar basically works! next batch with additional meadowsweet should also) - during peeling I droped some of the latex into a pot of already a bit sour milk nearby - literally raised up like highly yeasted dough - suspected it could be linked to the few(!) drops of fig sap - accidentally coming across this video while looking for other unripe fig ideas - curious if there is additional info regarding the splinter enzyme, more milk related, I checked the comments and e voila thanks for confirming my suspicion and damn it somehow works ! yet I don’t now what kind of curd (I hope) was created by just some droplets of the mighty fig enzyme but it definetely looks very alive...looks like a giant cratered ball of mozzarella half way drowned in a pot…a quite big pot....don’t even know how to cook this mofo up…
@Brett Segmento Ruminants are mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. - - cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer, giraffes, and their relatives.
The white fig juice from the leaves, if put on a wart 2 or 3 times a day WILL, in a week or two, get rid of a common wart. That is if you can stand the itching and burning while the process is taking place. Some warts will grow back but not all and after enough treatments of the same wart if will go away and not come back.
I don't understand I never had figs burning my tongue. And we had numerous fig trees when I was young and I would eat a lot of them with the skin also. This is new to me but it's interesting.
He's not saying that you ALWAYS get burned. He's saying that if there are even trace amounts of that protalytic enzyme, that it literally breaks down (digests) non-plant cells. Hence, why he said the worms get completely digested inside the fig (if they bite it). But when it is ripe, there is no more protalytic enzyme.
Aloha John and family from the island of Oahu. My husband and myself have enjoyed so many of your wonderful videos. They are all so helpful. We enjoy your your thoughtful, happy ways, in the way you explain things in your videos. Thanks again, God Bless!
As a kid I used to eat lots of figs from a tree freshly picked and never had any burning. As an adult I tried store bought figs for the first time and man it BURNED! They were also HUGE figs
I bough a fig tree 6 months ago, it was barely 3 ft tall, in 6 months it grew to 9 ft tall and still growing. WTF? is that normal ? I though it will take at least 3 years to be that big, its trunk went from 1/2 width now is about 2 inch. I already eat about 15 fruit and still producing more, they are super sweet. I'm still amazed because I never expected for it to grow so fast and produce so many fruits, well it must be the weather because it's always above 95F most of the time for the las 4 months.
oosveluzo levso oh wow i just bought mine is about 4 1/2 ft very thin and had some fruit already I just planted it hopes he makes it. My first fruit tree I’m concerned! Lol
Funny story... I found a fig tree last year on my evening bike ride and enjoyed them all last summer late. Well, ive been waiting for them to ripen this year, and finally I found some I thought were ripe... I picked about 5 and place in my shirt pocket for the ride home! Let me tell you, by the time I got home my left nipple was absolutely on fire! The burning itch! It's no Joke!! That sap soaked out and through the fabric! 😫 I'll be very careful tonwait for full ripening in future and bring a plastic bag!! 😂
I most often have this problem from store-bought figs, and that's why I watched this video. Today I bought some and my tongue BURNED while and after eating them. Hours later, my tongue still hurts (it feels damaged) and is sensitive to any other food I eat. Now I know why!!!
Green figs are great when you boil them 3-4 times; poke holes in them so the enzyme drains during the boil. Then you can prepare a sugar brine and can them. Spice to taste. Good stuff!
Ahh... Was I the only one who thought it was weird that this guy spent the entire video advocating to NOT eat the " White Stuff " and then near the end of the video he just pops the whole fig ( Including White Stuff ) into his mouth saying," Mmmmm " ? Like ?.......
the video explains why it burns to eat figs. just lile eating pineapple it does break down your body enzymes but at the rate it breaks it down is harmless to us because of the rate that we regenerate
Yah I was surprised at his action right after the point he stated, but I think his point ultimately was "To minimize the burning" you may want to avoid eating the outer shell and only the jelly part inside, Although he also stated, the riper the fig, the less burning enzyme there'll be and the fig he ate looked pretty ripe. Personally, I don't think I've ever experienced burning from eating figs, as I guess all the ones I've had were really ripe.
I had never eaten a fig before and I'm 20, after this video (because I never knew how I was supposed to eat them) I just enjoyed my first fig without a burning or irritated experience! Thanks John.
phytophotodermatitis reaction - Figs also are a source of skin sensitivity that happens after topical contact and with the addition of the sun cause mild to severe burns. Most doctors or emergency centers may contribute to poison ivy but it is a separate condition and cause. If you have ever been working in your garden, running through fields or woods, or clearing wild fields - thought you were safe due to not seeing any poison ivy or oak - have something else to be concerned about. This condition is only activated by the sun along with the chemicals from the plant’s juices from stems, leaves and fruit. You may feel fine and note nothing until 24 hours later, however, the exposure to sun during and after contact is causing the burn (redness like sunburn, sensitive and then blisters will form. Once they appear cool moist cloths over the area is best and to try and keep the blisters from rupturing as long as possible. Medical attention and steroids may be needed but this isn’t a immune system response like poison ivy though they may help in severe cases. The best thing to prevent this condition when working in contact with known plants or unknown is to wear long sleeve shirts, pants, and gloves. Do not wipe your gloved hands on your face nor with sleeves. If you need to work with such plants, working in the late evening after sun is going down and then immediately washing yourself will lessen the possibilities. This condition must have sunlight or even sun type lamps to cause the chemicals to react. This is just a small bit of information - identify the plant families below and look each up to see if any of the plants in these families are in your area or yard, or even your vegetable garden. Phytoxic dermatitis is 1 of the 4 mechanisms of cutaneous inflammation produced by plant exposure. Plants may also cause irritant contact dermatitis, urticarial dermatitis, or allergic contact dermatitis.Phytophotodermatitis (PPD) can occur through ingestion of the plant or, more commonly, through topical contact. Furocoumarins (bergaptol, xanthotal, 5-methoxypsoralens, 8 methoxypsoralens, angelican) are the major photoreactive essential plant oils involved in PPD reaction. Plants are thought to produce furocoumarins for disease resistance.Members of the plant families Umbelliferae, Leguminosae, Apiaceae, Rutaceae, Moraceae, Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Clusiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Anacardiaceae, Fabaceae, and Ranunculaceae are noted to cause a phytophotodermatitis reaction. Common plants implicated in these families include celery, giant hogweed, angelica, parsnip, fennel, dill, anise, parsley, lime, lemon, rue, fig, mustard, scurf pea, and chrysanthemums but include many more. Phytophototoxicity is amplified by humidity and perspiration.The phototoxic inflammatory eruption usually appears 24 hours after exposure and peaks within 48-72 hours. Initial burning erythema is followed by blistering, epidermal necrosis.
You can use green figs to make figs in syrup. It is a very common dessert here in Brazil. Search for "figos em calda". But I don't know if they have subtytles in english but try it. Cheers.
I wonder if this enzyme could be beneficial once it gets into the gut, and be used to break down dietary proteins. I know papaya is considered to be therapeutic for digestion for this reason. (I write this as my tongue and lip are inflamed because I snarfed a few too many partially ripe figs 😬)
You ate the whole thing. Skin and all. That's how I use to eat them. I guess if they are ripe it is OK. I know I must have had some that were not as ripe. That is why my mouth was burning!!
Co workers were making fun of me because I was eating my figs whole and fresh. I came across your video while doing a Google search about why my tongue was really tingly. Of course it probably didn't help that I ate a whole quart along with some of the stem! Hey, it felt soft and was tasty!
Thank you! I wish I saw this before I ate some sour young tangerines though! I love your scientific explanation and the remedy notice! Have a blessed day!
Just remember inside every fig, there was a dead fig wasp. Most of the time you don't see it because it has been long dead and already decomposed by the fig, which is why there is latex enzyme in fig, to break down the dead wasp!
+Chounoki Not every fig, the wasps are actually targeting the male figs, the ones we don't eat. Since the wasp cannot always tell the difference, when it crawls into the female one it cannot lay its eggs and will simply starve to death inside where it is broken down.
Who can leave figs on the tree until they're ripe? The birds eat them before I can get to them! Mockingbirds (worst offenders), cardinals, starlings, blue jays, and even the robins go after them. I pick them off the tree just as they're starting to ripen - when they have that brownish/reddish color on them. Rinse off the fig latex, and then I let them sit out for a few days (un-refrigerated) until they ripen. Then I cut off the stems and the bottom hole, slice them 1/4" thick, and dehydrate them in my Excalibur dehydrator. (The ones that I can't eat, that is - when I have a bumper crop like this year.) Have never made fig preserves. Doubt if we'd eat it. But I'd like to try making fig newtons this year!
Thanks so much John. This particular video has given me significant insight into what's happening with my mouth right this very minute! I harvested the last of my Brown Turkey fig tree crop a little more than a week ago. While most of the figs were ripe, or overly ripe, there were a few that weren't quite as ripe and the white substance did ooze out from the stem when picked. Since I didn't know to not eat them, I ate the entire fig, including the stem part that was soft enough to eat. For the last 4-5 days, I have had a burning sensation on the inner part of both lips and the first 1/2" or so of my tongue. The burning sensation did not start right away after eating my figs, it seemed to build over time. The burning is very uncomfortable. Just last night, I had decided I needed to consult a dermatologist about why the inside of my mouth felt it was burned. Now I know what happened. If the burning sensation doesn't lessen soon, I will still consult dermatologist for help. At least now I know the source of the problem and can stop thinking that those really bad sun burns I got as a teenager have caused skin cancer on my lips! This also explains why the many squirrels in my yard show absolutely NO interest in eating my figs! The birds won't even touch them until they are at the fully ripe stage.
In Spain, so as not to eat the skin, you break the fig open in the way you did and then into quarters so that you have four quarter moons hanging from the stem end instead of two half bits of fig and then you peel the soft fig back from the skin starting from where the skin is thickest, where the fig is still held together at the stem, using a knife to start to peel the flesh from the skin.
I know this is a raw channel, but for people that won't or can't eat papaya, pineapple, or figs due to the proteases, heating them to 70-75C deactivates the enzyme responsible. It's probably better to include these fruits after mild cooking, than not eating them at all if the burn is a problem.
I got a terrible skin rash from contact with the leaves of my fig tree when harvesting one time. The tree is very tall and leaves are quite large. I had to climb up into it to harvest. Well, the rash spread through my whole body. What an itchy bumpy nightmare. I can eat figs fine and they don't burn my mouth. But I have my gardener pick them from now on.
Where one of my sons lives there are so many fig trees and no one takes care of them. Oh we picked them this year and they were so good. Of course they were ripe, so ripe. I can't tell you how good they were. We had to check them for bugs but most of them were ok. I never liked figs until I thied those. Now I can't get enough.
Figs contain that proteolytic enzyme so they can break down the body of the mommy wasp who climbs inside to lay her eggs. The male then enters the fig and pollinates it sometimes not making it out so the fig then absorbs the make wasp as well 😉
Never had that problem from papaya... Mouth burns big time with pineapple and mangoes, which sucks because those are my two favorite fruits. Never had that problem with figs...
Does it matter if you go crazy & eat 25+ in one day? Fresh figs off the tree they are irresistible & so addictive. I would have thought they would make you put on weight & increase sugar levels but apparently the opposite. I´ll avoid eating the stem, I do get lip & tongue burn. I must have 10 fig trees within 100m of my house.
we marinate wild ducks in pineapple juice and pappya juice after splitting them in half and if the bird halves are left in them too long they will be mush and not very apitizing
Excellent video! I had never eaten a fig off a tree before being from Michigan, but the figs in California are wonderful! I ate the whole thing by the way. Very good! Thanks!
I have little bees that eat the ripe figs. What can I do to keep them at bay until I can get to them. I was thinking of wrapping the tree this year but hubby doesn't want to do that. Could I use hot pepper wax spray? Oh, also slugs, snails, and rolly pollies seem to eat them too.
I've eaten dozens of figs in the last two weeks and never knew they were supposed to burn my mouth. Are you sure you don't have some sort of fruit allergy?
Enjoyed your video AND, I got the bonus tip of using the enzyme for a wart on my toe. Will definitely experiment with it. I'd rather try the fig enzyme than the smelly stuff like Compound W.
Interesting topic john I never really knew when pineapples are ready to eat but this new advice has helped a lot in determining that factor. Awesome upload
Hi John - many many thanks your way for your videos. I've gleaned so much knowledge from you on eating raw and it's helped me on my own raw food journey :) I live in Pennsylvania and fresh figs are out of season. Do you know of any place I could possibly mail order some? That would be awesome!!!!!
Had to cut down a fig tree at a rental that grew out of nowhere fast in So. Cal. Only had a small saw and loppers...was in shorts and tank top coming back from gym when I did it. Forgot that the leaves are like poison ivy! Now have red itchy rashes on arms and legs...wear gloves and long sleeved shirts when pruning or cutting down...wicked on the skin like poison ivy!
I thought the ones I was eating were ripe. I ate some last night and had no problem. Today, I took one bite from a fig I thought was ripe and seconds later, my fingers felt like I'd burnt them. The figs aren't dripping that stuff John is talking about though. Sux! I want to eat the whole thing not scoop out the middle. Boo. : ( Oh well, at least I got my answer. Thanks. After I wrote this comment I noticed how old this video is. Oh well, I'll leave it anyway.
It’s not a wise tail. It’s from the Bible, a book over 2,000 years old. Isaiah 38:21, “For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.” This was in regards to King Hezekiah’s boil. God said he’d heal him, but he needed to be obedient to the Lord bc we believe by faith and not by sight. Thank you!
John, I have just gotten into eating figs. I didn't know that you cannot eat the skin. I eat it all the time and experience no burning on my skin or in my mouth. I eat the ones that are purple. Also, aren't protolitic enzymes good for us? I use a protolytic probiotic that I bought from NCP. Dan Mcdonald and Lou Corona recommended it.
I only know figs from middle east & turkey, the fully dark purple when ripe & green spots when unripe. I have eaten a lot, including slightly unripe, and never noticed any irritation or even burning, so you seem to have especially nasty figs over there :-D But the white stuff is still annoying, since it is very sticky and hard to wash off the fingers.
to me figs are such a good medicine plant....i know its kinda gross but i had warts on all my fingers in a months time they were all gone no more torture from freezing for 6 months.... the fig literally deteriated the wart.
I don't know what he's talking about with the burn . I have been eating them the whole year and not been experienced a burn.I don't what he's talking about ?
why not just grow one?! It`s unbelievably easy. Fig trees are really tough, can cope with all kinds of weather, don`t care much about ...pretty much anything. They just grow.
So that's why my mouth burns sometimes when I eat pineapple. I usually buy fresh-cut pineapple from my local supermarket and I've noticed sometimes my mouth will burn like crazy after consuming some of it. Doesn't always happen but at times it does and now I know why.
Mike Hawk tip with that is to soak fresh-cut pineapple into light salty water (any salt will do) for a couple of hours before eating, u can rinse it off before eating it or just eat straight after soaking. Hope it helps
