{"id":25562,"date":"2025-12-15T19:36:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T00:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=25562"},"modified":"2025-12-26T20:18:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T01:18:18","slug":"most-delicious-poison-the-story-of-natures-toxins-from-spices-to-vices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25562","title":{"rendered":"Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins\u2014From Spices to Vices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins\u2014From Spices to Vices<\/em><\/a> (2023) Noah Whiteman<\/p>\n

\"Most<\/a>Many of the plants we treasure–for the way they taste or the way they make us feel, were developed by plants not for our benefit, but as defense mechanisms from threats like herbivores.<\/p>\n

It just happens that we are less susceptible to the toxins of those plants than the insects or animals.<\/p>\n

But notice that less in there.<\/p>\n

Many of these chemicals and compounds aren’t “safe”, but then as the author reminds us,<\/p>\n

As sixteenth-century Swiss physician Paracelsus noted, \u201cthe dose makes the poison.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which is something we do well to remember.<\/p>\n

The book covers a variety of chemicals created by plants used by humans for everything from making our food taste better to healing illness to getting stoned.<\/p>\n

Matricin is additionally found in chamomile and yarrow, plants used in traditional healing today and for thousands of years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It also goes into both the history of these compounds…<\/p>\n

…gall ink without iron was likely used seven hundred years earlier by the calligraphers of the Dead Sea Scrolls.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As well as the science.<\/p>\n

Our bodies make isoprene as a by-product of cholesterol biosynthesis, and the amount emitted can even be used to determine a person\u2019s cholesterol levels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The author also talks about how these toxins have influenced his own life, primarily the death of his father due to AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder).<\/p>\n

AUD is the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States, the first being tobacco use, and the second, poor diet and lack of exercise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I tended to enjoy the history bits more than the since bits, likely because this was by bedtime reading, and much of the science was too much to grok when I was falling asleep. <\/p>\n

I recommend this both for the history, but also for the reminder than many of the spices and medicines we take for granted aren’t harmless simply because they are “natural.”<\/p>\n

Cover art by Justin Metz<\/p>\n

Publisher: Little, Brown Spark<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins\u2014From Spices to Vices (2023) Noah Whiteman Many of the plants we treasure–for the way they taste or the way they make us feel, were developed by plants not for our benefit, but as defense mechanisms from threats like herbivores. It just happens that we are less susceptible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,292,204,17,4,5],"tags":[906],"class_list":["post-25562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-ebook","category-good","category-history","category-non-fiction","category-science-nature","tag-noah-whiteman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6Ei","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4524,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4524","url_meta":{"origin":25562,"position":0},"title":"The Dream Thieves","author":"Michelle","date":"April 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dream Thieves (2013) Maggie Stiefvater Right. Now I know why I put off reading this, even though I pre-ordered it. It's book two in a projected four book series. (sigh) However, once I started listening to Raven Boys, I had to finish re-reading it, and then I had to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"dream_thieves","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/dream_thieves.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25504,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25504","url_meta":{"origin":25562,"position":1},"title":"The Drunken Botanist","author":"Michelle","date":"November 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Drunken Botanist (2013) Amy Stewart I love food and history and botany, and this book is all three. It's the botany of various plants that are used to make alcohol, and history of those plants and those drinks with recipes for various drinks thrown in. And all kinds of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Drunken Botanist","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Drunken-Botanist.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Drunken-Botanist.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Drunken-Botanist.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Drunken-Botanist.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/89","url_meta":{"origin":25562,"position":2},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"July 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn't totally resist, but I've limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comfort Read"","block_context":{"text":"Comfort Read","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/reread\/comfort-read"},"img":{"alt_text":"small vices.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/small%20vices.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/325","url_meta":{"origin":25562,"position":3},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B Parker On the trip to get my grandmother, as I was driving alone I wanted a book to listen to, to help me stay awake and coherent. I grabbed Small Vices, read by Burt Reynolds to keep me company on the trip. I really do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"small_vices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/small_vices.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22125,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22125","url_meta":{"origin":25562,"position":4},"title":"Small Vices, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices, Audio Book (1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds (Spenser) Since my name was anathema at Pemberton, I had to employ guile. 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