Thy Food is Medicine

Hippocrates the father of Medicine declared 2500 years ago "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". This same man also wrote The Hippocratic Oath, traditionally taken by doctors swearing to ethically practice medicine.


The persimmon fruit is described as nutritious although there is a fear that over-consumption of persimmons can cause intestinal blockages.




Persimmons contain chemicals called tannins, which are also found in other plants such as tea. Tannins contain two compounds known as shibuol and betulinic acid that are thought to have anti-cancer properties. Shibuol is the double edged sword. It can help and hurt you. Upon contact with stomach acid, shibuol can polymerize in the stomach forming a gluey coagulum that can affix with other stomach matter. This coagulum is called a bezoar.


Persimmons should only be eaten on a full stomach and never eaten with crabmeat which can increase the tendency for bezoars to form.


Unfortunately persimmons are potentially harmful for dogs and horses. 33 to 35 persimmons can cause a horse to develop a blockage. Vets successfully treated a persimmon bezoar in a pony using nasogastrically instilled diet coke.

Here are some no-no foods to avoid eating at the same time.
Pork + water chestnuts = stomach ache
Crab + persimmon fruit = diarrhea
White wine + persimmon = chest pains
Onions + honey = poor vision
Bean curd + honey = hearing loss
Potatoes + bananas = age spot