this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2026
630 points (98.8% liked)

Curated Tumblr

7286 readers
894 users here now

For preserving the least toxic and most culturally relevant Tumblr heritage posts.

Here are some OCR tools to assist you in transcribing posts:

Don't be mean. I promise to do my best to judge that fairly.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 40 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I eat the entire apple. Learned to do it so I simultaneously wouldnt litter on hikes and also wouldn't have to carry a slimy apple core in my backpack. Then i got used to it and started doing it all the time. Why not? Free apple.

Also, the girls like a horse boy.... ifyouknowwhatimean

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 41 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I simultaneously wouldnt litter on hikes

That seems overly strict. I assume you're not eating apple after apple for the amygdalin to do any harm, but then I also don't assume you're eating apple after apple for you to do any harm by just chucking it (without the sticker) somewhere out-of-the-way. I eat so closely to the core that people think it's weird, but the core itself is physically uncomfortable to eat.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Depends on the environment. In some places you can throw an apple core and it will be gone in a week. In some places it can take years.

It all depends on the local environment and ecosystem

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

In some places it can take years.

Got any examples handy?

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 30 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Anywhere with lower animal or microbial activity.

The Rocky Mountains are a good example. Cold, dry, and a high elevation (reduced oxygen). You are told in those places explicitly to pack out everything because it won't decomposes.

Desert environments can also have the same issues just due to the dryness.

Here's an article

https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/even-if-it-is-a-banana-peel-it-is-still-littering

according to the Facebook post from Glacier National Park. "Some fruit products can take years to decompose depending on the environment they are in!"

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 weeks ago

Hey, today I'm one of the 10k! Thanks, stranger!

[–] titter@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

The truck i learned is to eat the apple from the top down, working your way through the core of less of it into a bite and makes it much less offensive, plus you don't have to finish your apple snack by eating the 'trash' last

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Litter...food that literally grows on trees?

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Scattering non-native seeds is a shit habit.

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

No way seeds from a domesticated apple are just gonna start growing in a random forest though.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Poop is also natural, but if everyone pooped along natural hiking trails, it would be a shit show. Established hiking trails tend to have many people walking on them each day, and disposing of waste along them - even organic waste - can have negative impacts on others experiences, as well as change local wildlife's foraging patterns. Just because it is organic matter doesnt mean it decomposes instantly - that apple core or orange peel could be there for weeks or months after you leave it.

Pack it in, pack it out.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

**depending on area

Some places you have to pack your poop out. Many places a hole is acceptable for poop.

In terms of apple cores though, it's not much effort to pack that out. When it come to poop look-up the local rules

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] man_wtfhappenedtoyou@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I haven't tested it, but by now you should have built up an immunity to poison since apple seeds contain small amounts of cyanide. Or maybe it was arsenic. One of those... I'd have to look it up. But now you don't have to worry about someone poisoning you.

[–] Viceversa@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You can't get immune to cyanide ever

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 weeks ago

But iocane powder on the other hand...

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 weeks ago

Corpses are immune.

[–] q181c@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Pretty sure arsenic will build up in your system over time though

[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

It is cyanide. But (1) cyanide does not accumulate in the tissues over time. If you were to have a constant small drip of cyanide injected into your veins, as long as your body could dispose of it at the same rate that you recieved it, you wouldn’t die. Ie, you arent going to see gradual onset cyanide poisoning over years of eating apple seeds. And (2) apple seeds contain a compound that makes cyanide when it is digested. But the compound is inside the apple seeds. So unless you are really focused on grinding the seeds to a paste, you won’t actually have the compound reach your digestive system. It will stay contained within the hard shell of the seed, and you’ll just poop out the whole seed. Which is kind of the whole point of fruit-bearing plants in the first place. The plant wants animals to eat its fruit, then walk away with its seeds in their bellies. Then they poop out the seeds somewhere else, spreading the plant’s lineage geographically, and providing the seed with some good fertilizer to boot. The seeds, and the dangerous compound inside them, don’t just haphazardly pass through your digestive system - they are specifically designed to pass through animal digestive systems unharmed. And (3) the amount of cyanide you can get from apple seeds is quite small. Unless you are actively, like, making apple seed paste and eating it in bulk, you'll be fine.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

It is cyanide. But (1) cyanide does not accumulate in the tissues over time. If you were to have a constant small drip of cyanide injected into your veins, as long as your body could dispose of it at the same rate that you recieved it, you wouldn't die. Ie, you arent going to see gradual onset cyanide poisoning over years of eating apple seeds. And (2) apple seeds contain a compound that makes cyanide when it is digested. But the compound is inside the apple seeds. So unless you are really focused on grinding the seeds to a paste, you won't actually have the compound reach your digestive system. It will stay contained within the hard shell of the seed, and you'll just poop out the whole seed. Which is kind of the whole point of fruit-bearing plants in the first place. The plant wants animals to eat its fruit, then walk away with its seeds in their bellies. Then they poop out the seeds somewhere else, spreading the plant's lineage geographically, and providing the seed with some good fertilizer to boot. The seeds, and the dangerous compound inside them, don't just haphazardly pass through your digestive system - they are specifically designed to pass through animal digestive systems unharmed.

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

FWIW, my grandpa taught me to eat the whole apple top-to-bottom to help the core's fibrous bits break apart easier. 🤩🤘🏼

[–] Godric@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

My grandpa was a Great Depression child. I remember my mom would have to dig through his pantry and throw out the expired food every time we visited, that man would throw nothing usable away ever.

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

My grandmother was great depression and instead of throwing away food, we just ate it all!

...hm, wonder where my fucked up relation with food comes from. Oh well, we'll never know!

[–] usrtrv@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Unopened dry food doesn't expire in most cases.* Nutrition and taste may get worse, but it's not harmful.

*(properly sealed, shelf stable, reasonable time frames)

[–] Godric@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Nah, 12 year old Nilla Wafers can go, actually

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

What a waste, most canned foods are good several years after the marked "best by" date.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

a kid at lunch did that in front of me and i asked him how he did that and he said "im russian"

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] teslekova@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Weird. I eat it because it tastes good, like the rest of the apple, and I like the texture of the pips.

[–] FundMECFS@piefed.zip 5 points 3 weeks ago

Same. It’s just more apple with a little less juice but crunchier. On riper apples it’s got exactly the right texture.

I don’t see why I wouldn’t eat something that’s edible and tastes good?

[–] AppleTea@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I eat the stem and leaves of strawberries because I'm too lazy to get a place to put them and throw them away when I'm done. Just eat them all at once, you don't really notice the green mixed in with the fruit part.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 3 weeks ago

Sure it wasn't Apple Boy? 🤔

[–] miraclerandy@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

If you eat it from the bottom up, the core isn’t that bad in terms of texture. As long as you spit out the seeds, it’s all edible.

[–] Shellofbiomatter@lemmus.org 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

You can eat the seeds as well. Just uncomfortable, not unsafe. There isn't enough "cyanide" inside 1 apples seeds. You'd need to eat on the absolute lowest estimate, 10-20+kg of apples and grind up, not chew, the seeds to get enough chemicals to create enough cyanide for a poisoning.

[–] Thorry@feddit.org 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

ACKSHUALLY the risk isn't in the cyanide. It's because if you eat the seeds a new apple tree will start growing inside your body. Once it gets too big your body will be torn apart and you fucking die. The only way to fix it is to send in a gardener with a chainsaw, which is obviously risky and painful.

[–] tomenzgg@midwest.social 3 points 3 weeks ago

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Can't enjoy watermelon; can't enjoy apples; what next.

[–] man_wtfhappenedtoyou@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Haha I just mentioned this in another comment. It's like one of my favorite little food factoids. My daughter who is still just 3 has always eaten the whole apple, and it always made my wife worry she was going to die. I'm like nah she'll be fine.

Is it true that you build up an immunity to cyanide by eating the seeds, or is that just an old wives tale kind of thing?

[–] phobiac@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks ago

You cannot build up an immunity to cyanide. The mechanism of action for it to act as a poison is that it directly limits aerobic respiration on a molecular level. To put that more simply, it stops oxygen from getting where it needs to go and effectively stops your cells from "breathing", ultimately stopping your mitochondria from functioning. To put that in a more complex way, it binds to part of an enzyme called cytochrome c oxidase that is essential to ATP synthethis and prevents the reaction from occurring.

Horrifyingly, cyanide poisoning cannot be fixed by simply giving the body higher concentrations of oxygen to breathe in. It doesn't prevent your repository system from uptaking oxygen. Instead it prevents your individual cells from using the available oxygen.

While it is sort of technically possible in the case of cyanide for the liver to produce more rhodanese (an enzyme that specifically reduces the toxic effects of cyanide in the body) the reaction is dependent on sulfur. Perhaps if you ate foods like eggs in very large quantities and also regularly ate larger amounts of cyanide you could maintain a state of immunity to doses larger than what would normally kill a person but I can't find any evidence of someone stupid enough to test that. Regardless this immunity is in the form of getting your liver to simply clear the cyanide from your system faster and does nothing to stop the underlying cellular asphyxiation.

As an aside Arsenic which was also mentioned earlier interrupts mitochondrial function as well, but in this case it takes the place of Phosphorus (The P in ATP) and the resulting molecule is not able to react correctly. While not a perfect comparison you can think of cyanide as starving your cells of oxygen while arsenic starves them of useful fuel. Neither of these are something you can build an immunity to.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Darthcapi@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 weeks ago

He is now Horse Man in my memory

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

When I played Skyrim I saved all the apples I could find. I didn't eat a single one. And I went out of my way to find or buy more all the time. When I got a house I dedicated a room for apple storage.


Oh, just remembered: I sometimes eat the peanuts with the shell on. It tastes nothing, so I don't have a problem with it.

[–] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Just don't chew on the seeds, they're poisonous.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe if you ate 20lbs of apples at once.

i always like to chew on a seed or two, it's like the almond-flavoured treat at the end

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 weeks ago

that's why I don't drink the whole glass of water

[–] FundMECFS@piefed.zip 4 points 3 weeks ago

Everything is poisonous in high enough quantities. It would take a lot of apples for the seeds to become an issue.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Darthcapi@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago

I saw an old guy eat the entire apple in 2018. Weirdest dam thing I’ve ever seen.

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 3 points 3 weeks ago

Why is it so blurry. I had to go find my glasses to only realise I'm already wearing them

load more comments
view more: next ›