Plant atlas Short
Nutmeg: A Spoonful Can Land You in the ER
Nutmeg · ลูกจันทน์ · Myristica fragrans
Nutmeg — ลูกจันทน์ (luk-jan) — Myristica fragrans.
Nutmeg — luk-jan. A pinch flavors your dish. A tablespoon can poison you. The edible part is the seed. Nutmeg is a culinary aromatic. It's rich in manganese, copper, magnesium, and iron. Manganese helps keep bones strong, turns food into energy, and supports your body's normal antioxidant defenses. Copper helps your body put iron to work, contributes to normal energy metabolism, and supports healthy connective tissue and nerves. Classic Massaman Chicken Curry is a rich coconut-based dish flavored with roasted nutmeg and other spices, served hot alongside fresh cucumber relish and flaky roti. Sweet-pickled Nutmeg Fruit involves boiling the sliced fresh fruit in sugar syrup and eating it chilled as a sweet, refreshing snack. Cooks grate the seed as a warm spice, and its lacy red covering is sold separately as mace. Use it sparingly: thanks to a compound called myristicin, culinary pinches are safe, but around 5 grams or more — roughly a tablespoon, or one to two whole nutmegs — causes poisoning with hallucinations, racing heart, and agitation, and deaths are on record. Bulk or 'recreational' nutmeg doses can cause severe poisoning. The tree is dioecious, so you need both a male and a female to set fruit. Follow Longevity Biome for a new Thai plant every day.
Gaeng Massaman Gai — แกงมัสมั่นไก่ (gaeng-massaman-gai)
Luk Jan Tet Chae Im — ลูกจันทน์เทศแช่อิ่ม (luk-jan-tet-chae-im)
Source: Toxicity: Stein U, Greyer H, Hentschel H (2001). Nutmeg (myristicin) poisoning. Forensic Sci Int 118(1):87-90. DOI:10.1016/s0379-0738(00)00369-8 (PMID 11343860)
Educational content, not medical advice! Consult your doctor before changing diet or medication.
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Food and nutrients
Concentrated in: manganese, copper, magnesium, iron
Research context
Nutmeg is a culinary aromatic with a serious overdose warning — included for flavor, not medicine