Instagrammer's Pretty Recipe Is Topped With Poisonous Flowers

avocado toast istockphoto.com
Holly Van Hare|

While browsing his Instagram feed, botanist James Wong stumbled upon something strange — a "clean eating" Instagram influencer had posted a chia-filled fruit smoothie and topped it with poisonous flowers. So this smoothie was gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and... deadly.

"Another day, another 'clean eating' instagramer posting images of toxic flowers on food," Wong writes in his tweet. "It may not contain dairy or gluten *gasp* but it does contain the toxic plant alkaloid, lycorine."

 

Even if you could manage to stomach the flavor and texture of this fibrous chia smoothie, your pride would be short-lived. Effects of the poison include itching, swelling, nausea, vomiting, and convulsions. Not exactly the healthy glow this blogger expected.

If you were to eat, say, multiple servings of this chia pudding, the effects could be deadly.

This isn't the first time Wong has caught an influencer in the act. In May of last year, the botanist blatantly called out clean eating starlet Deliciously Ella for her deadly garnish selection.

 

"I'm sure wellness bloggers are nice, well-meaning people, but those are highly toxic Plumeria flowers on that #CleanEating #GlutenFree cake," he surmised. The cake was served at the Instagrammer's wedding, though no illnesses were reported.

In summary: When in doubt, don't eat the flowers. No matter how wholesome the person serving it to you seems, it could be deadly.

Recommended