Food Theory: Your Bananas Are RADIOACTIVE!

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We did an episode a while back on what foods you can eat after a nuclear fallout. Consider this the sister episode to that. When I read a claim that all bananas contain radiation, I knew I had to find out more. Theorists, is your banana trying to kill you? Or is something bigger afoot? Grab a snack... but be careful what you choose.


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Credits:
Writers: Matthew Patrick and Justin Kuiper
Editors: AbsolutePixel, Alex "Sedge" Sedgwick, and Danial "BanditRants" Keristoufi
Assistant Editor: Caitie Turner (Caiterpillart)
Sound Editor: Yosi Berman

#Bananas #Radiation #Radioactive #Nuclear #NuclearFallout #FoodScience #Nutrition #FoodTheory #MatPat #GameTheory #FilmTheory

[gggalaxies]

8:50 Fun fact: People used to think tomatoes were poisonous because people would become ill and some would die when eating them, but it turned out the lead in the dishware and cutlery was just leeching into the tomatoes.





(Edit: I wasn't trying to say that was the only reason or the main reason, and I'm very glad for the people who replied with the additional information about the tomatoes relation to the nightshade (which I didn't know beforehand), though I did know that the leaves of tomatoes are poisonous (I can thank 4 year old me for that), it also didn't come to mind about whether if they'd be eating the rest of the plant. Though I am still grateful that so many people took the time to reply to my comment and give me the rest of the story.

[poppingp]

To be honest, im surprised Mat didn't talked about the blue radioactive bananas found in México

[FrozenShadow]

I knew this and, funnily enough, yesterday I was trying to find out how many bananas it would take to power a nuclear reactor. Sad to report that it isn’t possible to create nuclear fission with bananas

[camthepenguin]

I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on a “banana equivalent dose” for my whole life.

[lacytaylor]

I just love how long ago everyone was just like 'you know what's a pretty color? Death'. The number of old coloring methods that are either radioactive are extremely deadly in some way is shocking. Let's not even get into the fact that human remains ( mummies) also were apparently used for a shade of brown if I recall correctly.

[dylandlp]

So I learned this a while back in college. A banana actually emits a positron or antielectron once every 30 minutes due to the potassium decay. That's the radiation you detect. Bananas literally produce antimatter.

[tmanknoll]

Interestingly enough, my wife is an almost obsessed collector of the very things matt warns about here; depression glass (green specificly) and one of the patterns of china pictured in the video. I am just glad she is so protective of them the only thing she has used the sets for is tea or cocoa

[TheDuckMaster]

I’m surprised that while you were talking about X-rays being a safe level of radiation for patients, you didn’t mention that the reason doctors and dentists still leave the room is because if they stayed for every single X-Ray they perform, it would get into dangerous territory. People just get nervous when the doc leaves, but they don’t need to!

[TheJehu]

I recently did a paper on Uranium, and it turns out that it's in most rocks and water in the world. After all, it's an element, so it's pretty much everywhere. We probably consume it often. It's just never a problem because of how little there is.

[Seanderson]

Mat talking about "uranium glass" reminded me of the time when Markiplier discovered that Amy had pottery form the 30's that was *_highly radioactive_*
If anyone wants to know the video, it was *"I Haven't Eaten This Food In Over 20 Years"*

[Cgreen]

This was unreasonably funny for some reason. The part where Matt said lead was another glassware substitute and then went “Yayyyy” was the uranium-infused icing on the banana cake.

[cameronhumphreys]

9:15 Fun related trivia fact, Tomatos were once considered poisonous. During the times of lead based makeup and cutlery the tomatoes would similarly leach lead from the lead plates and utensils, causing lead poisoning.

[Arewmon]

As part of their radioactivity, Bananas are also one of the world's most abundant natural sources of antimatter (they release about 1 positron every 75 minutes).

[jeremyhillaryboob]

"Is the fruit bowl the most dangerous thing in your kitchen?"
Knives, ovens, stoves, forks, things on tall shelves: Am I a joke to you?

[happygav]

"The fruit bowl is the most dangerous thing in your kitchen."
Sharp cutting knives: "Well, actually..."

[CentralGaming]

I have a Food Theory request

I want to know how can someone make the stretchiest cheese. You know? Whenever you bite into a mozzarella stick.. or grilled cheese.. pizza even.. the cheese is stretchy! I wonder if you can develop the most satisfying cheese stretch that has graced our mortal eyes! 🧀

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

9:07 "Uranium in your body is not good."

Well the floor is made out of floor I see.

[britanimations]

Guess you could say the operations that cost them a lot of needless expense were just silly, completely bananas!

[Mewhehthefunny]

MatPat: *Glances at fruit bowl*
Fruit bowl: So you have chosen death

[terrafria]

When my parents moved to Colorado they wanted to move into the mountains, thing is, most homes in the houses up there (the ones for sell at that time) were all way over the safe levels of Radon. Living in the mountains not only comes with a higher price tag but it also came with a chance of cancer.