Can You Drink Snake Venom?

Can you actually drink that steaming mug of snake venom? The science comes down to the difference between poisons and venoms, and to the oral toxicity of the venom itself.

Hosted by: Stefan Chin

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[onedudesmind]

The title should have been "Is snake venom poisonous?"

[wshtb]

A shot glass of snake venom is going to cause a LOT of hurt to your wallet.

[christopherg]

Of course with venom you also have to consider unnoticeable micro wounds in your mouth.
The same ones that allow HIV to get into your bloodstream.

[Sadfrogboi]

A friend of mine was bragging about this expensive whiskey he was drinking that had rattlesnake venom in it he seems fine unless acting like a douche is a side effect

[eljanrimsa]

Follow-up 10 years from now: Why did we think it was a good idea to use snake venom in a pesticide?

[eldritchdefender]

Can you drink snake venom? Yes, you can always drink liquids at least once per life.

[sunshaker]

You didn't cover what happens if you have a cut in your mouth or stomach or an ulcer of the like.

[zachcrawford]

Also it's pretty common to have an open wound in the mouth or the esophagus from accidentally biting the inside of the mouth or swallowing something before chewing it enough or from disease such as cold sores, gum disease, a sore throat. Even dehydration and low humidity can cause wounds to open up. All of this can directly expose your circulatory system to the venom. So even if the venom is technically safe to eat, in reality it's playing a game of russian roulette.

[__Pre]

Ah yes, my favorite drink, Snake Venom

[cristianvillanueva]

King mithridates be sitting in the corner shouting, "amateurs!"

[russelleaston]

Great vid, Stefan. Gonna miss you on Tangents so will keep watching you here!!

[ItsShahrzadG]

Don't know when I'll use this info but I still enjoyed it nonetheless

[DeliveryMcGee]

Easy way to remember which is which for animals (the actual chemicals involved can be both, as noted in the episode): venomous hurts you if it bites you, poisonous hurts you if you bite it.

[diamondjub]

it's like milk, but from a snake

[Eneov]

Lol, I love that so often the answer is "Strong maybe, we need more data.."

[phillipminer]

Better question is, “who WANTS to drink snake venom?”

[twocvbloke]

I think I'll just go with "No, I don't want to drink that crap thanks!!!"... :P

[Varizen]

As a true Social Scientist, my initial answer before Stefan could say anything was... "Well... It Depends." Which is technically probably more accurate dependingly than "Maybe." Sometimes.

[normalbasketballdude]

Had this conversation with my grandfather just the day before, creepy, but the interesting thing is that he also said yes to which I agree. He’s from Vietnam, said they use snake venoms to treat diseases and such, almost like a medicine within itself, I don’t know about the dosage though. He also said the snake wine can be a common occurrence in some part in Vietnam for party and family gatherings.

[thesatelliteslickers]

It also matters whether you have any kind of abrasion to your mouth or esophagus