Betel nut

svirgula

Generally, will I have a problem finding raw areca nut, slaked lime and betel leaf in Indian markets? I know what to look for, I am just wondering if these three ingredients are typically available in unprepared form. I don't want paan or supari.


Thank you in advance!

Nick-H

In this city at least, you will have no trouble at all finding your carcinogenic* ingredients.






*That's just to put off other passers by. Maybe.

svirgula

Areca nut hasn't been shown to be a carcinogen, and it's rather annoying that people keep repeating this misunderstanding in this forum.

Thanks, though.

Mudmirror

All the three ingredients are available easily in the small or big cities but on different outlets or store.

The betel Nut is available on Stores selling dry Fruits and Spices and always in more than one variety.

As betel leaf is sold fresh so you can buy them at a place fixed for that in particular cities some citiesonly in morning people sitting on the road side with big baskets of Fresh leaves.

Slaked lime is available at Pan supplies shop.

All of the ingredients if taken raw or Clean have benefits for our body.

Thanks

svirgula

Nick:

http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc...betelquid.html
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Summaries & Evaluations
BETEL-QUID AND ARECA-NUT CHEWING
VOL.: 37 (1985) (p. 141)

5. Summary of Data Reported and Evaluation

(From 5.3)
"Many descriptive studies and reports of case series have identified an association between the habit of chewing betel quid with tobacco and oral cancer. The association has been consistent across many countries [Bangladesh, China (Taiwan), India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand]. Further, in case-control studies of oral cancer, whether smoking was controlled for (five studies) or not (five studies), the relative risks were high and statistically significant. However, the results are not directly comparable owing to the inclusion of different anatomical sites; most of these studies did not clearly describe the chewing habits of subjects, and some probably included a large proportion of users of tobacco-lime with or without areca nut. A significant association between the chewing of betel quid with tobacco and oesophageal cancer was reported from a case-control study in Sri Lanka."


"5.4 Evaluation
There is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid containing tobacco is carcinogenic to humans.
There is inadequate evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid without tobacco is carcinogenic to humans.
The Working Group also concluded that, while there is sufficient evidence that the combined habits of smoking tobacco and chewing betel quid without tobacco cause oral and pharyngeal cancer, the evidence considered here does not allow an assessment of the possible contribution of betel quid without tobacco to this carcinogenic risk.
There is limited evidence that aqueous extracts of betel quid with and without tobacco are carcinogenic to experimental animals.
There is limited evidence that areca nut with and without tobacco is carcinogenic to experimental animals.
The data are inadequate to allow an evaluation of the carcinogenicity of betel leaf or arecoline to experimental animals."


Of course, all of this does not mean that chewing of the betel quid sans tobacco is not carcinogenic. What it does mean is that there is insufficient evidence to support your response (and indeed many of the beliefs about betel nut circulated in this forum). <b>Even so, it is still wise to exercise caution simply because chewing betel nut is just a novelty, and the fun one might get from chewing betel nut would be outweighed by the pain and expense of (POSSIBLY - and you need to be very careful about the sense of 'possibly' you construe here) developing oral cancer.</b>

Oh, and by the way, if you were referencing another study (a study which shows that A. catechu seeds are carcinogenic) in your response to this thread, please name your poison. I'd love to have a look.

Have a wonderful day!

mazha

Specifically: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel_n...ects_on_health

Poor areca is just caught in the battle to move tobacco chewers to cigarettes, which is where the money is. Reminds me of the canards spread about the cholestrol effects of coconut oil by companies selling palm and other oils. That broke the coconut farmers' backs, now it is the turn of the areca folks. BTW, coconut oil is coming back, I read a report a while ago in the Kerala papers, showing that the so-called cholestrol effects don't stand up to scrutiny.

robotvoice

not in los angeles!

svirgula

Actually, this is also untrue. It's possible to find all three (and more) ingredients in Los Angeles. It's just that the areca nut is dried and of inferior quality. It's still very tanniny, but seems to lack the desirable alkaloids.

This areca nut and katha (the inner pulp of the A. catechu palm) can, however, be used to produce a color-fast khaki color on white fabric. This should be no surprise to those in the know, though.

svirgula

Supari and paan are also surprisingly easy to come by in LA.

machadinha

Robot! Where you been, man! Just got home or something?

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robotvoice

i stand corrected

robotvoice

i just got back in front of a computer. i was living (in the states) without one for a few months. So if anyone is curious, yes, there is life beyond the internet!

nice to be back though

machadinha

Heheh, yes, I read something about that on a good website the other day...

Anyway: Great to have you back! Oh, and let's stop hijacking. Back to the wonderful world of betel I guess

(I thought you were on the road btw? Had been thinking you were taking your time by now though.

Oh ahem, what was that about not hijacking? Should you start an introduce-me welcome-back thread? )

mazha

The best place to get Arecanut would be Kasargode district in north Kerala and Dakshin Kannada in south Karnataka, that's where a majority of it is grown. I think there is a wholesale market for it in Mangalore, not sure theough.

AvidTrekker

Yes, indeed.

Mangalore does !!
.
.

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