Why do people eat healer beetles

Therapy with healer beetles is carried out in a very unappetizing way: they are offered to be eaten alive, washed down with kefir or eating bread crumb. Moreover, the "therapeutic dose" is not limited to one insect - starting with one individual, the amount eaten must be increased to several dozen pieces at a time. Only in this case is a healing effect promised.

The life hacker found out everything about what healer beetles are and whether their use can really improve health.

What are medicine beetles

The darkling beetle from the Tenebrionidae family is hiding under the name of the healer beetle (aka the healer beetle). It is a small coleopteran pest that feeds on grain crops. The misfortune of this type of darkling beetle, Ulomoides dermestoides, is the fact that at one time they were included in the list of traditional medicine in Japan and China. People believed that eating coleopteran pests relieves back pain, coughing, asthma, and other problems.

At the end of the 20th century, the beetle gained popularityArgentine Rx: Take 70 Beetles And Call Me in the Morning in Argentina and Brazil. Darkling beetles were grown on home farms and sold in bulk, 1,000 or more. The sellers claimed that eating live beetles could alleviate or cure ailments such as psoriasis, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, arthritis, AIDS and cancer.

It was then that darkling beetles acquired their common English name - Chinese beetles (Chinese beatles), or Chinese weevils (Chinese weevils). And then the spread of medicinal beetle science began throughout the world.

Are healer beetles really good for health?

It is assumed that the chemicals that this insect releases in response to danger are capable of kill cells - primarily those affected by some pathological process, the same cancer or inflammation. That is why healer beetles are used alive - so that they defend themselves. It is curious that there is some truth in this.

So, several years ago, scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after A. N. Severtsov. They investigated how beetle biomass extract affects the body in neurodegenerative diagnoses (brain-damaging processes similar to human disease Parkinson's) in mice. ResultBlocking of sensomotor disorders in mice with striatal dophaminergic deficiency with an extract of the black beetle ALPHITOBIUS DIAPERINUS turned out to be quite interesting: in those individuals that received biomass, the development of motor disturbances, and their brain had almost no damage - while in animals from the control group, destruction was obvious.

The scientists planned to find out exactly which chemicals in darkling beetle extract caused this effect. But for a number of reasons, the study was not continued.

The world science is indifferent to beetles-medicine men.

There are very few studies, although some are of interest. For example, in oneCytotoxic and genotoxic effects of defense secretion of Ulomoides dermestoides on A549 cells of them, carried out in vitro (in a test tube), it was possible to prove that the protective chemical compounds secreted by darkling beetles actually destroy cancer cells. In a differentAnti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of Ulomoides dermestoides on induced pleurisy in rats and lymphoproliferation in vitrorealized in vitro and in rats, it was found that the substances produced by Ulomoides dermestoides have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties.

But still, regarding the possible healing power of beetles evidence-based medicine skeptical. And that's why.

Why are healer beetles harmful?

Studies in a test tube or in rodents, to put it mildly, are not indicative - their results cannot be transferred to humans. It is not a fact that consuming darkling beetles will somehow improve your health. But there are many potential adverse effects.

1. Healthy cells may be affected

The chemicals that the beetle secretes when defending themselves are not specialized. They do not care what to destroy: cancerous or otherwise damaged cells, even healthy ones. Therefore, the risk to the body when consuming darkling beetles can be significantly greater than the possible benefits.

2. There is a toxic effect

In the same studyAnti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of Ulomoides dermestoides on induced pleurisy in rats and lymphoproliferation in vitrothat discovered the anti-inflammatory properties of Ulomoides dermestoides secretions, there is an important note.

When the dose is increased, the extract becomes toxic, that is, it poisons the body.

How many beetles must be eaten in order to be poisoned with a guarantee is not specified. Every beetle eater runs the risk of establishing this personally.

3. After taking beetles, serious complications can develop.

For example, sharp pneumonia. A case of pneumonia associated with the use of darkling bears is reported byAcute Eosinophilic Pneumonia Associated with Ingestion of Ulomoides dermestoides Larvae (“Chinese Beetles”) American Thoracic Society.

In addition, insects carry various bacteria, including pathogenic ones. So by taking live Chinese beetles, you can get some kind of infection. Whether the risk is justified is a rhetorical question.