Merry Christmas!

And while you're tucking into your Christmas dinner today, just bear in mind the poor man from Ayrshire who was hospitalised back in Christmas 2011 after eating too many Brussels sprouts.

The traditional Christmas vegetable contains large amounts of vitamin K, which promotes blood clotting. This counteracted the effect of anticoagulants the man was taking because he had a mechanical heart. Doctors at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank eventually realised too many sprouts were to blame.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Roy Gardner said, "Patients who are taking anticoagulants are generally advised not to eat too many green leafy vegetables, as they are full of vitamin K, which antagonise the action of this vital medication."

Jill Young, chief executive of the Golden Jubilee Hospital added, "Whilst we think this is possibly the first ever festive admission to hospital caused by the consumption of Brussels sprouts, we were delighted that we were able to stabilise his levels."

But then again, sprouts are evil.

Merry Christmas.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing...

A man from Ayrshire was hospitalised last Christmas after eating too many Brussels sprouts.

The traditional Christmas vegetable contain lots of vitamin K which promotes blood clotting. However, this counteracted the effect of anticoagulants the man was taking because he had a mechanical heart.

Doctors at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank eventually realised too many sprouts were to blame. Consultant cardiologist Dr Roy Gardner said, "Patients who are taking anticoagulants are generally advised not to eat too many green leafy vegetables, as they are full of vitamin K, which antagonise the action of this vital medication."

Jill Young, chief executive of the Golden Jubilee Hospital added, "Whilst we think this is possibly the first-ever festive admission to hospital caused by the consumption of Brussels sprouts, we were delighted that we were able to stabilise his levels."

So don't go mad this Christmas and enjoy your Christmas dinner. Just lay of the baby cabbages, okay?

Play Christmas with the Sproutifarts here.

 

Where do turkeys come from?

Did you know that turkeys don't originally come from turkey?

No, they actually come from Mexico. The confusion arose due to the fact that they were introduced into central Europe by Turkish merchants.

Just to add to the confusion, because America had been discovered by explorers seeking an alternative route to India and the East, other nations named the bird assuming it was of Indian descent.

In France the turkey was called coq d'Inde, (now corrupted to dindon). In Italy, turkey was galle d'India, in Germany the name was indianische henn, while throughout the Ottoman Empire it was called the hindi.

Other tasty morsels of information like this can be found in the books over on the left-hand sidebar but until yours arrives in the post from Amazon, why not keep yourself amused by taking part in a festively-themed turkey shoot, by clicking this link?