I’m essentially eating 20-30 grams of raw basil leaves crushed with pine nuts and olive oil into a pesto and I just assumed this was very healthy, but I came across an article saying there was a compound in it that causes liver cancer in mice.
Other articles say it’s safe but in moderation.
I’m confused as other articles just talk about how extremely healthy it is.
Should I be concerned about consuming lots of raw basil leaves?
Please link the article in question. I would like to review it
In general I can say that Basil is safe in large quantities. I produce organic basil at my farm and I personally have consumed many many pounds of it and so have my guests. Even my dogs are fond of eating my homemade medicinal pesto sauce.
One thing to be aware of is that non organic basil producers use a lot of pesticides because many bugs love to eat our basil crops. So if you are consuming organic basi l, I do not see any problem with your continuing to consume a large quantity but if your basil is not organic then it would be wise to switch to an organic supplier.
20-30 gr. is not alot at all even 100gr. is fine a day. Can you send in that mice study(interesting).But yeah if there is a liver problem in mice there should not be a problem in humans because we have a different liver type. Have a nice day and enjoy that basil :)