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Why is Ammonia bad for you?

There is hardly any gas out there that doesn’t have the pungent smell of the ammonia. When ammonia is released close to you, there is a great chance that you will perceive a strong and foul odor. Ammonia is used in pharmaceutical industries, the food industry, and occurs naturally in the body.

In the body, ammonia is made in the intestines by the bacteria inhabiting there, and in the cells when they process protein.

Why is it bad?

Ammonia has a way of affecting the liver, as high content of ammonia can prevent the liver from working well.

Since it can also be created in your body in the cells and intestines and is not used by the body, it is treated as waste. When the liver is working well, it helps to turn the ammonia to glutamine, an amino acid, as well as urea. The Urea is then moved to the kidneys by the bloodstream before it is expelled in the body, as urine.

Once ammonia increases in your body one way or the other, whether by your body creating much ammonia or you ingesting it, the liver would be so worked up that it can’t rid the body of urea. If this continues, there is a high chance that the body will suffer from liver or kidney failure.

When ammonia can’t be expelled from the body because of a genetic disorder called urea cycle disorder, you may also have the following issues:

  • Tiredness
  • Confusion
  • Coma
  • or even death.

When a child has a high concentration of ammonia in his or her body, the child may suffer from breathing difficulties, seizures, as well as death.

How Does Ammonia End Up In Your Product

The colorless gas with a somewhat pungent smell has a lot of applications, even in the pharmaceutical field. It is also naturally occurring and can be found in foods like cheese. The small amount that cheese contains, comes from is aging. This means that the aged cheese likely possesses a bit of ammonia. It is also added artificially to ground beef to act as a filler and kill pathogens.

Where is ammonia found?

Ammonia is found in a lot of places, and the human body is one of them. The liver has the task of converting the ammonia to urea before the kidney expels it in urine or sweat. Ammonia, created in the intestines, is made from the digestion process of protein.

Ammonia can also be found in cheese, as they produce a bit of it because of the aging process. For ground beef, it is used as a filler. When ammonia is mixed with water, it is used to kill off pathogens like E.coli, and salmonella.

How Can You Recognize It?

Since ammonia is naturally occurring in foods like cheese, there is a great chance that the aged cheese in your refrigerator may have a bit of ammonia.

If ammonia is used in making a drug, it is usually written on the package of the drug. The same can be said about those foods that have a bit of ammonia used in it.

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