Field of Science

How can something toxic be healthy, a reader asks.

A reader asks, via email, since the comment button on my blog seems to be broken, how can something toxic be healthy? The explanation is pretty simple. Toxic is not synonymous with poisonous. Toxic substances in effective dosages generate non-nutritional physiological responses called intoxications, and different toxins produce different intoxications. So different toxins may be depressants (morphine) or stimulants (caffeine). Some may effect cures and others may be deletrious to deadly, often depending upon dosage.

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