Eel blood is poisonous to humans.

Eating eel is around the world, especially in Japan, where it’s often found in sushi.

But whether it’s freshwater or marine eel, the animal is always served cooked, because toxins found in its blood can cause extreme muscle cramping if consumed by humans.

This cramping can affect your body’s most important muscle — the heart — which is why eating raw eel can be fatal. Luckily, when eels are cooked, those deadly toxins break down and the animal becomes safe to consume. This is good news for chefs, since eel provides a rich taste similar to squid but with a softer texture. 

Although eel blood is a particularly dangerous fluid, that didn’t stop French physiologist Charles Richet from experimenting with the stuff in the early 1900s. Inspired by fellow countryman Louis Pasteur and his discoveries in immunology, Richet experimented with a toxin found in eel blood serum and discovered the hypersensitivity reaction known as anaphylaxis.

“Phylaxis, a word seldom used, stands in the Greek for protection,” Richet said during a lecture after receiving the Nobel Prize for his work in 1913. “Anaphylaxis will thus stand for the opposite.” So while the everyday eel may be a slippery, slimy, and all-around unappealing animal to some, it holds a distinguished position in the annals of both scientific history and culinary delight.

Word of the Day

"taciturn"

The definition is: reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little.

Here's a sentence: "He was a taciturn man, rarely speaking unless directly addressed."