Hundreds of kids have died in Indian state of Bihar due to a mysterious disease because they ate Lychee, according to the scientists.
For more than two decades, apparently healthy children in a region of Bihar suffered sudden seizures and lost consciousness. But a team of American and Indian scientists say they have found the cause of the mystery illness, which killed more than 100 children a year: eating too many Lychees on an empty stomach, BBC reported.
The research suggests Lychees contain toxins that inhibit the body's ability to produce glucose, which affected young children whose blood sugar levels were already low because they were not eating dinner.
With Lychees identified as a factor, it made sense why Bihar, in particular Muzaffarpur, had been hit by the disease: the region is India's largest Lychee producer. Most of the kids had eaten nothing in the evening and ate Lychees in large quantity after waking up in the morning.
The absence of an evening meal significantly increased the effect of eating Lychees on illness. Tests for infectious agents and pesticides were negative.
Following the research, doctors have advised children to consume proper food before eating Lychees in a reasonable amount so as to avoid any mishap in future.
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