# nutmeg **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361 "2004-02-03T19:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/1 "2004-02-03T19:50:57Z")
Are nutmegs poisonous? I recently read something that said that eating a few nutmegs is enough to make you ill, even kill you. I know we have powdered nutmeg as a spice at home, and I think we have some whole nutmeg. Should I be worried? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/2 "2004-02-03T20:38:47Z")
Nutmeg is a hallucinogen if consumed in great enough quantities, and can also cause nausea, cold chills, and vomiting; however, I don’t think it’s normally fatal unless you consume it in quantities much, much larger than you’d ever use for normal culinary usage. For example, I believe you’d have to eat two or three whole nutmegs to get any kind of hallucinogenic effect (which again is not recommended due to the nausea and vomiting mentioned earlier), so the amount you grind up for your gingerbread cookies or whatever, is totally fine. ---
**Author:** ![glas\_onion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9dc877/32.png) [@glas\_onion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glas_onion)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/3 "2004-02-03T20:56:14Z")
I thought was going to be a thread about Football(Soccer for the Merkins). Nutmeg…I never realised it was another word… ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/4 "2004-02-03T23:14:11Z")
Hijack… what does nutmeg have to do with soccer/football? Nutmeg is a popular spice used in gingerbread, pumpkin pies, probably fruitcakes and I think plum puddings, and is also sprinkled on top of eggnog. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/5 "2004-02-03T23:22:09Z")
[QUOTE] Nutmeg is a hallucinogen if consumed in great enough quantities [QUOTE] Sorry for the hi-jack, but when the subject of nutmeg comes up I have to get up on my soap box. If you’ve heard this before, good, but I’m telling you again: DO NOT TRY TO GET HIGH ON NUTMEG! :eek: We tried this when I was a teenager back in the 70’s and it makes you so God damn sick you feel like you’re going to die and afraid you won’t. Everyone who did it wound up keeled over on the floor for **DAYS!**. The high you get from it isn’t very pleasant either. It’s the most horrible, screwed up thing you can do to yourself short of suicide. I know of nobody whose ever gotten stoned on nut meg and enjoyed it. But it takes alot to get high on. The small amount you put into egg nog is safe. ---
**Author:** ![svirone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@svirone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svirone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutmeg/227361/6 "2004-02-04T02:04:28Z")
…Yep, what that last message said… My liver hurt for a week.