can u eat leaves straight off the trees?

Answer 1

NO. Humans do not have the enzymes to digest cellulose, the main structure of tree leaves. They Will pass right through unchanged, unless poisonous, then the poison will be leached out into your body.

Answer 2

Depends on the tree or plant you're getting the leaves from. Humans are omnivores, meaning we can ingest and digest both plants and animals. Lettuce is a good example of an edible leaf from a plant that provides roughage for our digestive system. It helps keep the lining free of debris that could potentially cause infections like diverticulitis or colitis, and helps our bodies to better absorb nutrients from other foods by allowing it access to the lining of the colon.
Many diets today consist of too many carbohydrates and not enough roughage, fiber, or nutritional foods. These carbohydrates can clog up and hinder the efficiency of the diverticuli, which is to absorb nutritents!! Leaves, while not typically very tasty, can act as a cleaner to sweep out the built-up food particles and allow the digestive system to do it's job correctly.
Other factors to consider when choosing leaves as a source of food, are the locations of trees and the insects indigenous to them. If a particular tree is located in a park that frequently sprays for mosquito's, you may not want to eat those leaves as you would be also ingesting those pesticides. Certain insects also secrete enzymes and other substances that may cause allergic reactions or are poisonous to humans. Leaves should be thoroughly washed as any other fruit or vegetable in the wild would.
There are many examples of leaves that reside on vegetables we eat every day. These include celery, carrots, beets, cabbage, lettuce, apples, cherries, parsley, and pears. As previously discussed, leaves provide mainly roughage and are not absorbed by the body for much known nutritional value. We cannot, however, completely disclose that leaves provide NO nutritional value because in truth, we do not yet know EVERYTHING and probably never will. Should you eat leaves? If you find them in the grocery aisle, sure. Right off the tree? Probably not a good practice but probably wouldn't harm you unless they contained poisonous or allergenic substances.

Answer 3

If you are a giraffe, koala bear, or similar herbivore, then yes, you can eat them straight off the trees. As a human, you should wait until the leaves are ripe and fall off the trees. That is when they are at their peak of culinary utility. Don't overeat at first; limit yourself to one pound a day for the first two weeks. After that, you won't ever need a mulching machine again! Of course, you may never want to eat again. Or have given up breathing. But hey, why limit yourself to what thinking people would do, nic? Go ahead and eat leaves!

Answer 4

The animals, birds and insects are doing it, what's there to stop us? Oh maybe because our complexed digestive systems can't process all the toxic elements and unprocessed/uncooked properties of the leaf itself ... hmmm ... imagine all the carbon monoxide, dust, insect droppings and such get sucked up or left upon a leaf, don't think you wanna put that into your mouth right?

Anyways a better question would be a more specific one like "can you eat leaves straight off a *** tree". Personally when i was a child i used to eat grass and wild berries that grew on trees. Thank god nothing bad happened to me :)

You can eat certain leaves like my mum grows a curry tree where she usually takes a bunch of it's leaves, wash them a bit then fries them with dishes. You can eat it raw too. From my opinion, do some research on what type of tree the leaf comes from before sticking it into your mouth :)

Answer 5

I agree that you can't eat the leaves right off a tree, but you CAN take the leaves from trees like lemon trees, or other fruit trees as well as the fruit itself, dehydrate them and make homemade tea.

Plus, it's a natural survival skill that if u just bite and suck the juices from a Sugar Pine pine tree, you get a full days worth of vitamin c.

Answer 6

Yes you can eat leaves off of a tree. though many kinds are poisonous. for example the oak is poisonous but in very large quantities. The magnolia dont take much to put you into a coma. on the other hand you can eat all the leaves you want from lemon, orange, pecan, walnut and other sort of fruit trees. can even eat the bark. what i would suggest is if you want to eat leaves from any tree then you should do your research. most leaves are also very ummmmm nasty in flavor. citrus on the other hand is great for vitamins and your immune system.

Answer 7

I'm glad you asked this question. I've thought about it a lot myself. I've always lived by the rule of thumb that anything from nature is good for you, no matter what. The bottom line is, if you find the texture appealing then why not eat it? Why else are there even leaves in the first place? I will say that you'll find living leaves to have richer taste than dead ones.

Answer 8

Some, perhaps. Depending on the tree, it may or may not be harmful to your body. Tree leaves aren't meant to be eaten, I think.

If it's a poisonous tree, I suspect you'd know better than to try eating a leaf.

Answer 9

Oh, please tell me you're in 4th grade or younger. What on earth do they teach in the Public School system these days?!?
Off of a tree? No, you can't eat the leaves (and digest them).

Answer 10

YES if they are leaves that taste like anything other than grass and if the tree has not been sprayed with insecticides. I have munched bay leaves, sassafras leaves, and (from a vine) grape leaves.