I’m trying to resolve an argument.

EDIT: Yes, you can. But you can’t digest it. The only edible parts of a tree are some specific types of tree bark. Thanks, everyone!

      • Entropy
        5•2 years ago

        I once ate a burrito that was free if you could finish in one sitting, it was 6lb. It weighed around the same as my first child when he was born.

        For the first few hours of his life, all I was thinking was “how the fuck did I eat something the same weight as you”

        • myxi
          0•2 years ago

          Maybe because it was free and you were hungry; who wouldn’t love a burrito for free?

  • @[email protected]
    16•2 years ago

    Saw dust have been mixed with flour multiple time in history during famine period. However it was mostly done to increase profit, not for its nutritional value and multiple bakers have been killed by angry mob because of that.

  • srasmus
    2•2 years ago

    I think that completely depends on your definition of wood.

  • @[email protected]
    4•2 years ago

    I just got started testing Google Bard, so I fed this question to it and got this reply:

    No, humans cannot eat wood. Wood is made of cellulose, which is a type of fiber that is not digestible by humans. If you eat wood, it will pass through your digestive system without being absorbed. In some cases, eating wood can cause blockages in the digestive tract, which can be dangerous.

    There are some animals that can eat wood, such as termites and beavers. These animals have special enzymes that help them to digest cellulose. Humans do not have these enzymes, so we cannot eat wood without getting sick.

  • @[email protected]
    6•2 years ago

    Does bamboo count? It’s a common wood flooring and cutting board option. Lots of furniture is made from it. It’s used like wood, even though it doesn’t grow quite the same as a normal tree. And people have been eating bamboo shoots for a long time.

  • bayjird
    2•2 years ago

    There’s only one way to resolve this argument and one of you isn’t going to like it

  • @[email protected]
    14•2 years ago

    Wood has no nutritional value to humans, but a few things come close:

    The center of banana tree trunks are cooked and eaten, and a common parts of some asian dishes, but they aren’t really “wood”.

    The inner part of tree bark is digestible by humans, but it is not classified as “wood” either.

  • @[email protected]
    59•2 years ago

    I should think you can, depending on the wood, many can be toxic.

    The bark of a Willow tree is used to make Aspirin, we smoke paper and eat many plants with less woody stems. There are certain other barks and cambium (the soft layer between the bark and the wood) that contain nutrients, such as birch, pine, elm and a few others that have been eaten by our ancestors for centuries and even have medicinal properties. We also grate cinnamon and a few others as spice. Dog food is often bulked up with ash.

    The real issue is that the hard cellulose in the actual wood part is not particularly digestible and basically pure fibre and devoid of any real nutrient value. So it would need to be boiled or blended first I imagine, or steeped as a tea. It would be revolting or taste like nothing and probably give you constipation but I doubt you would die.

    As a raw bite of a chunk of wood, no. It would be considered inedible.