TOKYO (TR) – Many people will eat sticky mochi rice cakes during the New Year holidays. Whether in soup (ozoni) or grilled (yakimochi), a choking hazard exists due its sticky consistency.
As a result, breaking news reports about people being rushed to the hospital after their mochi got stuck in their throats.
However, mochi doesn’t just get stuck in the throat. In fact, people have painful experiences in other parts of their bodies as well, reports TBS News (Jan. 1).
One day, a male mochi lover in his 70s put some yakimochi in a pot and ate it. He then started to feel constipated. The next day he was hit with stomach pain. Unable to bear the pain, he went to the emergency room and had an X-ray taken. The doctor told him, “It seems like a tiny square thing is stuck in your intestines.”
The “tiny square thing” refers to mochi. The mochi got caught in the indigestible enoki mushrooms in the pot, hardened like concrete, and got stuck in his intestines.
The man was diagnosed with an “intestinal obstruction” and was immediately hospitalized. To treat the condition, he had to fast for 10 days and receive intravenous drips.
“I was surprised because I didn’t think intestinal obstruction would be so painful. It wasn’t even like the pain you get when you have diarrhea… Even after I was discharged from the hospital, I felt like there was a blockage from my chest to my intestines, and it was really painful.”
To eat or not to eat, that is the question
So, isn’t it better to not eat it mochi? While this thought crosses the minds of many, there is also the tradition of eating ozoni at New Year’s.
Dr. Ishihara Fujiki, an internist and the director of the Kitashinagawa Fuji Clinic in Tokyo, says that around the New Year holidays, patients come to him complaining of stomach pains, many of which are caused by intestinal blockages from eating mochi.
But why does mochi cause intestinal blockages in the first place?
According to Dr. Ishihara, when mochi enters the body, it tends to harden due to digestive enzymes. It tends to pass through the intestines as a lump. Furthermore, because it is sticky, it sticks to parts of the intestine and causes a temporary blockage.
“Even if the mochi is a little big, it’s easy to eat it,” Dr. Ishihara says, “and it’s easy to swallow it whole. For the elderly, it’s hard to bite off, and if it’s a little hard, it’s chewy and requires strength in the teeth and jaw. Because it’s a traditional food, the elderly tend to like it, so I think it’s a bad combination.”
An intestinal obstruction caused by mochi doesn’t occur as often as choking accidents, but there are a few people every year. As well, this condition is referred to in academic papers. In the paper “Rice cake ileus” by Kagawa University’s Osamu Imata, there is a CT image of mochi actually stuck in the intestine.
The CT image shows a white, elongated object about 4 cm in diameter. This is the mochi that has hardened inside the body of a person. The result was poor flow within the intestine, which was deemed a “mochi-induced intestinal obstruction.”
To eat or not to eat, that is the question
Obviously, no one wants to start the New Year off with stomach aches, says TBS News. According to Director Ishihara, there are some people who need special attention.
As with choking accidents, many people who eat mochi are elderly. At Dr. Ishihara’s clinic, intestinal obstruction is most common in people over 50. He also says that it is not limited to the elderly, but also prone to occur in people who have had abdominal surgery.
“For example, if you cut and reconnect the intestine during surgery, the motor function of that part is reduced because it was connected forcibly, and it is easy to get clogged because it is not moving well. So there is a risk.”
However, an intestinal obstruction caused by mochi is basically caused by hardened mochi getting stuck in the intestine. So, it is relatively mild, and most people are hospitalized for a few days and treated with fasting and intravenous drip.
The paper “Rice cake ileus” also states that the hardened mochi gradually flows through the intestine and comes out of the anus, which calms the patient down.
“An intestinal obstruction is only temporary,” says Dr. Ishihara, “but if it really does get blocked, nutrients can’t reach the intestines. So, it’s not something to be taken lightly. It can be life-threatening. Just because it’s mild doesn’t mean it’s okay.”
So, are there any countermeasures?
According to Dr. Ishihara, just like with choking prevention, it’s best to cut it into small pieces before eating.
“Mochi is hard to cut, but don’t be overconfident,” says Dr. Ishihara. “Cut it into small pieces and eat it slowly. That way you’ll feel safer.”
Eats with trepidation
The aforementioned male mochi lover has a history of surgery. Therefore, he has all the warning signs that make him susceptible to suffering from an intestinal obstruction.
He was always careful about choking, yet he had that unexpected intestinal obstruction from mochi. But he still likes mochi, so he chews it well and eats it with trepidation these days.
“Mochi is delicious, and everyone eats it,” he says, “but you have to be careful not to get a blockage. Not just in your throat. Don’t take mochi lightly.”
