Mithridatism is the practice of attempting to protect the body against poisoning by deliberately consuming very small, non-lethal amounts of toxic substances over a long period of time. The idea behind it is simple but dangerous: by exposing the body repeatedly to a poison in controlled doses, a person might gradually develop resistance or tolerance to its effects. The term itself comes from the historical figure Mithridates VI, the ancient King of Pontus, whose life and paranoia around poisoning shaped one of the most famous stories connected to this practice