I heard that eating cassava can help you sleep? Don’t! Be careful of poisoning!

"Cassava helps you sleep. You can sleep for 16 hours after eating it."

Some people on the Internet said that #cassava can help you sleep, and you can sleep for 16 hours after eating it#, which sparked heated discussions among netizens, and even many people wanted to try it.

Rumor analysis: Actually, this is not the case.

After eating cassava, people tend to fall asleep and sleep for a long time. This is not because cassava can calm nerves and help people sleep. Instead, it may be caused by mild poisoning after eating cassava, or it may be caused by postprandial blood sugar fluctuations and hormones. Therefore, do not eat it carelessly. Cassava must be properly "detoxified" before eating.

Cassava is a particularly "low-key" potato. In modern times when food sources are abundant, not many people eat it.

Many people first learned about cassava from the cassava flour in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", the cassava syrup in Guangxi, and the fact that some sweet potato flours are mixed with cassava flour. Because of its soft and chewy texture, it has gradually become popular among many people. Recently, there are rumors that eating cassava can calm the nerves and help you sleep. Is this true?
Cassava cannot soothe the nerves or help you sleep, beware of poisoning

On social media platforms, topics such as "cassava can actually help you sleep" frequently appear. To be honest, be careful when this happens, as it may not help you sleep but may be poisoning.

There is a saying among the people: eating cassava will make you drunk. The reason why people feel dizzy and sleepy after eating cassava or cassava syrup may be because cassava is not handled properly, resulting in mild poisoning, and people are temporarily "knocked down" by cassava.

Cassava contains a cyanogenic glycoside called linseed glycoside, which will be decomposed into hydrocyanic acid under the action of weak acid. Hydrocyanic acid has a certain toxicity. The activity of enzymes in biological tissue cells can be inhibited by hydrocyanic acid. Cytochrome oxidase is most sensitive to cyanide, which will eventually lead to cellular hypoxia, abnormal tissue respiration, and suffocation of the body.

The incubation period of cassava poisoning is 1 to 12 hours, and sometimes 6 to 9 hours. At the onset of the disease, there are symptoms such as dry mouth, bitterness, salivation, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, rapid pulse and weakness in the limbs; severe cases have chest tightness and varying degrees of dyspnea; severe cases have unclear consciousness, weak breathing, coma, cold limbs, followed by loss of consciousness, clenched teeth, paroxysmal spasms throughout the body, arrhythmia, and finally death due to respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest. If it is mild cassava poisoning, you may feel dizzy and drowsy.

In addition, cassava is a high-carbohydrate food, with a carbohydrate content of 27.8 grams per 100 grams, which is almost twice that of sweet potatoes. The GI value will naturally not be low if it is cooked for a long time or boiled with sugar. Data shows that the GI value of cassava is as high as 94 after peeling and boiling for 30 minutes, freezing, thawing and reheating for 1 minute.

It can be seen from this that if you feel sleepy after eating cassava or cassava syrup, in addition to the possibility of mild poisoning, it may also be because your blood sugar level rises after eating and the level of serotonin in the brain also rises. It has a regulating effect on mood, energy, memory, and sleep, and thus has a calming effect. This is the same reason why we tend to feel sleepy after a full meal.
Therefore, don’t think that it is a good thing if you feel sleepy after eating cassava or cassava syrup. It may be caused by blood sugar fluctuations, or it may be that you are poisoned!

Want to eat cassava safely? Here's how to "detoxify"

The cooked cassava has a chewy and soft texture, and many people like to eat it. However, if you want to eat cassava safely, you must carefully "detoxify" it.

1. Choose the right variety

There are sweet cassava for consumption and wild cassava. Sweet cassava has lower toxicity and is safer to eat after being processed. Remember, do not dig wild cassava for consumption.

2 Peel (clean)

A study mentioned that the content of hydrocyanic acid in the pulp, root periderm, stems and leaves of different varieties of cassava is different, and hydrocyanic acid is mainly concentrated in the leaves, stems and root periderm of cassava. Therefore, when handling cassava, you must peel it first.

3. Clean and soak

After peeling, the cassava should be washed carefully, washed several times, and then cut into sections and soaked in clean water (you can cut into several sections to increase the contact area with water). Short-term soaking is not very effective, and long-term soaking is generally required. Previous studies have confirmed that after soaking peeled cassava for 1 day, cyanide is reduced by 45%, and after soaking for 5 days, it is reduced by 90%. The water needs to be changed frequently.

Long soaking can cause the cassava to ferment and develop a sour taste, but this process is more conducive to reducing toxic components.

4. Steam with lid open

The toxic components in cassava tubers are best removed after boiling in water, and the removal rate of hydrocyanic acid can reach 81.7% after boiling in water for 25 minutes.

The boiled cassava can be safely eaten by soaking it in water and then steaming it. In addition, opening the lid during steaming is more conducive to the evaporation of toxic components.

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In addition to understanding how to process and cook cassava, you also need to pay attention to the amount you eat. You must eat small amounts at a time! Data shows that eating 150g to 300g of unprocessed raw cassava may cause poisoning.

However, if you eat food containing cassava flour, it will be relatively safe, because the process of processing cassava into cassava flour can remove most of the hydrogen cyanide. Heating and sun exposure can inactivate the hydrolase of toxic cyanogenic glycosides in cassava, and at the same time cause the cyanide that has been generated to evaporate with the air flow. Therefore, food made with qualified cassava flour can generally be eaten with confidence.

Summarize:

Eating cassava does not soothe the nerves or help you sleep. The reason why you feel drowsy or sleep for a long time after eating may be due to the fluctuation of blood sugar after the meal. The possibility of mild poisoning cannot be ruled out. Cassava is poisonous, so don't eat it carelessly. It must be properly "detoxified" before eating.

If you really have trouble sleeping, don't rely on eating cassava to help you sleep! There are many effective ways to improve your sleep quality, such as: don't look at your phone before going to bed, don't drink stimulating drinks such as tea or coffee after 3 pm, change to curtains with good light blocking, cover yourself with a heavier quilt, etc.

Looking in the mirror of rumors

Such rumors have the characteristics of ignoring key information, exaggerating and misinterpreting components, lacking scientific basis, and the source of information is also vague. For example, in this rumor, there are no known sleep-inducing ingredients (such as melatonin, tryptophan, etc.) in cassava, and its nutritional components are mainly starch. Therefore, when facing such rumors, we must carefully verify the source of information and compare the information on multiple reliable platforms.

References

[1] Wang Ying, Zhang Yayuan, Shang Xiaohong, et al. Research progress on the nutritional value and health benefits of edible cassava[J]. Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 2019, 47(11): 22-24.

[2] He Dong. Types and preventive measures of common poisonous animal and plant poisoning[J]. Guangdong Chemical Industry, 2018, 45(13): 144-145.

[3] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[4]https://glycemicindex.com/gi-search/?food_name=cassava&product_category=&country=&gi=&gi_filter=&serving_size_(g)=&serving_size_(g)_filter=&carbs_per_serve_(g)=&carbs_per_serve_(g)_filter=&gl=&gl_filter=

[5] Luo Ying, Wu Shankun, Fu Naifang, et al. Study on the content of hydrocyanic acid in seven cassava varieties[J]. Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin, 2018, 34(04): 38-42.

[6] Lan Tian. Cyanide poisoning caused by cassava diet[J]. Foreign Medicine (Hygiene Section), 1992, (06): 371.

[7] Tian Jing, Zhu Lin, Dong Zhaoxia, et al. Effects of treatment methods on hydrocyanic acid content and nutritional components of cassava root tubers[J]. Acta Grasslanda Sinica, 2017, 25(04): 875-879.

Planning and production

Author: Xue Qingxin, registered nutritionist

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert