By Tan Yi Liang
From pan mee at breakfast to stir-fries at dinner, the vegetable known as “mani cai” or “sayur manis” and “cekur manis” is a welcome sight on many dining tables.
That said, one claim has been repeated often since the 1990s – that eating raw “sayur manis” or sauropus androgynus to use its scientific name – can destroy the lungs of those eating it.
Is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Sadly, this is true. While the vegetable is safe to consume when cooked, eating it in salads or in green smoothies is a very, very bad idea as it can cause the lungs to fill with scar tissue.
As the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) explains on its webpage on “sayur manis” or “cekur manis” as it calls it, eating the vegetable raw “can cause a permanent lung disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans.”
In layman’s terms, this is when the small airways in the lungs or bronchioles are blocked by inflamed scar tissue.
On this, the SFA says that people affected have irreversible breathing difficulty, which can worsen with time and lead to death.
“This link was confirmed in Taiwan and Japan in the 1990-2000s, where young women were affected by bronchiolitis obliterans, with some needing lung transplants,” said the SFA.
“After an investigation, doctors discovered that those affected had consumed large amounts of raw ‘sayur manis’ in smoothies, juices or salad as a weight-loss fad or to promote lactation after pregnancy,” it added.
It added that while the exact reasons for “sayur manis” causing lung disease are still being studied by scientists, the current understanding is that the green vegetable contains certain chemicals that cause lung tissue to be inflamed and die.
“Nevertheless, scientists have found that ‘sayur manis’ is safe for consumption if cooked thoroughly,” adds the SFA.
With that said – whatever you call it, “mani cai”, “sayur manis” or “cekur manis" – always make sure it’s well-cooked, or you just might wind up waiting on a transplant registry for a new pair of lungs.