SOME BELIEFS THAT ARE OFTEN CIRCULATED AS FACTS ARE ACTUALLY MYTHS

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At a point in time, we are being forced to believe a lot of things by our elders about a particular food or items however there’s a particular myth about getting blind after taking too much garri (cassava flakes).
Garri a popular fast food in Africa made from cassava also known as a lifesaver. This popular fast food is well enjoyed with the combination of sugar, cold water, and milk some people even add groundnut to it.
With the popularity of this meal, there is a general myth about the food saying you can go blind after a lot of consumption of it. As this tends to be true but not totally.

Garri made from cassava contains a little bit of cyanide, a combination of nitrogen and carbon which are known to be toxic to both animals and humans when in contact with it in large quantities.
During the process of this garri (cassava flakes), the cyanide is removed in different steps

• By peeling, washing, and grating the root into a mash.
  The roots come in tuber form so we peel the bark off just as we do for our yam and potatoes
• After that, it’s been soaked in water for some time (some people leave it for days so the taste can come out great) releasing the chemical into the water
• Then the water is drained out using a clean woven bag
• The last process is roasting.
  this occurs by loading the cassava in a heated wide tray after letting the wet cassava dry for some time.

After the cassava flakes undergo all these processes there is little or no amount of cyanide in the flakes which is safe for consumption.

Aside from the myths that come along with the consumption of these flakes it is also easy to prepare and can serve more than one purpose such as making it as a dough to eat with different types of soup and soaking it for drinking. Also, it contains quality nutrients such as vitamin C, calcium, and potassium.

This particular flake tends to be my favorite meal because it keeps me full and is very easy to prepare
When I was in primary school a day didn’t pass without me taking it but my mom kept being persistent about the result of taking too much of it and I never listened. Now in my 20s, I can’t think of any eye problem. and the main reason we regard it as a lifesaver is because with as low as 500 naira you can get your stomach full for hours. it is even essential to have it in the house as primary foodstuffs

As it is important to listen to our older ones it is also important to get our statement right before making it a fact.

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