Are Sarawak kana or olives good or bad for pregnant women?
Pic shamelessly borrowed from Neo, hope you don’t mind huh..?
I was momentarily stunned when I received this question from a reader. She introduced herself as a late 20s mother of one daughter and is now pregnant with another. Apparently some friends of hers had come back from Sarawak and brought her some kana or what is commonly called Sarawakian olives.
She had eaten it before she was pregnant and she loved it. It is just that she is worried that it might affect her unborn baby. She asked her mother-in-law and was told as kana is black, it might cause her unborn baby to suffer from excess pigmentation when the child is born.
I am not a doctor. Anybody has anything to say? I managed to google this link here but I don’t think olives are the same as kana or are they?
A very sweet pregnant lady who has the cravings for kana is waiting for some feedback…any feedback?
4 comments Bengbeng | Miscellaneous
These are technically a fruit (google dabai and you’ll come up with tons of info on them). They’re loaded with protein and as far as i can gather totally healthy for you. You’re not going to dye your baby black eating these any more than you’ll dye them funny colors eating trix. The only way I can really see it happening is if the mother ate enough to change her own color, the same as when some people eat obscene amounts of carrots sometimes turn yellowish orange.
Guess this means it is safe to eat
in moderate amounts then 
Here is some more information on them for you, they sound like a great source of nutrition(just stay away from whatever a kepayang is apparently):
This was gathered from the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The nutritional value of indigenous fruits and vegetables in Sarawak
Voon Boon Hoe and Kueh Hong Siong
The proximate composition including mineral and vitamin contents of 16 fruits and 46 vegetables (leaves, fruits, palm hearts and shoots) of indigenous origin in Sarawak are provided. Fruits like dabai (Canarium odontophyllum), kembayau (Dacryodes rostrata f. cuspidata), durian nyekak (Durio kutejensis) and durian kuning (Durio graveolens) are very nutritious with high values for energy, protein and potassium. Among the vegetables, the protein content of letup (Passiflora foetida), kepayang (Pangium edule) and tubu (Pycnarrhena tumetacta) is high, ranging from 6 to 7%. The range of nutrients among foods of indigenous origin are generally comparable with those of many cultivated species except for vitamin C, which is lower. Teh Kampung (Leucosyke capitellata) leaves are particularly high in magnesium (626 mg/100 g). Some of the indigenous vegetables contain antinutritional factors. Kepayang has very high levels of hydrogen cyanide (1834 µg/g on dry basis) but this poison can be completely evaporated by boiling. Indigenous fruits and vegetables which are pesticide residue free are important food sources for rural populations. Nutritious indigenous fruits and vegetables have the potential to be promoted for wider use, domestication and commercialization.
Hey, thanks thanks very much.
Judy, make yr own decision
Ooo…when did Neo take that photo??? I love dabai! Is it in season? Haven’t been to the market for quite sometime! Must go and check it out tomorrow. Pigmentation? All I know is when u get it, ur by-product will turn black and boy! It’s certainly good for constipation! And it has high oil content so u may put on weight…and it’s “heaty” – like durians, rambutans, quinee etc!!!
I stole the pic from here But it is unlikely he will sue me hahahahha. Personally i am trying to control my body weight so i eat very few dabai.
I am craving for kana as well…in season liao hor! Good, just in time!
actually i received the query thru msn and she said someone brought it back from sarawak…so it mus b in season