Dragon fruits, also called pitayas or pitahayas, are short-lived red fruits with stunning appearance. To the Americas, these fruits are considered a kind of cactus, whose flowers only bloom at night.
Nowadays, this tropical fruit is so popular that you can find in any supermarket in Central America as well as Southeast Asia and many other countries due to exportation.
There are many types of dragon fruits. Normally, this fruit has a shape of an oval or pear – shaped combined with diverse flesh. However, the common kind is red skin, white flesh, and black seeds.
Dragon fruits are not only famous for its sweet flavor but also for their health benefits beneath under the incredible fruits.
Nutrition facts:
The impressive benefits of dragon fruits result from its amazing content of antioxidants. It is considered one of the richest sources of antioxidants. These antioxidants help protect cells from free radicals and leave them to avoid damage. Some antioxidants in its quality include betalains, hydroxycinnamates, and flavonoids.
Moreover, this exotic fruit is regarded as a house of vitamin C, iron and minerals. Specifically, in each 100 grams/ 3.5 ounces of dragon fruits, vitamin C accounts for 34% of the RDI and 11% for iron.
The other considerable components are carbs and fiber (11 grams and 3 grams respectively).
However, dragon fruits are low in food energy: 100 grams of dragon fruits cover only 52 calories.
For these properties, dragon fruits should be considered as a significant healthy fruit we should have daily.
Health Benefits of dragon fruits:
This article will point out some outstanding health benefits of this fruit:
Immunity Boosting
As mentioned above, dragon fruits are full of Vitamin C which contributes to strengthening your immune system.
Moreover, the presence of minerals including calcium, vitamin B1, niacin, iron and especially antioxidants also help fight against vital attacks and bacteria.
These elements above combine to seek out and clear free radicals which are terms of heart diseases as well as bring a dangerous matter to your metabolism.
Therefore, let’s start by eating this delicious fruit to enhance your immunity.
Skin health
We can take advantage of dragon fruits in making your skin look better, including peeling skin treatment.
First, dragon fruits are useful in fighting against signs of aging. In fact, skin aging is triggered by free radicals stored in cells which gradually create wrinkles; as a result, you may look older than your age. Luckily, thanks to the excellent amount of antioxidants, dragon fruits act as a killer of free radicals and support your body to slow down the process of aging.
How to apply:
- Prepare half of a fresh ripe dragon fruit
- Scoop out the flesh of this fruit then crush it. Put on a bowl
- Add a tablespoon of yogurt to this bowl
- Rub on your face and neck. Leave it for at least 20 minutes
- Wash with your warm water
- Perform this once a week.
Second, packed with the rich source of vitamin C, dragon fruit gives you ease from getting rid of acne. Everyone with oily skin may face a phobia named acne. This discomfort sometimes might not go away with some market products. Therefore, let’s check out this natural recipe made from an exotic fruit:
How to apply:
- Prepare a fresh ripe dragon fruit
- Scoop out the flesh of ¼ this fruit
- Crush it and put in a bowl
- Using some cotton balls to rub on your affected face after washed
- Leave for 15 – 20 minutes
- Wash with warm water
- Repeat twice a week.
Hair health
In modern life, we may not have enough time to take care our hair; so it’s easy to be a tangled mess. You’re advised to use such an incredible ingredient like dragon fruit to smooth your hair right now.
Due to many essential nutrients in its content, dragon fruit is able to improve your colored hair as well as promote healthy hair.
How to apply:
- Prepare a fresh dragon fruit
- Scoop out the flesh then crush to make a smooth paste
- Rub on your hair from hair root to ends
- Leave for about 20 minutes then rinse off with shampoo
- Do this once a week.
Alternatively, you can also make juice to drink daily for the healthier hair.
Cancer-prevention
It sounds a little bit doubtful but it’s true. It is because dragon fruit is high in antioxidants as well as lycopene and carotene (which is believed to have anti – carcinogenic property). Specially, this fruit contains hydroxycinnamate, a kind of antioxidants which has been proved for fighting against cancer effectively.
Therefore, whether you believe or not, consuming dragon fruits daily is a smart choice to get away from cancer.
Weight loss
The last impressive health benefit of dragon fruits in this list is helping you progress in losing process.
As discussed on nutrition fact section, despite rich of many essential nutrients, dragon fruit is low in calorie. It’s undeniable of its abilities in losing your weight. Besides, dragon fruit also supports you in this process thanks to the high amount of fiber in its quality. Fiber plays an important role in losing; specifically, it is vital in making you feel full without many calories. This is a key point for those who want to lose weight.
