How to eat dragon fruit? Get a sharp knife and cut straight through the dragon fruit in half and cut it in half. You can use a spoon to eat the fruit out of the skin. And you can use a spoon or fork to eat the fruit out of the skin. It can be chopped into small pieces and served with a salad or yogurt or just by itself.
How to eat dragon fruit? iStock-photo credit: valery121283
Here are the nutrition facts of Dragon Fruit:
Calories- 57
Protein- 0.36 grams
Fat- 0.14 grams
Carbs- 15 grams
Fiber- 3 grams
Vitamin C-5% of the DV
Iron- of the DV
Magnesium- 2% of the DV
Some of the main type of antioxidants for dragon fruit are betalains, flavonoids and hydroxycinnamates. Research studies have shown significantly reduced cholesterol levels by Betalains. And studies have shown that flavonoids are linked to better brain health and a reduced risk of heart disease.
Some of the animal mice studies on the health benefits of dragon fruit are reducing insulin resistance and fatty liver in obese mice.
There was a study where mice that were on a high fat diet received an extract of dragon fruit and had reductions in liver fat, insulin resistance, inflammation, etc. And there was a change in positive beneficial changes in gut bacteria.
The prebiotic fiber in dragon fruit promotes the growth of positive beneficial bacteria in your gut.
A 2014 research study showed that when mice were on a high fat/high carb diet and received dragon juice they had better blood sugar response and a reduction in liver enzyme blood markers.
All these studies on dragon fruit are all on mice and so it gives you some promise on humans, but it is important to know there are no studies that validate these types of results on humans yet.
The Bottom Line is the best way to eat dragon is to get a sharp knife and cut it in half. And then use a spoon or fork to eat the fruit out of the skin. Or you can peel the skin off and cut it into the ripe pulp in small slices.
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References
- Ramli NS, Brown L, Ismail P, Rahmat A. Effects of red pitaya juice supplementation on cardiovascular and hepatic changes in high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-induced metabolic syndrome rats. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014 Jun 12;14:189. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-189. PMID: 24919841; PMCID: PMC4064814.
- Khuituan P, K-da S, Bannob K, Hayeeawaema F, Peerakietkhajorn S, Tipbunjong C, Wichienchot S, Charoenphandhu N. Prebiotic oligosaccharides from dragon fruits alter gut motility in mice. Biomed Pharmacother. 2019 Jun;114:108821. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108821. Epub 2019 Apr 2. PMID: 30951951.
- Song H, Chu Q, Yan F, Yang Y, Han W, Zheng X. Red pitaya betacyanins protects from diet-induced obesity, liver steatosis and insulin resistance in association with modulation of gut microbiota in mice. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Aug;31(8):1462-9. doi: 10.1111/jgh.13278. PMID: 26699443.
- Song H, Zheng Z, Wu J, Lai J, Chu Q, Zheng X. White Pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) Juice Attenuates Insulin Resistance and Hepatic Steatosis in Diet-Induced Obese Mice. PLoS One. 2016 Feb 25;11(2):e0149670. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149670. PMID: 26914024; PMCID: PMC4767368.
- Song H, Chu Q, Xu D, Xu Y, Zheng X. Purified Betacyanins from Hylocereus undatus Peel Ameliorate Obesity and Insulin Resistance in High-Fat-Diet-Fed Mice. J Agric Food Chem. 2016 Jan 13;64(1):236-44. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05177. Epub 2015 Dec 24. PMID: 26653843.
- Rahimi P , Mesbah-Namin SA , Ostadrahimi A , Abedimanesh S , Separham A , Asghary Jafarabadi M . Effects of betalains on atherogenic risk factors in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Food Funct. 2019 Dec 11;10(12):8286-8297. doi: 10.1039/c9fo02020a. PMID: 31723956.
- USDA- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/2344729/nutrients
