Yellow Dragon fruit not only has a beautiful look and bright hues, but it is also a powerhouse of multiple nutrients. The amazing fruit is loaded with health benefits that can address various health conditions. If you have already added this colorful and tasty fruit to your daily diet with other nutritious fruits and vegetables, pat yourself on the back for keeping excellent health.
Yellow Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya, is receiving immense popularity among health enthusiasts and fruit lovers. The name and shape of the fruit indeed remind us of those fire-breathing creatures that appear in the folklore of many cultures and our all-time favorite Harry Potter series. The fruit has a unique, scaly appearance but is a hidden jewel.
If you are yet to try this fruit, we recommend you should. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss how to eat yellow dragon fruit and its numerous health benefits. But before that, let us briefly discuss the characteristics of the colorful fruit.
What is Dragon Fruit?
Dragon fruit, also known by names like pitaya and strawberry pear, is a low-calorie tropical fruit that grows on the Hylocereus cactus, a climbing cactus, also known as the Honolulu Queen. This fruit is native to Central and South America and Mexico, and the plant is exotic-looking. The dragon fruit plant is commercially grown globally, including in the US (Hawaii, California, and Florida), Australia, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Being a sprawling cactus, dragon fruit grows along nearby trees and rocks similar to a vine. The fruit starts to grow after the cactus flowers bloom. The large, white flowers open at night, which is why they are often called the “moonflowers” or “Lady of the Night”.
How Does Yellow Dragon Fruit Taste?
If you have never had this fruit, you might wonder, “How does Yellow dragon fruit taste?” Well, it has a combined taste of a kiwi and a pear. Besides, it has a refreshing, refined, and subtle taste. When ripe, the fruit has a mildly sweet taste, and its soft texture is like the flesh of a ripe kiwi.
If you love eating the refreshing fruit, kiwi, you will also like the flavor of dragon fruit. However, under-ripe yellow dragon fruit may seem tasteless. The taste also varies depending on the types of dragon fruit you consume. The white or yellow-skinned pitaya varieties may have milder flavors than the reddish or darker-pink varieties.
The fruit is known for its vivid and leathery outer skin texture, which is unique. When you cut the fruit for the first time, you will get a pleasant surprise. The inside of the fruit is a fresh white pulp filled with tiny black seeds. The seeds, too, have a nutty flavor and are home to many healthy fats.
The best time to eat yellow dragon fruit is in the morning during breakfast. Having it in the morning hours can help the digestive system break down the fruit sugar faster. However, you can also have this superfruit with your midday meal or with dinner at night.
Nutritional Value of Yellow Dragon Fruit
A single 6-ounce serving of this fruit can have the following nutritional value:
1, Calories: 102
2. Protein: 2 grams
3. Fat: 0 grams
4. Carbohydrates: 22 grams
5. Sugars: 13 grams
6. Fiber: 5 grams
Furthermore, talking of Yellow dragon fruit vitamins and minerals, we have the following nutritional values:
- Vitamin A: 100 UI (international units)
- Vitamin C: 4 mg (milligrams)3.
- Magnesium: 68 mg 4.
- Calcium: 31 mg
- Iron: 0.1 mg
5 Health Benefits of Yellow Dragon Fruit
1. Supports Gut Health
Yellow Dragon fruit has excellent prebiotic properties that are great for promoting gut health. It is also known to improve IBD or inflammatory bowel disease symptoms. Various studies have proven that including more prebiotics in your diet can reduce the risks of digestive tract infections and diarrhea. Prebiotics can also prevent or reduce the risks of colon cancer.
Our gut is home to nearly 100 trillion microorganisms, including over 400 bacteria species. Researchers believe that these microorganism communities may affect your health. Imbalances in the gut may give rise to heart disease and asthma.
Prebiotics are a specific category of fiber that supports the growth of good bacteria in the gut. Therefore, the prebiotics in pitaya can help improve the balance of healthy bacteria in our digestive system.
Our gut cannot digest fibers, but the good bacteria in our gut can break them down. These healthy bacteria use fiber as the food for growth, thus promoting the growth of good bacteria, including bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria. According to a study, travelers who have consumed prebiotics before and during their travels are reported to experience fewer or less intense episodes of traveler’s diarrhea.
2. Boosts Immune System
Your quality of diet is a crucial factor in strengthening your immunity, thus preparing your body to fight against infections. Yellow Dragon fruit is a rich source of vitamin C and carotenoids that can prevent infection by strengthening your immune system and protecting the white blood cells from damage.
Our immune system contains white blood cells that destroy and attack harmful foreign substances. However, white blood cells are prone to damage due to free radicals. It is where the antioxidants in yellow dragon fruits, including carotenoids and vitamin C, come to their rescue.
These antioxidants can neutralize the free radicals, thus preventing the white blood cells from getting damaged. Just consuming 200 grams (1 cup) of yellow dragon fruit every day can make you stay healthier with a stronger immune system.
3. Reduces the Risk of Diabetes
Since yellow dragon fruit houses high amounts of fiber, it helps to maintain our bodies’ sugar levels. Therefore, it is often recommended to have yellow dragon fruit for sugar patients as it helps to control and prevent the increase in sugar levels in diabetic people. Including this superfruit in your everyday diet can help prevent further complications among diabetic patients by balancing the body’s blood sugar levels.
4. Supports Eye Health
Earlier, we mentioned that yellow dragon fruit is a good source of beta-carotene, a pigment that renders beautiful colors in the fruit. Beta-carotene has excellent properties in preventing eye problems, including macular degeneration and cataracts. Having a single cup of yellow dragon fruit slices (220 grams) each day can prevent numerous eye problems.
5. Fights Skin Aging
Stress, exposure to pollution, poor diet, and other factors can lead to faster aging. However, once more, antioxidants are here at your rescue. As mentioned above, yellow dragon fruit is a rich source of antioxidants, which help treat dry skin, acne, and sunburns, which are the major causes of skin aging.
The vitamin C in yellow dragon fruit can fight against skin damage caused by free radicals, thus leading to brighter, rejuvenated, and healthier skin. For higher yellow dragon fruit benefits for skin, try preparing a healthy glass of yellow
Conclusion
We hope this article answered your query, “Is yellow dragon fruit good for health?” The above yellow dragon fruit nutrition facts should have helped you make a positive decision to include more of this superfruit in your daily diet. This single fruit can help maintain optimal health, so try this tasty and healthy fruit and enjoy its nutritional value.
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