Dragon Fruit Benefits for Health
Dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) is an exotic tropical fruit, known for its sweet, mottled skin and flesh. The taste of dragon fruit is sweet, or more like a mixture of kiwi fruit and pear.
The most widely available dragon fruit varieties are white flesh with black seeds, and red flesh with black seeds.
In addition to its attractive appearance, dragon fruit or dragon fruit is rich in nutrients that are beneficial for health, you know.
The following is an explanation of the content, the benefits of dragon fruit for health and the side effects of dragon fruit if consumed in excess.
Nutritional content of dragon fruit
Dragon fruit (pitaya) has a number of varieties characterized by differences in skin color and flesh.
In Indonesia, there are two varieties or types of this fruit that are commonly found, namely red dragon fruit and white dragon fruit.
Although they have different colors, they have almost the same nutritional content.
According to Indonesian Food Composition Data, the nutritional content of 100 grams of red dragon fruit is as follows.
- Water: 85.7 grams (g).
- Energy: 71 cal.
- Protein: 1.7 g.
- Fat: 3.1 g.
- Carbohydrates: 9.1 g.
- Fiber: 3.2 g.
- Ash: 0.4 g.
- Calcium: 13 milligrams (mg).
- Sodium: 10 mg
- Potassium: 128 mg
- Phosphorus: 14 mg
- Iron: 0.4 mg
- Zinc (Zinc): 0.4 mg
- Vitamin B1: .5 mg
- Vitamin B2: 0.3 mg
- Niacin or vitamin B3: 0.5 mg
- Vitamin C: 1 mg
Not only the ingredients above, this fruit also contains other vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin E and magnesium.
In addition, the Cleveland Clinic says, this fruit also contains lycopene, which is a compound from the carotenoid group that gives fruit its red color.
Lycopene has antioxidant properties that can counteract free radicals, which are the cause of various diseases.
Apart from lycopene, this fruit also contains other antioxidant compounds that are important for the body, namely betalain and hydroxycinnamates.
Dragon fruit health benefits
You can get some of the benefits of dragon fruit, such as:
Rich in antioxidants
Free radicals are molecules that can cause damage to cells in the body, which can cause serious illness. To counteract free radicals, you can eat dragon fruit which is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants can neutralize free radicals, so they can prevent damage to cells in the body. Eating lots of foods that contain antioxidants can help prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease.
Rich in fiber
Dragon fruit is a food that contains very good fiber, so dragon fruit is good for digestive health. In addition, fiber can also play a role in protecting the body from heart disease, controlling type 2 diabetes, maintaining weight and preventing colon cancer.
Source of Iron
The extraordinary benefits of dragon fruit, one of which is as a source of iron for the body. One hundred grams of dragon fruit contains 1.9 milligrams of iron or equal to 11 percent of the total daily requirement for adults.
Iron is very important for the formation of hemoglobin in the blood. Hemoglobin itself functions to transport oxygen from the lungs to all cells in the body. With sufficient hemoglobin levels, anemia will not occur.
Not only that, the iron content in dragon fruit is also capable of supporting growth and development and increasing the intelligence of your little one. So, don’t hesitate if you want to give dragon fruit to your child!
Rich in Vitamin C
Dragon fruit has a high vitamin C content. For this reason, the benefits of dragon fruit can be a good source of vitamin C. In fact, the amount of vitamin C in dragon fruit was three times more than that in carrots.
Dragon fruit measuring 100 grams contains 21 mg of vitamin C, or equivalent to 34 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C for adults.
Vitamin C contained in dragon fruit, besides functioning to maintain fitness, endurance, and skin health, can also play a role in helping the absorption of iron in the digestive tract.
Those are some of the benefits that you can get by consuming dragon fruit. Some people are very fond of consuming this fruit while playing slots on the site https://poconogarlic.com/