Dragon fruit not only sounds cool but looks cool as well. If you haven’t seen one before, you really need to take the time out of your day to do a quick Google search of one.
What is dragon fruit?
Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit that is becoming more and more popular. It’s definitely not seen everywhere, but when you can find it, you should take advantage of its unique taste and look.
What is Dragon Fruit?
The dragon fruit is native to Mexico and Central America. It needs a more tropical climate to grow.
The dragon fruit plant is a cactus tree unlike any you’ve seen before.
Two of the most common types of dragon fruit have reddish-pink skin with green scales. This allows it to give the resemblance of a dragon, hence the name, dragon fruit.
When cut open, you’ll find a white pulp with black seeds. There are different types of dragon fruit with different colors of pulp, but the white pulp is going to be the most common type that you see.
What Does Dragon Fruit Taste Like?
You know how sometimes you can look at something and know if it’s going to be sweet or tart?
With the dragon fruit, you can’t really be too sure of how it’ll taste by just looking at it.
It’s a very exotic looking fruit. This is a fruit that most of us have never seen as a child. Dragon fruit might be something that you may have actually never tasted before.
So, what does dragon fruit taste like?
You can say that dragon fruit taste like a mix between a kiwi and a pear. So, you can see how this fruit is something that is sweet but might have a slight tart taste to it as well.
Dragon Fruit Benefits
As with any fruit, you expect it to be somewhat beneficial for your health. The same goes for dragon fruit. What are dragon fruit benefits?
Before we go into specifics, it’s important to look at some of the nutrition facts that a dragon fruit can provide.
You can actually get 1.2 grams of protein, 13 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of fiber. Having a fruit that isn’t necessarily low carb but has a lot of fiber is good for you. Plus, it’s always nice to have some protein as well.
This can take you a long way if you are somehow stuck on a deserted island that only has dragon fruit instead of coconuts.
Now that we’ve gotten the nutrition facts out of the way, we can actually dive into some of the dragon fruit benefits.
Having dragon fruit is going to be great if you’re in need of antioxidants.
Antioxidants are great for when you are looking to give the cells in your body a little more protection. They are great for preventing cell damage all over your body.
Different antioxidants provide for different protection.
The particular antioxidants in dragon fruit are betalains, hydroxycinnamates, and flavonoids.
These antioxidants do a lot when it comes to your overall heart health. They provide a little more protection for your heart.
Dragon Fruit Reduces Insulin Resistance
Dragon fruit is good for reducing insulin resistance. This can probably be attributed to the fiber that it provides you.
When you have carbs, it’s important that you have some fiber within those carbs so they aren’t as bad for your body. Carbs are converted into sugar when they are processed by your body.
So, when you have too much sugar in your body, it’s important to realize that this is going to have a huge effect on your insulin.
Dragon Fruit Benefits Gut Health
The fiber that’s in dragon fruit is also prebiotic. This means that they can provide a boost to your gut health.
Having a healthy gut is good for your overall health. Most people that have a healthy gut are going to be considered healthy.
Prebiotics allow for the good bacteria in your stomach to thrive, even more, thus making it harder for the bad bacteria to even survive in your gut.
Dragon Fruit Side Effects
The only real side effect that dragon fruit has been known to have is for people that have an allergic reaction to it.
Dragon fruit is something that a majority of people may not have ever had so it’s something that they may not even know they have an allergy to.
This is very rare though as there have been very few reported cases about allergic reactions to dragon fruit.
How to Eat Dragon Fruit
Dragon fruit is a fruit that you just have to look at when you first see it. It’s not like an apple where you can just attack it and eat it right away.
How do you eat dragon fruit?
I strongly recommend that you don’t just go straight to eating the dragon fruit. Do not eat it like an apple. That might be a little painful for your mouth if you decided to do that.
The best way is to split it in half, and scoop out the pulp that’s within. It’s important that you peel the skin in some way. You probably want to stay away from the skin altogether.
This can lead you to think about how to cut dragon fruit?
That’s simple. There’s no giant seed in the middle that you need to be aware of when cutting it. Because of this you can grab a knife and slice it down the middle. The direction you slice it doesn’t really matter.
As long as you expose the pulp that’s in the middle, you should be good. This makes it much easier to separate the skin from the rest of the fruit. Thus, making it much easier to eat as well.
A good way to serve dragon fruit is in a salad. Think about it. You’re hosting a dinner party and serve a salad with dragon fruit as part of an appetizer.
Imagine how fancy people are going to think you are. At the same time, you’ll be showing people something brand new and expanding their horizons.
They may even thank you for opening them up to the world of dragon fruits.
Dragon Fruit is Different but Great
Having dragon fruit can really change the way you look at exotic fruits. It’s something that you didn’t know you wanted to try until you see it in front of you.
The dragon fruit benefits that were mentioned earlier should not be overlooked either. They are a healthy fruit that’s low calorie and has fewer sugars than most other tropical fruits. Not to mention that its fiber content is a great added bonus as well.
When it comes to eating dragon fruit, it’s something that you can’t just dig into. Make sure that you take the time to at least cut it in half so that you can eat the pulp inside. Don’t go around eating the skin like an animal.
Think of the dragon fruit like a pineapple when it comes to this. You aren’t going to eat the skin of pineapple so don’t eat the skin of the dragon fruit.
Dragon fruit is a sweet tasting fruit that you may have never had before. However, it’s great to try new things. Don’t be scared to venture out and try this exotic looking food.