- Main benefits of pitaya
- Pitaya helps you lose weight?
- How to eat pitaya fruit
- Pitaya ice cream
- Pitaya nutritional information
One of the benefits of pitaya is to help you lose weight, as it is a fruit low in calories and high in fiber, but it also has other health benefits related to its antioxidant power. This fruit also protects cells, helps with digestion, pressure and fights anemia because it is rich in vitamins and minerals.
Pitaya has its origin in Latin America, is the fruit of a cactus and is considered a tropical fruit. This fruit measures 10-20 cm in diameter and has a mild flavor, like a mixture of kiwi and melon.
There are 3 variations of this fruit:
- White Pitaya: it has pink bark and is white inside, being the easiest to find in Brazil; Pitaya red: it has a reddish-pink color on the outside and is pink-red-purple on the inside, also found in Brazil; Yellow pitaya: it has yellow peel and is white inside, being more common in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
All of them contain numerous edible black seeds distributed throughout their pulp.
Main benefits of pitaya
Pitaya is also known as dragon fruit, because of its irregular skin and scaly buds, in Brazil it can be found from December to May in the southeast region. In addition, it is widely cultivated in the rest of South America, Israel and China.
Its main benefits include:
- Protect the body's cells, as it is rich in antioxidants that protect against cancer; Help digestion due to the presence of seeds in the pulp; Fight cardiovascular diseases, as the seeds contain essential fatty acids such as omega 3; Regulate the intestine because it has oligosaccharides, which are fibers that fight constipation; Regulate blood pressure, as it is a fruit rich in water that stimulates the production of urine, reducing the accumulation of fluids in the body; Fight anemia and osteoporosis by containing important vitamins and minerals such as iron, phosphorus, vitamins B, C and E.
This fruit has a mild and sweet taste, being easily pleasing to all palates.
Pitaya helps you lose weight?
In addition to these benefits, pitaya can also help you lose weight because when consumed it generates a thermogenic action, which stimulates the metabolism, thus helping to eliminate fats and also control appetite.
Pitaya also has a substance called tyramine, which activates a hormone in the body called glucagon, stimulating the body itself to use the reserves of sugar and fat and transform them into energy.
How to eat pitaya fruit
To eat pitaya one must cut the fruit in half, and eat only its pulp. The pitaya pulp can also be used in salads, to prepare juice or vitamin, jellies, ice cream or sweets.
Pitaya ice cream
This pitaya ice cream recipe is good for weight loss because it has no sugar, and pitaya is a low-calorie fruit that helps control appetite and speeds up metabolism.
Ingredients:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, sugar, salt and pepper, and season with salt and pepper.
Method of preparation:
Mix the ingredients and place in a bowl with a lid. Take to the freezer for about 2 hours. Beat with the aid of an electric mixer and return to the freezer until serving time.
In addition to losing weight, pitaya is good for helping to regulate the intestine and facilitate digestion.
Pitaya nutritional information
| Components | Quantity per 100 g of pitaya pulp |
| Energy | 50 calories |
| Water | 85.4 g |
| Proteins | 0.4 g |
| Fats | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 13.2 g |
| Fibers | 0.5 g |
| Vitamin C | 4 mg |
| Calcium | 10 mg |
| Phosphor | 16 mg |
In addition to all the benefits and vitamins, pitaya has few calories, being a very good fruit to include in weight loss diets.
