My snack of the day - Dragon Fruit!

Dragon fruits usually look pretty crappy even when they are available in the states.  But I couldn’t resist buying one when I saw them at a Chinese supermarket last week.  So the dragon fruit became my between-class snack today!

Since dragon fruits are not well known to most of my friends here, I did a little research on its nutrient content (after all, I go to a nutrition school).  To my surprise, dragon fruit is getting some interest from people because of the whole “super food” craze.  From the cactus family, it’s also called pitaya.  The fruit is “football-shaped” as described by a website I came across; and have a leafy skin that is mostly red (with a yellow version).  The flesh can be white or bright red (may stain your clothes) with lots of tiny black seeds.

As a fruit, dragon fruits are rich in a lot of vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C (which I learned is really good for your skin today).  And of course all the other benefits of a fruit: NO cholesterol, NO unhealthy fats, NO trans fat, LOW calories, HIGH dietary fiber, and a lot of anti-oxidants.  

What I haven’t thought of are the essential fatty acids in the seeds of dragon fruits (surprise fact #1).  Since they are tiny and basically all over the “flesh” of the fruit, you really cannot pick out the seeds when you eat it.  The good news is, eating the seeds give you a lot of healthy fat that your body needs. Surprise fact #2: the oligosaccharides (a type of sugar) have been shown to survive the very acidic gastric juice into the intestines; which then stimulate the growth of good bacteria!

Makes me happy to know I am snacking well : )