Dragon Fruit and the control of Diabetes

Dragon fruit has become increasingly popular in recent years and is dubbed as a superfood in many cultures.

Dragon Fruit is a highly nutritious tropical cactus fruit native to Central and South America, where it is known as Pitaya. 

The fruit comes in three distinct cultivated varieties: red skin with red flesh, red skin with white flesh (currently the most cultivated variety) and yellow skin with white flesh. All three share similar sweet and refreshing flavor characteristics and nutritional profiles. 

While people primarily enjoy it for its unique look and taste, it is also be shown to provide a host of health benefits.

Dragon fruit is particularly high in vitamin C, fiber, B vitamins and protein.

In traditional and alternative medicine treatments, dragon fruit has been used to treat hypertension, and the seeds have been demonstrated to help regulate blood glucose levels, making dragon fruit potentially useful specifically for type 2 diabetes prevention and management. According to the previous studies, there is a link between dragon fruit and better control of diabetes.

This benefit was believed to have occurred because dragon fruit encourages the growth of pancreatic cells that produce insulin.

It was concluded from the studies that the dragon fruit’s effect on fasting plasma glucose in people with pre diabetes was significant.

It was also found that the more dragon fruit a person eats, the greater blood sugar benefits they can receive. High doses of the fruit helped in reducing blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. It also protects against insulin resistance and diet-induced fatty liver problems. Diabetics are also at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, which can be effectively brought down by regular consumption of dragon fruit since it controls oxidative damage and reduce aortic stiffness in diabetic patients.