Have you ever eaten that five-angled star fruit, with its firm, juicy, tart-y taste with a twist of citrus, also known as, carambola? If you still haven’t yet, then it’s time for you to eat some for this certain fruit is a healthy addition to a balanced diet.
Star Fruit is considered a healthy fruit with its moderate nutritional composition. A standard hundred grams of serving of star fruit provides lots of nutrients. Here are the start fruit nutrition facts :
It comes in no surprise that the greatest amount of nutrients in star fruit is derived from vitamin C, providing 76 percent of the daily recommended value in a single one-cup serving.
The C content in star fruit helps ward off colds, flu, and any other type of infection. Interestingly, research has shown that individuals in extreme arctic climates, such as military personnel and skiers would most likely experience as much as 50 percent significant risk reduction for developing a cold when ingesting healthy amounts of vitamin C.
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In addition, the average star fruit contains around 30 calories (fewer than any other tropical fruit per serving), so with its high fiber content, it’s a great choice for anyone wanting to lose weight, prevent constipation, and keep their system running smoothly.
Star fruit also helps prevent the absorption of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol while protecting the colon from toxic substances, by binding to cancer-causing chemicals that happen to be passing through.
Other than that, its antioxidant properties offer their own benefits, including the neutralization of harmful free radicals that can cause inflammation. Flavonoids such as quercetin, epicatechin, and gallic acid offer this benefit, as well.
More so, according to a traditional Brazilian folk medicine, they use star fruit as a diuretic, an expectorant, and cough suppressant. The leaves and fruit have been used to prevent vomiting, placed on the temples to ease headache, relieve chickenpox and helps get rid of parasitic infestation.
However, despite all of its goodness, too much of the fruit might be harmful – like too much of everything is not good – because star fruits contain fructose, which may be harmful to your health in excessive amounts.
Image Credits: vegetarian, wikipedia, wikimedia
