Exotic Imported Fruit And Vegetable

I saw these imported exotic fruit and vegetable at De Market Supermarket, which got me thinking if anyone would spend RM30 on an ear of  sweet corn imported from Japan and RM40 on a  medium sized yellow Pitahaya (dragon fruit) from Ecuador?



Sweet corns are loaded with Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin (which help fight eye diseases), help fight anemia, improve one's cholesterol level and some studies have shown that sweet corns help to fight cancer.

Corn is  rich in ferulic acid, an anticarcinogenic agent that has been shown to be effective in fighting the tumors, which lead to breast and liver cancer. Anthocyanins, found in purple corn, also act eliminates cancer-causing free radicals.




Yellow pitahayas are the sweetest and finest of all pitahayas.  They are jam-packed with nutrients, vitamins and have a wide range of health benefits ranging from preventing constipation, diabetes prevention, heart-healthy, immune booster, keeps you looking youthful and even  has the potential to prevent cancer.

Though chockful of vitamins and disease fighting nutrients, would you spend so much on sweet corns and dragon fruits?

My Wholesome and Simple Lunch

This is my lunch almost everyday. Homemade bread with Steffi's sugar-free peanut butter or kaya (LOVE kaya but don't always eat it as it's fattening), avocado or organic jams, sugar-free black sesame jam (another of my favourite) or tuna fish.

A ripe avocado in halves, ready to be scooped out to be spread on the bread or directly into our mouths (the gals love avocado).



I had this yesterday. Fresh Avocado on toasted homemade bread with peanut butter and organic strawberry jam. Thankfully Alycia and Sherilyn also love Avocadoes as they are very nutritious and packed with good oil, Vitamin E and other vitamins and minerals.


Read more about avocado here.

Durian Lover

The 'antidote' for heatiness.... Mangosteens. Our favourite exotic fruit too.





Everyone in my family and DH's family love durian to pieces. During each durian season, whenever my mil is in KL, she would buy loads of durians and we will all eat durian till we fall sick and feel bloated with durian. Burrrrppp.... yikes.... I hate the aftertaste and smell of burp. The odour of burped durian in a car with all windows wound up is enough to drive anyone nauseated instantly.

My gals have also acquired the love for durian right from the start. We once fed Alycia durian when she was around 6 - 8 months, she loved them so much that she screamed and wailed when the durian was finished. That was so funny and I even have that recorded in my camcorder.

Many people say that durian is an unhealthy fruit and is very fattening but the durian also has many nutritional values.

Here are the nutrition values of Durian (value per 100 g of the edible part) :

General components
Water 64.99 g
Energy 147 kcal
Energy 615 kj
Protein 1.47 g
Total lipid (fat) 5.33 g
Carbohydrate, by difference 27.09 g
Fiber, total dietary 3.8 g

Minerals
Calcium, Ca 6 mg
Iron, Fe 0.430 mg
Magnesium, Mg 30 mg
Phosphorus, P 38 mg
Potassium, K 436 mg
Sodium, Na 1 mg
Zinc, Zn 0.28 mg
Copper, Cu 0.207 mg
Manganese, Mn 0.324 mg

Vitamins
Vitamin C, ascorbic acid 19.7 mg
Thiamin 0.374 mg
Riboflavin 0.2 mg
Niacin 1.074 mg
Pantothenic acid 0.23 mg
Vitamin B-6 0.316 mg
Vitamin A, IU 45.000 IU
Vitamin A, retinol 5.000 µg

Dragon Fruits

Alycia's breakfast.





Yellow-skin and white flesh pitaya.

One of my favourite fruits is the red dragon fruit or Pitaya. My gals love them too. We love them so much that we eat them almost every other day. Whenever my gals and I have constipation, dragon fruit always comes to my mind in relieving constipation. So far, I know that there are 2 varieties of dragon fruit, i.e. the red-skin & white-flesh ones and the red-skin and red-flesh ones. Recently, I stumbled from the net a picture of a yellow-skined & white-flesh pitaya. Wow, how unique. I don't know if this yellow-skined ones are already available in Malaysia. So far, I've not seen them in the markets or major supermarkets / hypermarkets.

Here are some of the nutritional claims of dragon fruit :

The red flesh variety is believed to be rich in antioxidants.
The pitaya fruit is rich in vitamins.
The pitaya fruit helps the digestive process.
The pitaya fruit helps prevent colon cancer and diabetes.
The pitaya fruit helps to neutralize toxic substances such as heavy metal, reduce cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.
Consumed regularly the pitaya fruit can help against asthma and cough.