Do you like having star fruits? Well, if those beautiful-looking fruits are your favorite, it’s time you start reading our blog! Today we will talk about star fruit benefits and much more in the segments below! So, let’s dive right in!
Table of Contents
What are star fruits?
Star fruit is also known as Carambola or 5 fingers. It belongs to the dominant species – Averrhoa carambola, which is found in abundance in the tropical areas of Southeast Asia. The greatest consumers of the star fruit are – USA, Caribbean, Brazil, South Pacific, and entire South Asia.
Carambola has 5-6 separate ridges, and it looks like a star if it is cut open. Hence, the name starfruit. You can eat the whole fruit, either raw or cooked. Scroll down below to know about the benefits of star fruit. You can also learn how to incorporate it into your daily diet. Also, know the side effects of the same and also its disadvantages.
Star Fruit Benefits
Let us take you through the various benefits of star fruit:
It boosts your heart
Star fruit contains crucial minerals – calcium, potassium, and sodium which helps in regulating blood pressure. The consumption of these minerals will make sure that you have stable blood pressure. It will keep a check on your blood circulation and will prevent chances of future fluctuation. Star fruit will also bring down the chances of strokes and other cardiovascular diseases because it has calcium in it.
Helps the digestive system
Star fruit has an ample amount of dietary fiber in it, which helps your digestive system. It also regulates your metabolism. It helps to regulate the softness and size of your excreta and makes it easier for people with constipation as it develops your bowel movements. With better bowel health, now you don’t have lower abdomen cramps and excessive bloating. Carambola also has generous amounts of folic acid and Vitamin B in it, which ensures improved metabolism. With better metabolism, you will have regulated levels of enzymes and hormones in your system.
Intercepts inflammation
With a regular intake of star fruit in your diet, you would ensure regular consumption of Vitamin C. It helps you build a tolerance against cough and cold, which would help you get through season changes. Vitamin C also ensures that your body system is cleansed of any toxins. It also allows you to fight off skin conditions like scurvy, fatigue, dermatitis, and other poor skin conditions. All thanks to the anti-inflammatory characteristic of Vitamin C present in star fruit.
Helps with diabetes and cholesterol
Carambola contains a healthy amount of fruit fiber which keeps your blood sugar level under check. Our body releases an amount of glucose into our blood system after a meal. Fruit fiber prevents the release of the same and maintains the level of insulin in our system. Therefore, including star fruit in your regular diet would help people with diabetes keep their insulin levels under check. It will even help non-diabetic people to maintain their steady insulin levels. Fruit fiber also helps maintain the cholesterol in your system, which ultimately results in a fat-free heart. People with cholesterol must include star fruit in their diet to keep their cholesterol under check and, in the future, reduce it to normal levels.
Helps to regulate weight
The fruit helps to regulate weight as it contains fruit fibers that arrest the release of extra glucose into the body system. So you don’t earn extra calories while munching on the fruit. As we have already discussed, the fruit improves your metabolism, so you are actually burning calories without even going to the gym!
Promises healthy skin and hair
Star fruit contains a promising amount of Vitamin B and Vitamin C along with rich antioxidants. These help your skin to glow naturally from within as your skin cells get extra nourishment, which they have been looking for all this while, and your hair cells heal quickly and give you that bouncy, shiny, and voluminous look; that you’ve wanted for so long!
Helps with anaemia
Anemia occurs when your body has meager amounts of Iron. Vitamin C intake ensures a balanced level of Iron in the body system. Star fruit is known for its Vitamin C. Kids and pregnant women at a higher risk of suffering from anemia must include star fruit in their diet to ensure their iron level is up to the mark.
Promises a good sleep
Now you don’t have to worry about interrupted sleep routines because our star fruit has already taken care of that. It contains magnesium which is known to induce good sleep. Our body has an inhibitory neurotransmitter – GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric Acid). Magnesium ensures that we have optimum levels of GABA in our body system, and this is how it ensures and promises a good uninterrupted sleep throughout the night.
Another way to hydrate yourself
Carambola is known to have 91.4% water in it. It ensures that you reach your daily need of 3 liters of water easily. You must include the fruit in your daily dietary routine to stay hydrated and for glowing skin.
A future solution for cancer?
Some researches and studies show us a bleak light of the possibility that star fruit might help treat cancer. Given the high fiber fruit that Carambola is, it cleanses our body of all toxins lowering the risk of acquiring cancer. So, who knows, it might come in handy in fighting off cancer in the future?
How to include Star Fruit in your diet?
We are affirmative that you surely want to include star fruit in your dietary routine after learning about the health benefits of the same.
Star fruit taste
In its unripe state, star fruit or Carambola has a dark green shade that tastes extremely sour and, at times, even bitter. As they ripen, the color changes to an even tone of yellow with light green ridges. Besides that, the fruit has a bitter-sweet taste to it which is enjoyed by people thoroughly around the globe.
Star fruit how to eat
Before we tell you how to incorporate star fruit in your regular diet, we must make sure that you wash the fruit thoroughly before consuming the same. It is better to choose the fruit with a vibrant yellow shade as those fruits will have the sweet flavor in dominance. You can proceed by cutting the fruit in the cross-section, and it will give you the star-shaped pieces. You can include Star fruit in your diet in the following ways:
Fruit Salad
While cutting up your regular fruits for your salad, make sure you cut up some star fruit as well. You can include star fruit in the salad, consisting of banana, kiwi, mango, pineapple, strawberry, and other fruits. To garnish your salad, you might as well want to add some honey to it and top it with some shredded coconut. And now you can enjoy your lousy afternoon with your highly healthy salad!
Green Salad
At lunch, while preparing your leafy greens with spinach, lettuce, bell peppers, cucumber, avocado, among other things, make sure you include your star fruit for that extra tanginess. It will make your salad taste different from your regular salad and will add to your nutrition significantly.
Add them to your seafood dishes
We all love seafood dishes with all our hearts. How about we make them more nutritious with a hint of star fruit to them? While serving delicious seafood dishes like – lobsters, ducks, chicken, and others, do not hesitate to add great pieces of star fruit alongside the dish. We guarantee you that it will make your dish look tasty and give you the MasterChef moment you have always dreamt about in the kitchen while preparing the dishes.
Star fruit juice
You can have star fruit juice in various ways. So, you can blend it with other fruits to make a smoothie; you can blend your star fruit with fruit syrup and make your own star fruit mocktail. Or, you can simply have the juice by mixing the fruit with water. In whichever way you consume it, it will give you the same benefits, and that is why you must try out the star fruit juice. Moreover, the juice will add to your daily dose of Vitamin C and will regulate your metabolism. Having star fruit juice twice or thrice a week will ensure your good skin and hair.
Star fruit leaves
Many people do not know that even the leaves of the fruit are extremely useful. It helps you out with your damaged skin cells and repairs them. The leaves will help you out if you have any of these skin conditions – dermatitis, skin rashes, eczema, pruritus, and dry skin. You can apply the shoots of the leaves on your skin, and it will cure chickenpox or ringworm if you have been suffering from it.
How much star fruit is too much?
You should include every food in your diet within certain limits, and star fruit is no such exception. So, you should check your intake of star fruit in your regular dietary habits. If you are consuming the fruit sliced up in pieces, make sure you don’t have it more than thrice a week. Or it could upset your stomach.
The correct amount of juice that you can consume in a day is 10-40 ml. Do NOT consume more than that, as it could mess up your digestive system and lose all its nutritional values.
Star fruit disadvantages
It is unfortunate that fruit with so much nutritional value also has its fair share of disadvantages. Scroll down below to know more about the disadvantages.
Upset stomach
Unripe star fruit has a higher amount of oxalate levels. If you consume too many unripe star fruits, it will mess up your digestive system. As a result, it can lead to an agitated stomach too. So, you must make sure that you consume ripe star fruit as it won’t trouble your metabolism.
Kidney stones
As we discussed in the previous point, star fruit has oxalic acid. Our body also produces a certain amount of oxalic acid every day as an excreta product.
People with some level of kidney disease are unable to excrete the oxalic acid and hence develop kidney stones. Thus, we recommend you not consume the star fruit if you are already affected by some sort of kidney disease.
If you are not suffering from the same, then your cue would be to check on your consumption of star fruit as it could affect your kidneys in the future.
Kidney diseases
People diagnosed with kidney diseases should stay far, far away from star fruit as it would only be detrimental for them. For instance, the Consumption of Carambola by kidney patients could invariably trigger neurological complications like – seizures. People with chronic kidney diseases must consult a doctor before consuming star fruit.
Star Fruit Side Effects
There are various side effects of star fruit if you don’t restrict your consumption of the same or if you are suffering from any sort of kidney disease.
Familiarize yourself with the side effects or poisoning symptoms of star fruit below:
- Hiccups
- Nausea
- Insomnia
- Vomiting
- Seizures.
The symptoms can start occurring within hours of consumption. Because of that, you should check your star fruit intake. These symptoms are usually triggered by the oxalic acid present in the fruit, which is extremely harmful to kidney patients.
Final Thoughts
As we come to the end of our blog today, you might have a question. Let us address it for you. Is star fruit dangerous to eat? The answer to this is NO. If you are a healthy functioning human being, then star fruit consumption is not at all dangerous.
Instead, it will add to your nutrition and make your regular diet healthier. But if you are a chronic kidney patient, please do NOT consume star fruit ever. It will only worsen your health, and we do not want that, do we? Stay healthy and have a balanced diet every day to stay fit and fine!