Overview

Dragon fruit is the fruit of a kind of cactus that grows in dry areas of South America. Usually the skin of the dragon fruit is red and the pulp is red or white. Dragon fruit is sometimes used as medicine. The fruit is also popular as a food.

Dragon fruit is used for diabetes, prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Dragon fruit contains chemicals which act as antioxidants. These compounds might help protect the body.

Dragon fruit can be eaten raw or made into wine, juice, spreads, or desserts. The flowers are sometimes eaten as a vegetable or made into a tea.

In manufacturing, the peel of the fruit is used as food coloring and as a thickener.

How does it work ?

Dragon fruit contains chemicals which act as antioxidants. These compounds might help protect the body.

Uses & Effectiveness

Insufficient Evidence for

  • Diabetes. Some early research shows that taking dragon fruit does not lower blood sugar levels in most people with type 2 diabetes. But more research is needed to see if higher doses might be beneficial.
  • Prediabetes. Early research shows that dragon fruit can lower blood sugar levels in most patients with prediabetes. Higher doses seem to be most effective.
  • Cancer.
  • Heart disease.
  • High blood pressure.
  • High cholesterol.
  • Obesity.
  • Wound healing.
  • Other uses.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of dragon fruit for these uses.

Side Effects

When taken by mouth: Dragon fruit is LIKELY SAFE when eaten as a food. There isn't enough reliable information to know if taking dragon fruit as medicine is safe or what the side effects might be. Some people might be allergic to dragon fruit.

Special Precautions and Warnings

When taken by mouth: Dragon fruit is LIKELY SAFE when eaten as a food. There isn't enough reliable information to know if taking dragon fruit as medicine is safe or what the side effects might be. Some people might be allergic to dragon fruit.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if dragon fruit is safe when used in medicinal amounts when pregnant or breast feeding. Stay on the safe side and stick to food amounts.

Diabetes: Dragon fruit might lower blood sugar levels. If you take dragon fruit, monitor your blood sugar levels closely.

Surgery: Dragon fruit might interfere with blood sugar control. Stop taking dragon fruit at least two weeks before a scheduled surgery.

Interactions

    Moderate Interaction

    Be cautious with this combination

  • Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs) interacts with Dragon Fruit

    Dragon fruit might lower blood sugar. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking dragon fruit along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to go too low. Monitor your blood sugar closely. The dose of your diabetes medication might need to be changed.

    Some medications used for diabetes include glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab, Micronase), insulin, metformin (Glucophage), pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide (Orinase), and others.

Dosing

The appropriate dose of dragon fruit depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for dragon fruit. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.
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CONDITIONS OF USE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This information is meant to supplement, not replace advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and is not meant to cover all possible uses, precautions, interactions or adverse effects. This information may not fit your specific health circumstances. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified health care provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

This copyrighted material is licensed from Therapeutic Research Center, LLC. Information from this source is evidence-based and objective, and without commercial influence. For professional medical information on natural medicines, see Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Professional Version.
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