Health & Nutritional Benefits of Lychee Fruit

Dr. Purushothaman
July 24, 2019

Litchi or Lychee is a juicy and delicious fruit of the summers. As everyone knows, the fruit is very sweet and extremely nutritious. Apart from these, it gives a cooling effect to the body that helps the body to be cool during summers. Lychee is an exotic fruit that belongs to the Sapindaceae family and the scientific name is Litchi Chinensis. Eating Lychee can help us to stay fit and healthy as it is one of the best berries with great nutritional value.

Lychee is a slow growing tree with the medium size. The fruit it bears is oval in shape and measures around 4 to 5 cm in length and 3 cm in diameter. The outer skin is rough and pink in color. After peeling it off, you get to see white translucent berry that is sweet and bit juicy. It has a sweet taste and its flavor is really pleasant. Fresh lychees can be found in the market during the months of May to October.

Some of the Health Benefits of Lychee

  • Lychee has 66 calories for 100 g. It does not have any kind of saturated fats or even cholesterol. It has a good amount of dietary fiber, antioxidants and vitamins.

  • Lychee has minerals such as copper and potassium. Potassium is a very important component that is found in the cell. It helps in controlling the heart rate as well as the blood pressure. You can be assured of protection against stroke as well as heart diseases when potassium is inside the body. The production of red blood cells will increase with the presence of Copper.

  • A kind of polyphenol called Oligonol is seen in abundance in lychee. Oligonol is very good for the body as it is a good antioxidant and also acts as an influenza protection for the body. It is also good in improving the flow of the blood to various organs of the body. Weight loss in a healthy way is possible with Oligonol. It also is a good protection for the skin against the very harmful ultra violet rays.

  • Lychee contains Vitamin C. As per the studies, daily consumption of lychee will help the body provide good supply of vitamin c which in turn helps the body to increase the immunity against various diseases.

  • B-complex vitamins like folates, thiamin and niacin can be found in lychee. Helping the body in metabolizing fats, carbohydrates and proteins are done easily with these vitamins.

It is always essential to eat healthy food to stay healthy. When you choose the right fruits to be included in your diet, you will be able to stay hale and healthy and will be free from all kinds of infections. Lychee is a fruit that is the right one to be added to your diet since it has almost all the essential vital nutrients sufficient for your body to stay perfect.

Storage

Keep the fruit moistened so that it remains fresh and good to eat. Lychees are to be stored at room temperature if they will be consumed within 2 or 3 days. But if you plan to increase the shelf life, then make sure to refrigerate it or else it might dry out as within a day. You will be able to find frozen, canned and dried variations of the fruit in the stores.

Serving the fruit

You need to separate each fruit right from the stalk. Washing them in cold water will help them the stay moistened. Pinch the stem lightly and peal the skin softly. You can use a paring knife to make an incision on the touch skin in lengthwise right to the tip. Never squeeze the flesh as you might end up squeezing out the juice. After peeling the tough skin, there will be a thinner inner membrane. The white jelly flesh will just melt in the mouth. Make sure not to swallow the seed.

You can enjoy lychee without any seasoning as it is really tasty. You can also add them to salads as well as dressings. Juice it up during summers to stay cool. They can be also be made into sauces, jams, jellies and syrups. Enjoy the goodness of lychee fruit and stay healthy!!

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