Does Dragon Fruit Make Your Poop Red? Yes, your poop and urine can turn red if you eat a lot of dragon fruit, which is thanks to red pigments in dragon fruit called betalains – which are normally broken down in the stomach and colon.
Bright red or maroon-coloured stools can be the result of consuming scarlet-coloured foods such as beetroot or dragon fruit.
If you eat enough red dragon fruit, it might turn your pee pink or red. This symptom looks more alarming than it actually is. The same thing can happen if you eat a lot of beets. Your pee should turn back to its normal color once the fruit is out of your system.
Certain foods may cause your stools to look red. These include cranberries, tomatoes, beets, or food that is dyed red. Other foods may cause your stools to look black. These include blueberries, dark leafy vegetables, or black licorice.
Yellow dragon fruit is high in fiber, making it a natural laxative. It specifically contains a lot of soluble fiber, Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian nutritionist, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of “Read It Before You Eat It," tells TODAY.com. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and other body fluids.
Dragon Fruit has a high fibre content and helps clean out the system, keeping poor digestion and constipation at bay. In fact, the type of fibre it has can even help reduce risk of certain cancers, heart disease, manage Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Like its red counterpart, the yellow dragon fruit is a natural laxative, offering almost 5 grams of fiber for every six-ounce serving. Most of the fiber in dragon fruit is soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, softening stools and acting like a sponge to carry cholesterol out of the body.
Beets, cherries, tomatoes and artificially colored red foods can turn bowel movements (and urine) an unsettling shade of red. Fortunately, this effect resolves naturally within a day or two.
Blood from your stool could look bright red, or it might be dark red or black. How the blood looks depends on where it is coming from. Spots of red blood on the toilet paper, drops in the toilet bowl, blood on the surface of your stool or in your underwear indicate the bleeding is coming from the anus or lower rectum.
One of the main reasons why pregnant and nursing women should avoid consuming dragon fruit is the risk of allergic reactions. Although rare, some people may experience allergic reactions after consuming dragon fruit. The symptoms of an allergic reaction may include itching, swelling, rashes, and difficulty breathing.
A. Eating one whole dragon fruit is generally safe since it is low in calories. Although dragon fruit is good for health, too much of everything is bad. Over Consumption may cause allergic reactions in some people.
For the most part, dragon fruit is safe to eat and offers many health benefits due to its vitamin C and antioxidant properties. The fruit is low in calories, making it a perfect everyday snack.
We get most of our daily iron intake through meats, fish, nuts, and legumes. But dragon fruit is one of the few fruits that is high in iron (8% of the DRI)—essential for the production of hemoglobin, which assists red blood cells in moving oxygen throughout the body's tissues.
As Dragon Fruit is high in water and dietary fibre, it's an excellent natural remedy for child (and adult) constipation. The black seeds are also said to have a mild laxative effect.
Consult your health care provider if you're concerned about your stool color. If your stool is bright red or black — which may indicate the presence of blood — seek prompt medical attention. Food may be moving through the large intestine too quickly, such as due to diarrhea.
Make an appointment to see your doctor if you have rectal bleeding that lasts more than a day or two, or earlier if the bleeding worries you.
Common benign (non-serious) causes — If you see a small amount of bright red blood on the toilet paper after wiping, on the outside of your stool, or in the toilet, this may be caused by hemorrhoids or an anal fissure. Both of these conditions are benign, and there are treatments that can help.
Green stool can also be a sign of food poisoning. It may also mean that food is moving too quickly through your large intestine and is common in people with conditions like colitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Red.
In some people, certain foods may irritate the lining of the intestines, which can lead to bloody stools. In other cases, bloody stools can result from an underlying health condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Certain foods, such as beetroot, can also cause stools to appear red, which is harmless.
Antioxidants in excess are harmful
However, excessive dragon fruit-eating can result in an overabundance of antioxidants, such as beta-carotene, which can contribute to lung cancer. A higher vitamin E consumption also raises the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
General studies have shown no side effects in people eating dragon fruit. However, if someone is allergic to fruit, they may show symptoms like swelling of the tongue, irritation, or itching of the tongue, points out the dietician. Dragon fruit is also great to improve gut health.
It may improve your gut health
Healthy bacteria in your gut may help digestion and even reduce colon cancer risk. Dragon fruit is a prebiotic that boosts the growth of probiotics lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. “Some studies appear to show that dragon fruit promoted the growth of healthy gut bacteria,” says Prescott.