Why Is Carambola Good For Your Skin?

Benefits of Star Fruit (carambola) include; a good source of fiber, full-pack of ascorbic acid (vitamin c), control and management of anemia, has a strong inhibitory effect on microbes, good for inflammation reduction, giving a wonderful night’s sleep, keeps digestive process regular, co-ordinate metabolism, helpful to lose weight, highly hydrating, highly hypolipidemic, help to keep skin young, and plays an essential role in human medicine.

Just by merely looking at the similarity with Bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi), it is difficult to estimate all the umpteen benefits of star fruit.

Nutritional Value of Star Fruit with Quantity

• Protein 04 g
• Choline 6 mg
• Dietary fiber 2.8 g
• Energy 128 kJ (31 kcal)
• Carbohydrates 73 g
• Vitamin C 4 mg
• Vitamin B6 017 mg
• Iron 08 mg
• Vitamin E 15 mg
• Sugars 98 g
• Zinc 12 mg
• Fat 33 g
• Calcium 3 mg
• Potassium 133 mg

The star fruit (carambola) is that green garnish often displayed by the sweet potato vendor on his stand. Known as ‘Kamrakh’ in Hindi, ‘Thambaratham’ in Tamil, ‘Ambanamkaya’ in Telugu, ‘Chaturappuli’ in Malayalam, ‘Kaparakshi Hannu’ in Kannada, ‘Kamranga’ in Bengali, ‘Karambal’ in Marathi, and ‘Carambola’ in many parts of the world. This star-shaped fruit exists in both sour and sweet tastes. The sweet one dominates from summer to autumn while the sour fruit is seen from summer ending to the middle of winter.

It is indeed a rare commodity, but with very high nutritional value, and is widely used in our kitchens. It makes a great smoothie, juice, or shakes; it can also be eaten raw. It is best consumed when fresh, i.e., within 3-4 days of harvest, or else the nutritional value drops. Store the fruits in a dark, cool place.

Benefits on the Skin

1. Star Fruit is Packed-Full of Ascorbic Acid

Star fruit is a brilliant source of immune-boosting ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as it provides about 57 percent of humans’ daily value per each serving. This is the reason why you should source for it during flu and cold season. Vitamin C (ascorbic) also aids the synthesis of collagen, a protein that maintains the sound health of our hair, skin, and nails and strong. Also, it drives out harmful disease-causing free radicals and also fights infections from pathogens.

2. Good Source of Fiber

Women should take about 25 g of fiber every day, and carambola can help them meet that goal. A 100 g serving of star fruit gives up to 2.8 g of fiber, while citrus fruit gives 2.3. Star fruit also has insoluble dietary fiber, which keeps the digestive system bulky and helps keep us stable. Dietary fiber helps prevent the uptake of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from the intestine, limiting the risks of obesity and coronary heart disease.

3. Aids Motility of Beneficial Nutrient

Star fruit allows many other nutrients that are beneficial to the body and hair to be circulated more freely. It is a good natural cure for alopecia (hair loss) since it is a very good source of beneficial antioxidants and ascorbic acid, which may help slow down natural aging processes.

4. Rich in B-complex vitamins

Essential B-complex vitamins are highly needed for hair growth, hair strength, and general hair health; these vitamins are abundantly present in start fruit.

5. Low Calorie, Low Sugar

Start fruit is a very good fruit for low-carbohydrate for low-sugar eaters. A moderate-sized carambola provides a little beyond 6 g of carbohydrate and about 3.62 grams of sugar.

For folks embarking on a low-calorie ketogenic style diet for the very first time, star-fruits are just it. A moderate-sized portion has just 28 calories. So, do not be shy about including these sweet-and-sour fruits on your salad or smoothie in your next meal.

6. May Help Prevent Anemia

Anemia is prominent among infants and pregnant women, according to some publications by the World Health Organization. Iron-deficiency type of anemia is the most common type, which occurs when your body is very low on iron. Iron is very essential to produce red blood cells and to transport oxygen to respective body parts.

Medium-sized star fruit has just 0.08 mg of iron in it, but its high vitamin C level plays a vital role in boosting iron uptake. This leads to an increased synthesis of blood cells and thus helps us ward off lightheadedness and fatigue, which are the typical symptoms of anemia.

7. Stimulates Milk Flow During Lactation

This brilliant fruit is taken by lactating mothers as it is believed to help stimulate milk flow. A decoction of its roots and leaves (separately prepared or in combination) helps control ringworm, headaches, and chickenpox. To cure indigestion and nausea, take half a piece of star fruit and repeat its dose after every 3 hours.

8. Has an Inhibitory Effect on Microbes

Due to phytochemicals like flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, and steroids in star-fruits, the fruit has great anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal properties. When compared to mature or ripe fruits, the green (unripe) fruits have a very high inhibitory effect against microbes.

Carambola leaves work perfectly against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Streptococcus mutans) and also gram-negative bacteria (Proteus Vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). According to a comparative study, star fruit leaf extract is higher in anti-microbial activities when compared to papaya leaf extract and passion fruit.

9. Reduces Inflammation

The flavonoids in carambola like epicatechin, quercetin, and gallic acid may help prevent inflammation. With their great antioxidant properties, these good compounds neutralize deadly inflammatory disease-causing free radicals. The ascorbic acid in star fruit also serves as some anti-inflammatory and can reduce swelling in joints.

10. For Sore Eyes

The fruit has been widely used in the treatment of sore eyes. If you crave magnesium content in your diet, you should consider eating food rich in pyridoxine (vitamin B6) along with carambola.

11. Gives You a Good Night’s Sleep

The next time you get up with puffiness, irritability, bags (all signaling that you often don’t get enough sleep), just turn to carambola for help. The fruit is highly filled with magnesium (having about 10 g mg per 100 g star fruit serving), a sleep-enhancing mineral.  Magnesium achieves this by controlling the levels of gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Another way this fruit induces sleep is by controlling metabolism.

12. Keeps Digestive System Regular

The inner fleshy part and the waxy peel of carambola provide both insoluble and soluble fiber. Dietary fiber aids the maintenance of bowel health, improvement in nutrient uptake, and bioavailability of vitamins and minerals.

With just 30 calories per star, fruit plus lots of fiber, carambola, like passion fruit and kokum, is a good choice for folks trying to shed weight. It has about 9.5g of carbohydrate per serving and also around 2.5g of dietary fiber. These provide 3 percent of our daily required carbohydrates and around10% of the daily required dietary fiber. They are also high in flavonoids and antioxidants.

13. A One-stop Medicine Shop

This star fruit is a one-stop medicine shop. It is utilized throughout the world as a home remedy for sunburns and hangovers. It works perfectly on coughs, ulcers, sore throats, and fever. It also helps combat diabetes. The carambola plant leaves can be used to cure stomach ulcers, boils, and skin inflammation. It thus improves digestion. Flowers of the sweet carambola are good for curing coughs in infants.

14. Consolidate Vitamin Pack

In addition to the vitamins A (retinol), and C (ascorbic acid), that help keep our body metabolism in check (steady and strong), carambola is also rich in thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and niacin (vitamin B3) in very minute concentrations. It is really a good source of folic acid (vitamin B9), which helps to reduce several risks of stroke and heart disease, and it also has pantothenic acid (vitamin B5).

NOTE

• The star fruit is not your thing if you suffer any renal complaint; this is since star fruit has a very high oxalic acid concentration. Scientists have considered oxalic acid an anti-nutritional compound as it often interferes with the metabolism and absorption of several beneficial minerals such as magnesium, calcium, etc.
• Just like grapefruit, the carambola fruit may interfere with some other medications you use for other illnesses. If on prescription, endeavor to always consult a medical doctor.