One of the enjoyment of eating durians is to pry open the hard thorny shells yourself, revealing the yellow thick flesh and welcoming the strong scent of this King of Fruits.
Even our cat B.B. loves to eat durians.
When I was pregnant with my first child, my foetus was diagnosed to have intrauterine growth retardation. meaning she was showing signs of slow growth. This potential disorder naturally worried us as parents. I did a more detailed scan and thankfully there was no fetal genetic disorder diagnosed.
Nonetheless, we were at a loss, not knowing how we can help our baby gain weight quickly. Fortunately, my gynae recommended that I start to eat durians. Based on his experience, “Durians give big babies”. I must admit I was a bit skeptical about this initially but was more than willing to try as I like durians.
When I was young, my father used to buy big sacks of durians during the durian season (typically June till August) and sat the whole family around to have a durian feast. It was always an enjoyable feast but we never really know the benefits of eating durians. We did know that it is an expensive fruit and you either love it or hate it. Also, if you ate too much of durians, your body will feel “heatiness” and you will experience sore throat and such. That is why we often eat durians together with “cooling” fruits such as mangosteens (which happen to share the same harvest season as durians).
So back to my durian quest during my first pregnancy.
I took durians about once a week for a few months and to my pleasant surprise and relief, my baby did gain weight. In fact she gained weight so fast near my EDD that my gynae got worried that the baby will get too big and it will be a difficult birthing for me. In the end, my baby was delivered well and at a weight of 3.6 kg.
This episode got me interested in knowing more about the nutrition of durians.
Apparently, durians, like bananas and avocados, is a high energy fruit. 100g of its flesh provides 147 calories. It is also rich in minerals such as potassium (regulates heart rate and blood pressure) and vitamins (vitamin C for resistance against infectious agents and B-complex vitamins for breaking down nutrients and provide new energy).
So the next time you feel that you need to feel rejuvenated, take durians!
If you wish to know more about durians and where to get good ones from honest sellers in Singapore, check out Hungry Ang Moh’s blog post on durians.
BGO Ecoshop 