Its characteristic red skin attracts the attention of those who consume it. When you taste it, its
flavour immediately captivates you. Lychee is a very healthy fruit that provides many nutrients to
your body. However, there are also many doubts about the convenience of its consumption.
Specifically, many wonder if it is safe to eat lychees. To do this, we review the characteristics
and properties of this fruit to get to know it better and dispel myths.
WHAT IS LYCHEE
It is a subtropical fruit of Chinese origin with deep red skin. Inside it has a whitish pulp that is
juicy and sweet. At the end of the 19th century, lychee arrived in Mexico thanks to Chinese
immigrants who came to work on the railroad works.
Sinaloa was the first state in which lychee cultivation began. Its production spread to the rest
of the world, mainly in the 1980s. Today it is easy to find lychee in markets on wheels or
stationary, as well as in supermarkets. Many people can’t resist its great taste!
What Are The Benefits Of Eating Lychee
It is a fruit that provides many benefits to the body because it is rich in vitamin C, fibre and
healthy minerals such as vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron and folic acid.
In addition, it has excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties due to its content of
vitamin C and flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol). It allows it to help strengthen the immune
system and reduce the risk of heart disease and Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. It helps
to promote the reverse ageing process.
In addition to being eaten as a delicious fruit, lychee is used as an ingredient to prepare
great-tasting desserts or drinks.
Is It Safe To Eat Lychees?
The answer to this question is that its consumption is completely safe. Around lychee, there
are doubts about whether it is safe to ingest them due to deaths involving this fruit. In 2019, a
group of minors allegedly died from the consumption of this fruit in India. However, two
investigations seem to have the answer to these cases.
One of the studies published in the 2015 Chemical Research in Toxicology, and one more from
Lancet Global Health found that there are two substances called Hypoglycin A and Methyl
Cyclopropyl Glycine inhibits gluconeogenesis, that is, the process by which new glucose
is produced in the liver.
Consuming both substances on an empty stomach and without eating anything afterwards
puts people’s health at risk. In the case of the children who died in India, it was found that their
nutritional status was poor and that they consumed lychees in large quantities. Both
circumstances could favour intoxication due to a lack of glycogen, a kind of energy reserve
transformed into glucose when necessary.
