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Durian Sellers - recommendations and to avoid

Aukang

By Aukang,
in Makan Corner

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Fcw75

Fcw75

Hypersonic
Durians’ thorny issues: Experts debunk 5 commonly-held beliefs about the fruit
Some facts: Durians are cholesterol-free, but they have a high sugar content. Their high fibre and carbohydrate content may also cause heartburn and bloatedness, made worse if consumed with alcohol.ST FILE PHOTO
PUBLISHED
JUL 14, 2015, 5:00 AM SGT
Dietitians and doctors debunk some commonly held beliefs about the fruit
Poon Chian Hui

The durian season is in full swing, but those who are also health-conscious may find themselves thinking twice about joining in the feast or holding back.

After all, the fruit has a "bad name", said Ms Bibi Chia, principal dietitian at Raffles Diabetes and Endocrine Centre.

It is said to be fattening, high in cholesterol and "heaty" .

Here, she and her colleagues dissect five commonly held health beliefs about the king of fruit.

1. People with high cholesterol should not eat durian as it can worsen their condition.

  • NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

  • (per 100g of Malaysian durian, or about three seeds)

    Energy 160kcal

    Protein 2.5g

    Total fat 2.8g

    Saturated fat 0.85g

    Dietary fibre 3.1g

    Carbohydrate 31.1g

    Cholesterol 0mg

    Sodium 8mg

The good news is, you won't find a trace of cholesterol in durians.

 

The durian also contains monosaturated fats, which may help to lower one's level of triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, said Dr Abel Soh, an endocrinologist at Raffles Diabetes and Endocrine Centre.

But, Ms Chia said, the durian also contains a small amount of harmful saturated fat, which is linked to heart disease.

2. The fruit is heaty and can cause coughs and even fever, if you overindulge in it.

It depends on whether you go with the Western or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective.

The concept of "heatiness" stems from TCM. Durian is considered to possess a "warming" property, said Mr Chew Hong Gian, a TCM physician at Raffles Chinese Medicine.

"For people whose body constitutions are predisposed to heatiness, overindulgence in durians can induce a phlegmy cough, sore throat and constipation," said Mr Chew, adding that fever may also result.

In Western medicine, said Dr Michael Wong, deputy medical director of Raffles Medical, while it is "scientifically" possible that eating durians causes a slight increase in one's body temperature, this does not constitute a fever or lead to coughs or respiratory infections.

The rise in body temperature is due to metabolic and chemical processes that occur when the body digests the dense fruit, he said.

3. Eating durian together with alcohol can be lethal, and taking it with milk can be dangerous, too.

Scientific evidence has not conclusively supported this link, said Dr Wong. Instead, some people suffer from heartburn and bloatedness after feasting on durians, due to the relatively high content of fibre and carbohydrate. This may then be worsened by alcohol intake.

In TCM, drinks with a high alcoholic content have aggressive warming effects, said Mr Chew.

"(When such drinks are) taken with durians, which are also warm in nature, these effects are accentuated and can unsettle the body's natural yin-yang balance."

This can aggravate existing medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, and pose severe health risks, he added.

4. Pour salt water into the husk and drink from it to regulate the "heatiness" from eating durians.

There is some truth in this - in TCM, salt water is believed to help reduce toxins and heatiness.

"It can moderate the undesirable effects of eating durians," said Mr Chew. But there is no need to drink it from the durian husk.

5. Diabetics can eat durians without much worry and the fruit does not taste sugary.

The fruit actually has a high sugar content, so people with diabetes will need to be careful how much they eat.

The flesh around three durian seeds can contain between 20g and 30g of carbohydrates, said Dr Soh. This is equivalent to the amount of sugar in half a can of regular Coke (20g) or a bowl of white rice (30g).

Ms Chia said diabetics should limit their durian intake to just one or two seeds a day.

 

 

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Kxbc

Kxbc

Turbocharged

 

 
 

3. Eating durian together with alcohol can be lethal, and taking it with milk can be dangerous, too.

Scientific evidence has not conclusively supported this link, said Dr Wong. Instead, some people suffer from heartburn and bloatedness after feasting on durians, due to the relatively high content of fibre and carbohydrate. This may then be worsened by alcohol intake.

In TCM, drinks with a high alcoholic content have aggressive warming effects, said Mr Chew.

"(When such drinks are) taken with durians, which are also warm in nature, these effects are accentuated and can unsettle the body's natural yin-yang balance."

This can aggravate existing medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, and pose severe health risks, he added.

 

this myth about taking milk with lew lian being fatal is the most boliao one.

 

what about lew lian ice cream? it's lew lian mixed with milk. eat so many years already still never die what!

why huh? you very free or letting go of steam?  [laugh]

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Heartlander

Heartlander

Turbocharged

Another myth that people commonly have is that those gout sufferers should keep away from durians as far as possible. I used to hear anecdotes from close family members that their so and so close friend would have gouts flare even if indulge with a seed of durians, so I should noit eat it blah blah blah.

 

But for me is really the opposite. I never eat much durians until 2 to 3 years back when I started buying regularly. Then I started to experiment eating durians with my gouts condition, and slowly saw the coincidence that eating durian would not cause my gouts to flare, but instead would work like my regular gouts medicine to suppress the condition to heal faster! I could be feeling slight pain in my ankle, signalling possible flare, and the condition would go away with just a few seeds of durians overnight! And even under normal situation, my leg would feel stronger just by eating a bit of durians. To share I am also suffering from a physical condition which make it painful sometime to walk in the morning after just waking up.

 

Mind you it takes some courage to be willing to experiment with gouts condition as those sufferers will know the pain involve. But I can tell you this is no coincidence as it has been proven many times over. And that is one of the main reasons I have been buying and eating durians now. Good excuse right, haha.

 

I would be very happy if some in medical field could do any trial to see if really effective. All this while nobody in western world are doing it for obvious reasons that most ang moh think durians are stinky. Would be great if some one could do it locally. Another reason to eat more durians. I always tell my wife I could be credited with this discovery haha.

 

But I would not advice to eat whe ngouts is full flare, but eat it only when it is flaring up - got slight pain but not swollen yet. If full flare, better keep away as the fruit is sweet which is bad for gouts actually.

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Credor

Credor

Twincharged

How’s the taste of the Pahang MSW?

Creamy and the taste was stronger than the previous last season...IMHO

Took up their promo as well. IMO, the golden phoenix was better than the MSW as seeds were smaller. Their MSW seeds quite big...

Yup..most of Jin feng seeds were smaller, MSW.... Think about 80% of it also have smaller seeds.

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Ender

Ender

Hypersonic

See you guys post pahang MSW, sibei tempted. For the past few round, I had my MSW during the afternoon to avoid the crowd, but  only Johor one, as Pahang arrive later in the evening, peak hour.

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Hamburger

Hamburger

Hypersonic
(edited)

Me friend went back home town at pahang.

 

Showed me the pic of the durian there. I want!!!!!!

post-25943-0-10322100-1531838389_thumb.jpg

Edited by Hamburger
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