A healthy diet during pregnancy benefits you and your child by providing the needed nutrition for growth and development, while also supporting a healthy weight gain. Fruit provides your body with many of the needed vitamins and minerals, and dragon fruit, or pitaya, is a beneficial choice.

Dragon fruit, named for its vibrant, spiky skin, is sometimes known as pitaya and is primarily grown in Mexico and Central and South America. Dragon fruit can also be found in Asian countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia and is a staple for Asian-inspired cooking.

Although native to Central and South America, the Chinese made the dragon fruit legendary with the story of its creation thousands of years ago by fire-breathing dragons. With its distinct skin and sweet flavor, it's hard to pass up this exotic fruit.