When you get hold of a good-old-non-GMO papaya, these are the benefits you can look forward to:
1. Papaya is a good source of vitamins and minerals. It contains vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin B complex, and is rich in magnesium, copper and potassium. Vitamin A and vitamin C are both powerful antioxidants, so the fruit of the angels, as Christopher Columbus called it, destroys free radicals in the body the villains behind many chronic diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. You can read more about antioxidants and their role in our body in my previous article about these 9 amazing antioxidants for great health.
2. Papaya lowers your cholesterol levels. It inhibits the harmful LDL cholesterol and prevents it from sticking onto the walls of blood vessels and causing problems in the circulation that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. If you suffer from high cholesterol levels, you can find here 10 simple and effective ways to lower cholesterol naturally.
3. Papaya is rich in fiber and promotes digestive health. To keep your bowels happy and moving, your diet should be rich in dietary fiber. Papaya has loads, and one serving can satisfy a quarter of your daily recommended intake. Also, if you just underwent antibiotic treatment, make sure to eat some papaya, or drink papaya juice. The fruit does a good job at re-balancing your intestinal flora after an aggressive course of antibiotics. Papaya is one of the ingredients in this delicious digestive detox smoothie as the digestive enzyme papain helps to ease the burden of the complicated process of digestion.
4. Papaya contains unique enzymes that can lower inflammation. Chymopapin and papain are papayas protein-digesting enzymes that can help lower the bodys inflammatory reaction. Since rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that presents as an inflammation of the joints, eating papaya can assist with symptom control. Also, eating vitamin C rich papaya can reduce your chances of developing arthritis in the first place. You can find here more foods that help to reduce inflammation in the body.
5. Papaya boosts your immune system. Vitamin A and vitamin C, which both generously occur in papaya flesh, strengthen your immune system and help fight infections. You can also learn about other 10 quick life hacks to improve your immunity.
6. Papaya has anti-cancer activity. The antioxidants in papaya are praised for effectively fighting cancer. Papaya reduces a mans risk of developing prostate cancer, especially if combined with drinking green tea. It might also prevent cancer in your blood and bone marrow, by stopping the cells from oxidizing. The wonderful papaya enzyme, papain, can help relief side effects of chemotherapy. It is being studied for its beneficial effects on swallowing and mouth sores. This fruit has been shown to be a good protective measurement against colon cancer. With a little help from papaya, colon cells dont suffer DNA damage that could lead to new, potentially dangerous, growths. I recommend you to read my other posts about this subject: The best cooking methods for cancer prevention and the top 5 cancer causing foods to avoid.
7. Papaya can protect your eyesight. Beta carotene and vitamin A help to protect sight and can improve vision. A study published in Archives of Ophthalmology has pointed out that eating fruit can do a lot to prevent age-related macular degeneration. Three helpings of fruit a day are recommended, and papaya is a very suitable candidate due to its nutritional content. You can get more information in my post about the top 9 secrets to prevent eyesight problems and improve your vision naturally.
8. Papaya helps to prevent blood clots. Blood clots can narrow or block blood vessels, or sometimes they can dislodge and travel to the heart or brain and cause a heart attack or stroke. Papaya contains fibrin, which prevents blood coagulation and enables the blood to flow freely. So make sure to put a slice of papaya in your morning cereal or in your breakfast shake. Of course, to prevent blood clotting, you will need to remove other risk factors from your life too, starting with smoking. You can also eat turmeric every day to prevent blood clots read more about it here. There are also a number of herbs that can improve your blood circulation and you can find more information about them in my e-book The Herbal Remedies Guide.
9. Eating papaya reduces your stress levels. A papaya snack not only fills your stomach, but it can also make you feel more relaxed. Vitamin C regulates the flow of stress hormones and can bring you back to your balanced zen-state. Well, it might take a bit more than just a slice of papaya for that, but its a good start. If you want to reduce your stress, read my post about 14 effective natural remedies for stress and anxiety.
10. It is good for your skin. Have you noticed that papaya often features in cosmetic products,such as creams, face masks and hair softeners? It is renowned for its beauty benefits. Papayas vitamin E and beta carotene prevent cell damage through their antioxidant activity. Vitamin E also supports collagen production, which is the substance that keeps your skin firm and elastic, in other words young-looking. Beta carotene further smoothies away the wrinkles and makes you look fresh. Try a face mask and expose your skin to the magic ingredients.
Essential oils can also be used for maintaining healthy skin and for treating certain skin conditions. You can find more information in my e-book Magical Aromatherapy which will help you to discover the most effective ways to use essential oils to unlock their amazing healing power.
The benefits of papaya seeds and how to use them
When you cut a papaya, the insides look very inviting, and the seeds can easily be scooped out. They are high in fat and protein, and contain plenty of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Think twice before you discard them, as they can be used in many ways. According to Maryland Medical Center and Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical medicine, papaya seeds are great for getting rid of intestinal parasites. A recent study showed that people who were taking honey together with papaya seeds, cleared their stool of parasites in 23 out of 30 cases. Papaya seeds are also credited with anti-cancerous properties. The seeds have a distinct, slightly peppery flavor. They can be eaten as they are, or you can sprinkle them over salads and other dishes, just as you would use pumpkin seeds. Those who are not afraid of the spicy flavor, can try them in a smoothie. http://www.healthyandnaturalworld.com/reasons-to-eat-papaya/
Papaya Health Benefits and Papaya in Medicine.
Medical and health benefits of papaya for cancer, gastro treatments and other diseases.
The parts used medicinally are the fruit, seeds, stems and leaves of papaya (lat. Carica papaya), or paw paw, also used for revitalizing human's body and organism.
Also referring to the papaya / pawpaw leaf extract cancer cure with more on papaya facts, enzymes and natural healing properties. Macro photo of papaya leaf having measurement 1 foot or 30 cm across in diameter.
Papaya, Paw Paw, Papaw, Tree Melon (botanical name Carica papaya), it has oblong shape, normally greenish yellow, yellow or orange color. It is a large tree plant fruit usually reaching 2.5kg.
It has bitter sweet taste and comes from tropical places with higher humidity, native to Mexico, countries of Central America, Thailand, Africa and Asia and growing well in Australia.
[h=1]Papaya Health Benefits[/h] Paw Paw how we call it here in Australia is these days plentiful all year round in most of the countries. The parts that are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems and leaves. I did look around and found out you can buy paw paw in all forms, in a form of fermented papaya, herbal teas even tablets and of course plenty of the fresh fruit, which can be eaten as it is or in a form of juice. So you ask what are these awesome healing properties of paw paw? Well where do I start? Papaya fruit is and excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, C and E. It also contains small amount of calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and niacine. It is also very rich in antioxidant nutrients flavonoids and carotenes, very high in vitamin C plus A, and low in calories and sodium. PawPaw tree. Paw paw is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids. The latest research shows that amino acids are responsible for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health. As we age we produce less of the digestive enzymes in our stomach and pancreas, which leads to ineffective digestion of proteins. Due to this we end up with excess amount of undigested protein, which leads to overgrowth of the bad bacteria in our gastrointestinal system and not enough of amino acids to perform all important chemical reactions. We can say that good quality protein is absolutely essential for our healthy being. This is where the papaya enzymes can be very beneficial.
The papain enzymes are produced in the skinny peel of paw paw. The combination of these enzymes repels insect during the ripening, without this protection paw paw fruit would not survive. Eating paw paw after a meal makes for better digestion, prevents bloating and chronic indigestion. It can also lower the inflammation in the body, alleviates the pain and edema caused by sport injuries. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties papaya can relieve the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Because of its high antioxidant content, papaya can prevent cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a preventative treatments against atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks and diabetic heart disease.
In a everyday health papaya works magic on strengthening the immune system preventing the recurrent colds and flu. After treatment with antibiotics eating paw paw or drinking its juice replenishes the good intestinal bacteria, which was destroyed by the antibiotic treatment. The latest good news from eating paw paw comes down once again to papain the enzyme which I talked about, it was found to destroy intestinal parasites. Papain is proteolitic enzyme, which means that it digests inert (non-living) proteins. Intestinal parasites are largely protein, the papain attacks it and causes parasite to die. Also, home applications of leaf and bark papaya extract is used to deal with mouth gums and toothaches which is being effectively practised in many cultures around the world.
[h=1]Papaya Research and Products[/h] Papain is also being studied for relief of cancer therapy side effects, especially relieving side effects such as difficulty swallowing and mouth sores after radiation and chemotherapy as well as boosting up the immune system and helping body to fight the cancer. I am big fan of the products made by Rochway, Australian company, as they use organically grown papaya, producing among other products, product called Papaya35, fermented papaya enzymes. They also produce Blueberry and PawPaw probiotic Punch, which has very strong antioxidant properties that protects against free radicals. Free radicals contribute largely in many diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Rochway products are 99% sugar free which makes them suitable for people suffering diabetes as well. As you can see there is plenty we can benefit from this simple fruit, more and more research is being done and I can’t wait to hear more about it. For references and more on the current studies you can look up PubMed Gov. ( search www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ ) as for the products there are few available on the market. I am sure if you look around you will be able to find many available or simply stick with the fresh fruit. However if you are looking or hoping for more therapeutic effect of eating papaya, you need to be aware the unripened papaya (still green papaya) contains far more of the proteolytic enzymes papain and chymopapain than ripened papaya which we commonly eat. You can also juice the leaves and stems but be prepared for the vile taste of it …. you can’t naturally like its taste nor does the cancer cells.
[h=1]Summary of Healing Properties of Papaya[/h]
Increases quality of proteins in whole organism.
Revitalize the human body and maintain energy and vitality.
Encourages the renewal of muscle tissue.
Supports cardiovascular system.
Boosts up the immune system.
Helps with the digestive system, by breaking down the proteins and supporting production of digestive enzymes.
Papaya can be use also externally as a treatment for skin wounds that don’t heal quickly, for this you can use papaya peel or ointments made out of papaya.
Prevents the cataract formation.
Due to high vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and passive smokers.
Alleviates inflammation.
Helps with the nausea and constipation.
Can benefit people suffering colon cancer and other forms of cancers and aliments of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.
PawPaw tree.
