6 April 2016
About PapayaThough papaya is a native to Central America, it has never been used in traditional American medicine. It spread to other tropical regions of the world including India, Philippines and East Africa by way of the Spanish and Portuguese explorers who visited these lands. This popular fruit is widely available these days and the plant's leaves and latex are made available at herb outlets.
Herbalists suggest using papaya fruit and leaf infusions for digestive problems including stomach upsets, to remove intestinal worms. The leaves and latex is used for healing wounds. Several digestive enzymes are present in the fruit, leaves and latex and these are the factors responsible for the digestive benefits it offers and its meat tenderizing effect. The maximum enzymes are in the latex followed by the leaves and then the fruits. The fruit still has enough of these enzymes to still function as digestive aid. Papaya is beneficial in a number of health issues, I will talk about a few of them here. The Health Benefits Of PapayaDigestion
Papain is by far the most important enzyme that helps to breakdown proteins. It does the same job that the human digestive enzyme pepsin does and thus is called the vegetable pepsin. Of the other enzymes, one is similar to the human rennin which breaks down milk proteins and the other is similar to pectase and it breaks down starches. Ulcers In an experiment, two groups of animals were given high doses of aspirin and steroids, which induce ulcers. One group was fed papaya six days prior to the ulcer inducing drugs. Animals of this group developed significantly fewer ulcers than the group not fed papaya. This study also suggests that papaya may be especially beneficial to arthritis sufferers who have to take high doses of aspirin and to those who take steroids to control inflammations. Slipped Disk In 1982 the Food and Drug Administration approved chymopapain which is another papaya enzyme, as a treatment for slipped disks in the back. Chymopapain injected directly into the affected area helps dissolve cellular debris. Heart Disease Papaya gives protection against heart diseases due to the powerful antioxidants in it. Vitamins A, C and E also are antioxidants which prevent oxidation of cholesterol thereby preventing the cholesterol from attaching to the walls of the blood vessels and consequently causing narrowing of the blood vessels. Because it prevents narrowing of the blood vessels, it helps in preventing stroke and heart attacks. I have written a detailed article about the health benefits, nutrition, uses of papaya leaves, seeds, fruit, tea and more, which you can read by clicking this health benefits of papaya article. Some Useful Videos |
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