Health benefits of Papaya

Papaya is one of the cheapest fruits available everywhere. But many people don't like to eat the fruit due to the peculiar pungent smell. In this post I have covered the health benefits of papaya and I hope that the readers will start to like and eat the fruit after reading this post.


The papaya (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, and was first cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations.

Two kinds of papayas are commonly grown. One has sweet, red (or orangish) flesh, and the other has yellow flesh; in Australia these are called "red papaya" and "yellow papaw", respectively. Either kind, picked green, is called a "green papaya."

                      
      Red Papaya                                           Yellow Papaya  

                                


                                    Green Papaya

Uses

Papayas can be used as a food, a cooking aid, and in traditional medicine. The stem and bark may be used in rope production.

Nutrients, phytochemicals and culinary practices

The ripe fruit of the papaya is usually eaten raw, with or without skin or seeds.Papaya fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, B vitamins, dietary minerals and dietary fibre. 


Papaya skin, pulp and seeds also contain a variety of phytochemicals, including natural phenols. Danielone is a phytoalexin found in the papaya fruit. This compound showed high antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloesporioides, a pathogenic fungus of papaya.

The unripe green fruit can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads, and stews. Green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked. In Thai cuisine, papaya is used to make som tam and kaeng som when still not fully ripe. In Indonesian cuisine, the unripe green fruits and young leaves are boiled for use as part of lalab salad, while the flower buds are sautéed and stir fried with chillies and green tomatoes asMinahasan papaya flower vegetable dish. 


Papayas have a relatively high amount ofpectin, which can be used to make jellies. The smell of ripe, fresh papaya flesh can strike some people as unpleasant.

The black seeds of the papaya are edible and have a sharp, spicy taste. They are sometimes ground and used as a substitute for black pepper.

In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of the papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach.

In some parts of the world, papaya leaves are made into tea as a treatment fo rmalaria. Anti-malarial and anti-plasmodial activity has been noted in some preparations of the plant,but the mechanism is not understood and no treatment method based on these results has been scientifically proven.

Meat tenderizing

Both green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are rich in papain, a protease used for tenderizingmeat and other proteins. Its ability to break down tough meat fibers was used for thousands of years by indigenous Americans. It is now included as a component in powdered meat tenderizers.

Folk medicine

Papaya is marketed in tablet form to remedy digestive problems.

Papain is also applied topically (in countries where it grows) for the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns.


Papain ointment is commonly made from fermented papaya flesh, and is applied as a gel-like paste. Harrison Ford was treated for a ruptured disc incurred during filming of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by papain injections.

Women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other countries have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. 


Enslaved women in the West Indies were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery.

Preliminary research

Preliminary medical research in animals has confirmed the potential contraceptive and abortifacient capability of papaya, and also found that papaya seeds have contraceptive effects in adult male langur monkeys, and possibly in adult male humans.^] Unripe papaya is especially effective in large amounts or high doses. Ripe papaya is not teratogenic and will not cause miscarriage in small amounts. Phytochemicals in papaya may suppress the effects of progesterone.

Allergies and side effects

Other preliminary research indicates alternate possible effects which remain to be further studied. Papaya juice has an in vitro antiproliferative effect on liver cancer cells, possibly due to lycopene or immune system stimulation.


Papaya seeds might contain antibacterial properties againstEscherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus or Salmonella typhi. Papaya seed extract may have effects in toxicity-induced kidney failure.

The papaya fruit, seeds, latex, and leaves also contains carpaine, an anthelminticalkaloid (a drug that removes parasitic worms from the body), which can be dangerous in high doses.

Excessive consumption of papaya can cause carotenemia, the yellowing of soles and palms, which is otherwise harmless. However, a very large dose would need to be consumed; papaya contains about 6% of the level of beta carotene found in carrots (the most common cause of carotenemia).

Source and for other information:http://en.wikipedia.org

I want to share the following additional information on the health benefits of Papaya as received by an email from a friend.

Now University of Florida (UF) researcher Dr. Nam Dang and his colleagues inJapan have announced new evidence that the papaya fights cancer cells. In fact, they discovered that an extract made from dried papaya leaves produced a dramatic anti-cancer effect against a broad range of tumors grown in the laboratory — including cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas. The study, recently published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, not only showed that papaya has a direct anti-tumor effect on a variety of malignancies, but it also documented for the first time that papaya leaf extract increases the production of key signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines. That’s important because this regulation of the immune system raises the strong possibility that the use of papaya could help the body’s own immune system to overcome cancers. In addition, it suggests papaya could be helpful in treating or preventing other health problems such as inflammation and autoimmune diseases. The research team found that papaya’s anti-cancer effects were strongest when cancer cells received larger doses of the papaya leaf extract — yet, unlike many mainstream cancer therapies, there were no toxic effects at all on normal cells. In a statement to the media, Dr. Dang pointed out that the ability of papaya extract to stop cancer without toxicity is consistent with reports from indigenous populations in Australia and in his native Vietnam . “Based on what I have seen and heard in a clinical setting, nobody who takes this extract experiences demonstrable toxicity; it seems like you could take it for a long time — as long as it is effective,” stated Dr. Dang, who is a professor of medicine and the medical director of the UF Shands Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office. Papaya Nutrition Papaya is an excellent source of vitamin C, with one medium papaya containing about 150% of the Daily value. It is also a good source of vitamin A, in beta-carotene form. It is also a good source of vitamin K, vitamin E and folate as well as the mineral potassium. Papaya for Heart Disease Prevention One of the health benefits of papaya is related to the fact that it contains high doses of three vitamins involved in heart disease prevention- vitamin A, vitamin E and beta-carotene. In addition, the high levels of folate found in papayas can   help lower levels of the heart disease promoting amino acid homocysteine. Papaya for Cold and Flu Prevention Foods high in vitamin C, such as papaya, help boost the immune system. Vitamin C has been shown to help ward off symptoms of influenza A, the common cold and pneumonia. Vitamin A provides additional immune system support.   Papaya for Neural Tube Defect Prevention Because papayas are rich in folate, they have applications in preventing neural tube defects. Eating folate-rich foods pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy can help the fetal spinal column to develop normally. Papaya for Digestive Health Papaya contains special digestive enzymes, called papain and chymopapain, which help digest proteins. Papaya is often used as a detoxification food and to give the digestive system a break, because it is so rich in its own digestive enzymes. Papaya also contains anti-oxidant vitamins C and E as well as folate, all of which can help prevent colon cancer.

The recipe for papaya leaf juice is as follows:    

  

Wash and partly dry several medium-size papaya leaves. Cut them up like cabbage and place them in a saucepan with 2 quarts/ litres of water. Bring the water and leaves to the boil and simmer without a lid until the water is reduced by half.

 

Strain the liquid and bottle in glass containers.

The concentrate will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days. If it
becomes cloudy, it should be discarded.

 

The recommended dosage in the original recipe is 3 Tablespoons/ 50ml
three times a day. It is recommended to read Papaya The Medicine Tree for the interesting stories of "incurable" people who have used this extract to beat their cancer, and for other medicinal uses of papaya. 

   

Dengue Fever Remedy

I would like to share this interesting discovery from a classmate's son who has just recovered from dengue fever. Apparently, his son was in the critical stage at the ICU when his blood platelet count drops to 15 after 15 liters of blood transfusion.

His father was so worried that he seeks another friend's recommendation and his son was saved. He confessed to me that he gave his son raw juice of the papaya leaves. From a platelet count of 45 after 20 liters of blood transfusion, and after drinking the raw papaya leaf juice, his platelet count jumps instantly to 135. Even the doctors and nurses were surprised. After the second day he was discharged. So he asked me to pass this good news around.

 

Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves, 2pcs just cleaned and pound and squeeze with filter cloth. You will only get one tablespoon per leaf. So two tablespoon per serving once a day. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will loose its strength. Only the leafy part and no stem or sap. It is very bitter
and you have to swallow it like "Wong Low Kat". But it works. 

 

*Papaya Juice - Cure for Dengue*   

You may have heard this elsewhere but if not I am glad to inform you that papaya juice is a natural cure for dengue fever. As dengue fever is rampant now, I think it's good to share this with all.

Amazing but it's true. It's believed one's body would be overheated when one is down with dengue and that also caused the patient to have fever papaya juice has cooling effect. Thus, it helps to reduce the level of heat in one's body, thus the fever will go away. I found that it's also good when one is having sore throat or suffering from heat.

Please spread the news about this as lately there are many dengue cases. It's great if such natural cure could help to ease the sufferings of dengue
patients.

Furthermore it's so easily available. Blend them and squeeze the juice! It's
simple and miraculously effective!!