Spiny on the outside, sweet on the inside, pineapples are enjoyable tropical fruits that have been well known not only for their distinct and unique taste, but also for their health benefits.
They are often common components of fruit salads, juice and sweets and have a multitude of health and medicinal benefits that help improve fitness and well being of the body.
These benefits are observed to be seen across the body and is effective across diffrent organs within the body.
Some of these benefits include their ability to improve respiratory health, improve digestion, help you lose weight, strengthen bones, improve oral health, boost eye health, reduce inflammation and prevent cancer just to mention a few.
It’s also a storehouse of huge health benefits due to its wealth of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, including potassium, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, beta carotene, thiamin, B6, and folate, as well as soluble and insoluble fiber, and bromelain.
Below are some of the health benefits of pineapple
Immune System: pineapples has one of the richest and most delicious sources of ascorbic acid with over 130 percent the regulated intake per serving. Vitamin C is mainly associated with reducing illnesses and boosting the immune system by stimulating the activity of white blood cells and acting as an antioxidant to defend against the harmful effects of free radicals.
Tissue and Cellular Health: One of the commonly overlooked benefits of vitamin C is its essential role in creating collagen. This is partly the reason why it is seen as a healing vitamin, because collagen is the essential protein base of blood vessel walls, skin, organs, and bones. High vitamin C content helps you heal wounds and injuries to the body quickly, along with defending against infections and illness.
Cancer Prevention: In addition to the antioxidant potential of vitamin C in the battle against cancer, pineapples are also rich in various other antioxidants, including vitamin A, beta carotene, bromelain, various flavonoid compounds, and high levels of manganese, which is an important co-factor of superoxide dismutase, an extremely potent free radical scavenger that has been associated with a number of different cancers. Pineapple has been directly related to preventing cancers of the mouth, throat, and breast.
Digestion: Pineapples are a rich source of fibre, but they are special in the way that they contain both soluble and insoluble fibre. This means that eating a healthy amount of pineapples can protect you from a vast amount of health conditions, including constipation, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, atherosclerosis and blood clotting, as well as blood pressure.
Coughs and Colds: The normal immune system boosting power of vitamin C is well known, but that special enzyme, bromelain, is also connected with the reduction of phlegm and mucus build up in the respiratory tracts and sinus cavities.
Arthritis Management: One of the most celebrated uses of pineapple in terms of health is its ability to reduce the inflammation of joints and muscles, particularly those associated with arthritis, a truly debilitating disease that affects millions of people around the world.
Oral Health: It also has astringent properties, which strengthen gums and make sure that your teeth do not become loose and are often prescribed as a natural remedy to fix loosening of teeth or for the retraction of gums.
Eye Health: Vision is one of the most important senses for human beings, and pineapples have been directly connected to boosting eye health and preventing the age-related eye deficiencies that often occur. Macular degeneration affects many elderly people, and beta carotene can help delay this vision problem. Keeping proper amounts of beta-carotene in your diet from fruits and vegetables is essential if you want to properly see the world well into your old age.
Blood Pressure and Circulation: Pineapples are a valuable source of many minerals, and potassium is among them. One of the most important functions of potassium is as a vasodilator, meaning that it eases the tension and stress of the blood vessels and increases blood circulation to various parts of the body. It also provides the body with copper, another essential mineral that functions in a number of enzymatic reactions and compounds in the body. Most notably, copper is a necessary element for the formation of healthy red blood cells. High red blood cell count increases oxygenation to the various organ systems and makes them function at optimal levels. It also increases cognitive abilities and can maintain neural pathways to prevent neural disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.