Refreshingly sweet in taste, pawpaws are bright, pear-shaped, exotic fruits that you’ll easily find in the market throughout the year. Enclosing hundreds of black, rounded gelatinous seeds, the soft, edible orange flesh of papayas is actually nutritious, offering numerous health benefits.
Below is why you need to include pawpaws in your diet.
1. Lowers cholesterol: Pawpaws are rich in fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants that prevent cholesterol build up in your arteries. Too much cholesterol build-up can block the arteries completely, causing a heart attack.
2. Helps weight loss: One medium sized pawpaw contains just 120 calories. So, if you’re planning to lose weight, don’t forget to add this light fruit to your diet. Besides, it also packed with a considerable amount of dietary fibre that aids weight loss by promoting a feeling of fullness and controlling cravings.
3. Boosts your immunity: Your immune system acts as a shield against various infections that can make you really sick. A single papaya can fulfil more than 200% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, making it great to build a stronger immune system.
4. Good for diabetics: Despite being sweet in nature, pawpaws are low in sugar content (8.3 gm in one cup of sliced pawpaws) as well as glycemic index. This property makes papayas excellent fruits for managing and preveting diabetics. The vitamins and phytonutrients present in them prevents development of heart disease in diabetes.
5. Great for your eyes: Pawpaws are very rich in Vitamin A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, cyptoxanthin and lutein which keep the mucus membranes in the eyes healthy, preventing them from damage. Vitamin A in them also prevents the development of age-related macular degeneration. The best thing about pawpaws is that the carotenoids present in them are more bio available than those present in other vitamin A rich foods like tomatoes and carrots.
6. Protects against arthritis: Arthritis can be a really debilitating disease and people who have it may find their quality of life reduced significantly. Eating pawpaw are good for your bones as they have anti-inflammatory properties along with Vitamin C which helps in keeping various forms of arthritis at bay.
7. Improves digestion: Often we find ourselves eating junk food or restaurant food prepared in excessive quantities of oil. Eating a pawpaw daily can make up for such occasional mistakes, as it has a digestive enzyme known as papain along with fibre which helps improve your digestive health.
8. Helps ease menstrual pain: Women who experience menstrual pain should help themselves to several servings of pawpaw, as an enzyme called papain helps in regulating and easing flow during menstrual periods.
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9. Prevents signs of ageing: All of us would love to stay young forever, but no one in this world has managed to do it. Still, healthy habits like eating a papaya daily will prolong the process and may make you look 5 years younger than you are. Pawpaw is rich in vitamin C, vitamin E and antioxidants like beta-carotene which helps prevent your skin from free radical damage keeping wrinkles and other signs of ageing at bay.
10. Promotes hair growth: Apart from keeping the skin healthy, pawpaw are very effective for maintaining healthy hair. Vitamin A in them is utilised in production of sebum, a compound that is crucial for keeping the hair smooth, shiny and moisturised.
11. Prevents cancer: Pawpaw is a rich source of antioxidants, phytonutrients and flavonoids that prevent your cells from undergoing free radical damage. A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department showed the richness of beta carotene in papayas protected against prostate cancer and colon cancer growth.
12. Helps reduce stress: After working hard for the whole day, it is often a good idea to come home to a plate a pawpaws. The wonder fruit is rich in several nutrients like Vitamin C which can keep you free from stress.
All of this makes papaya a wholesome fruit that is excellent for your entire body.