Pawpaw: Source of healthy living

Paw Paw is plentiful all year round in most
countries around the world. The parts that
are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems
and leaves. Pawpaw fruit is an 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 is rich in enzymes called
papain and chymopapain which helps in
digestion, particularly, it breaks down the
proteins from the food we eat into amino
acids. 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
pawpaw 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 pawpaw can
relieve the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis
and osteoarthritis. Because of its high
antioxidant content, pawpaw can prevent
cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a
preventative treatments against
atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks,
diabetic disease and cancer.
Pawpaw 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 is
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 pawpaw
extract is used to deal with mouth gums
and toothaches which is being effectively
practised in many cultures around the
world.
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. Free radicals contribute
largely in many diseases such as diabetes,
Parkinsons, Alzheimers and cancer. . 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.