Amazing Benefits Of Pineapple (+5 Refreshing Recipes)

domingo, março 06, 2016

Amazing Benefits Of Pineapple (+5 Refreshing Recipes)

Pineapples are a delicious tropical fruit. They can be consumed fresh, cooked, juiced, or preserved. Apart from being a popular ingredient for a wide array of cuisines, the pineapple leaves are used to produce the textile fiber piña in the Philippines, commonly used as the material for the men’s Barong Tagalog and women’s Baro’t saya formal wear in the country. The fiber is also used as a component for wallpaper and other furnishings.

Aside from all this cool stuff the pineapple can do and produce, it also provides lots of amazing benefits for your health!

1. Pineapples Keep Your Skin Flawless and Firm

The Vitamin C in pineapples can be used internally as well as externally, as a cure for acne and other inflammatory skin conditions. Bromelain, the anti-inflammatory enzyme in this fruit, boosts up the healing power of Vitamin C!

Also, pineapple gives the collagen synthesis in your body a boost. The higher the collagen synthesis is, the firmer and more flexible your skin will be. The added nourishment comes from the presence of amino acids and Vitamin C, which ensures that the damaged cells and tissues are repaired quickly.

How to use: Apply freshly prepared pineapple juice on the face. Wash off using tepid water after 10 minutes. Feel the tingle! Or try freshly crushed pineapple wedges to exfoliate your skin and make it look healthier! This will eliminate the dead skin and accentuate blood flow.

For more exfoliation, try using pineapple on your feet to help with callouses and cracked heels. The exfoliating property of pineapple, along with its collagen synthesizing nature, helps soften skin and get rid of dead skin. It will also assist with the inflammation associated with cracks on your feet.

2. Pineapples Strengthen Your Nails And Prevent Hair Loss

To soften and strengthen your nails, you can make lotion at home using 1 tablespoon fresh pineapple juice, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 2 drops of lemon oil. Mix these together and then put it on your nails and cuticles (q-tips would work well, or a cotton ball, or thin makeup brush!). This is a safe lotion and can be used daily.

Just as Vitamin C is good for skin, Vitamin C is an important element that aids in preventing hair loss. It is a powerful antioxidant that combats free radical damage. Pineapple is a rich source of this water soluble vitamin. Eat pineapples in wedges or just juice them fresh to reap the benefits of Vitamin C and prevent hair loss and help thicken hair. Daily consumption of pineapple can help prevent and ease inflammatory conditions, which affect the scalp, using Bromelain, the anti-inflammatory enzyme. It can also offer relief from infections of the scalp, preventing unwanted hair fall.

pineapple health

In a 100 gram serving, raw pineapple is an excellent source of Manganese (44% of Daily Value) and Vitamin C (58% of Daily Value), and also includes potassium, copper, calcium, magnesium, beta carotene, thiamine, B6, and folate, as well as soluble and insoluble fiber. The health and medicinal benefits of pineapples include their ability to improve respiratory health, cure coughs and colds, improve digestion, help you lose weight, strengthen bones, improve oral health, boost eye health, reduce inflammation, prevent cancer, increase heart health, fight off infections and parasites, improve the immune system, and increase circulation.

I could spend hours telling you about ALL the benefits of pineapple, but here are a few big ones that are both interesting and informative!

3. Pineapples Reduce Symptoms of Arthritis

One of the most celebrated benefits of pineapple on health is its ability to reduce the inflammation of joints and muscles, particularly those associated with arthritis, a truly debilitating disease that impacts millions of people around the world. Pineapples contain Bromelain, which is primarily associated with breaking down complex proteins, but it also has serious anti-inflammatory effects, and has been positively correlated with reducing the signs and symptoms of arthritis in many test subjects.

4. Pineapples Help Cure Coughs, Colds and Sinusitis

The normal immune system boosting power of vitamin C is well known, but the enzyme, Bromelain, is also connected with the reduction of phlegm and mucus build up in the respiratory tracts and sinus cavities. It therefore prevents the illnesses that cause phlegm and mucus build-up, while also treating them by loosening those materials and helping you eliminate them from your body if you’ve already contracted an illness or infection. Eating pineapple along with prescribed medicines can help cure colds and coughs!

5. Pineapples Tackle Digestive Problems

Like most fruits, pineapples are a rich source of fiber, but they are special in that they contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. This means that eating a healthy amount of pineapples can protect you from a vast amount of digestive health conditions, including constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, atherosclerosis, blood clotting, and irregular blood pressure.

6. Pineapples Maintain Your Oral Health

Along with the antioxidant compounds that protect against oral cancer, pineapples also have astringent properties, which strengthen gums and make sure that your teeth do not become loose. Astringent agents help to tighten up tissues and tone the body so things like tooth loss, hair loss, and muscle weakness or skin loosening are positively impacted by eating pineapples. Pineapples are very powerful astringents and are often prescribed as a natural remedy to fix loosening of teeth or the the retraction of the gums.

7. Pineapples Improve Your Vision

Macular Degeneration is a condition in which adults lose their vision. The beta-carotene present in pineapple can help improve vision!

Let’s Eat It!

We all know pineapples go great in fruity cocktails, upside down desserts, and in fruit salads, but how can we get more of this miraculous multiple fruit into our diet? Here are 5 great recipes to eat more of this tangy, sweet, and healthy fruit! (Non-dessert recipes, even!)