The Versatile Papaya

CEBU, Philippines - Just recently I came across an eye opening statement from my grandma during one of our family caucuses. She was preparing a yellow pear-shaped tropical fruit, about seven to 20 inches long. I had such an aversion to eating papaya, but grandma's way of sharing valuable information about its way of effectively fighting against cancer and other health problems was quite compelling.

Papaya, papaw, or pawpaw, according to Wikipedia, is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species of the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae. It is native to the tropics of America, and first cultivated in Mexico.

Apart from its amazingly excellent taste, the benefits of papaya fruit are many.

Health Benefits of Papaya :

1. Papaya contains the digestive enzyme papain that is why it is valuable for aiding digestion.

2. The ripe fruit is easily digestible and prevents constipation.

3. It is shown in a study that this fruit when taken alone for three days has a beneficial tonic effect in the stomach and intestines.

4. Papaya juice helps in relieving infections of the colon and can help break down pus and mucus.

5. Papaya may help prevent cancer in organs and glands with epithelial tissue (ripe papaya).

6. Papaya prevents nausea (includes morning sickness and motion sickness).

7. Slices of fruits like papaya rubbed over meat and boiled with tough meat, make the meat more tender.

8. Papaya contains small amount of calcium, ion, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin.

9. It is also rich in antioxidant nutrients, flavonoids, and carotenes, which are very high in vitamin C, and low in calories and sodium.

10. It increases quality of proteins in whole organism.

11. It revitalizes the human body and maintains energy, vitality and boosts the immune system.

12. Papaya encourages the renewal of muscle tissue, and supports cardiovascular system.

 13. Papaya can be externally used as a treatment for skin wounds that don't heal quickly.

14. It prevents cataract formation, and due to its being high in Vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and passive smokers.

15. It alleviates inflammation, and helps with the nausea and constipation.

Versatility

The ripe fruit of the papaya is usually eaten raw, without skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads, and stews.

In Southeast Asian, green papaya is used in cooking, both raw and cooked. In Thailand, papaya is used to make som tam or a spicy salad, when still not fully ripe. Papayas have a relatively high amount of pectin, which can be used to make jellies.

In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach. In some parts of the world, papaya leaves are made into tea as a preventative for malaria, although there is no scientific evidence for the effectiveness of this treatment.

Green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are both rich in an enzyme called papain, a protease which is useful in tenderizing meat 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.

Women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other countries have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception andabortion. Enslaved women in the West Indies were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery. Medical research in animals has confirmed the 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, as well. Unripe papaya is especially effective in large amounts or high doses. Ripe papaya is not teratogenic and will not cause miscarriage in small amounts.

Medical Potency

The juice has an in vitro antiproliferative effect on liver cancer cells, probably due to its components of lycopene or immune system stimulation. It has a seed that could be used as an antibacterial agent for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus or Salmonella typhi, although further research is needed for advocating large-scale therapy. Papaya seed extract may be nephroprotective (protect the kidneys) in toxicity-induced kidney failure.

However, it must be remembered that Papaya releases a latex fluid when not quite ripe, which can cause irritation and provoke allergic reaction in some people. The papaya fruit, seeds, latex, and leaves also contains carpaine, ananthelmintic alkaloid (a drug that removes parasitic worms from the body), which can be dangerous in high doses.

It is speculated that the latex concentration of unripe papayas may cause uterine contractions, which may lead to a miscarriage. Papaya seed extracts in large doses have a contraceptive effect on rats and monkeys, but in small doses have no effect on the unborn animals.

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 percent of the level of beta carotene found in carrots (the most common cause of carotenemia).

Grandma's sermon that day was quite provoking, and alas, it made wonders.