This “Super Fruit” Stops Disease (But You’re Probably Not Eating It)
Let’s take a quiz.
What has more vitamin C than an orange…
Has 75% of the RDA of vitamin A…
And has even been show you fight cancer… heart disease… blindness… and arthritis?
It’s a delicious, tropical fruit that’s been called the “fruit of angels” — and chances are, you’re not getting nearly enough of it.
Read on to learn more.
The answer is…papaya!
I’m surprised by how many people have never even had it, much less eat it on a regular basis.
But once you hear what all this healing fruit can do, I have no doubt it’ll become a regular on your shopping list.
- It can help protect against heart attacks and strokes. That’s because nutrients in papaya can help lower homocysteine levels. High homocysteine levels damage blood vessels and have been linked to heart attacks, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and osteoporosis.
- It can help prevent colon cancer. The fiber in papaya has been shown to bind to dangerous toxins in the colon, keeping them away from your healthy cells. It is also loaded with other known colon-cancer-reducing nutrients like folate, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and vitamin E.
- It can help prevent breast cancer. When 14 fruits were tested, papaya was the only one that had anti-cancer effects on breast cancer cells.
- It can help alleviate arthritis pain. Foods rich in vitamin C (especially papaya) have been shown to protect against polyarthritis—that’s when rheumatoid arthritis impacts multiple joints.
- It helps protect eyesight. When you eat papaya, your body converts it to vitamin A, which is extremely beneficial for your eyes. It also contains lutein and zeaxanthin, two critical nutrients for preventing age-related blindness.
- It can help you lose weight. Many people trying to lose weight avoid fruit because of their high sugar and calorie content. Papaya is surprisingly low in calories. Plus, it contains an enzyme that helps increase metabolism, making it an ideal weight-loss food.
- It is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants are like Pac-men that gobble up harmful substances in the body. These substances (free radicals) cause oxidative stress that contributes to numerous diseases, including Alzheimer’s and cancer. When people with Alzheimer’s were given a papaya extract for six months, it led to a 40% drop in a marker of oxidative damage to DNA.
- It can improve digestion. Papaya contains an enzyme called papain that makes it easier to digest protein. One study showed that after taking a papaya formula for 40 days, participants had improvements in constipation and bloating.
If you’re not used to eating papayas, ripeness is key. They should be yellow to orange-red, and slightly tender.
You can cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and eat it like a cantaloupe. Or you could toss it in a smoothie, on a salad, or with Greek yogurt and nuts.
I like mine best served cold.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
