Papaya is often called a wonder fruit for all its great properties. It is a nutritional storehouse and has effective digestive enzymes. Often nutritionists ask you to increase your fruit intake and papaya is often on that list. Papaya contains numerous minerals and chemicals, flavonoids as well as carotenoids. This fruit is believed to also promote improved cardiovascular health and protect from colon cancer. This fruit is considered so full of health benefits that it promotes digestion, builds the immune system, prevents constipation, can lower inflammation, can reduce pain from burns especially if the skin of the papaya is used, can prevent heart disease, complications from diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Papaya is also a good source of fiber that helps bring down cholesterol. There is no perfect time to enjoy a fruit but it is best eaten before a meal as after a meal the body converts the fruit into sugar while before a meal you absorb all nutrition. Papaya, botanically called carica papaya, is a musky-flavored fruit that is a rich source of nutrients. It contains vitamins A and C and minerals including calcium and potassium and has a high content of fiber. As such, owing to its nutritional content, it imparts a lot of health benefits. A unique enzyme in papaya, referred to as papain, has a considerably positive effect on the digestive system. Its regular consumption performs all the functions necessary for maintaining a healthy skin: it eliminates the toxins from the body, treats constipation, and greatly helps in proper digestion.

Most beauty care professionals recommend papaya for skin care. In addition to using papaya for glowing skin, you can use papaya for skin whitening as well, if you feel that your skin is turning dark due to over exposure to sun or pigmentation. Papaya fruit s another gift of Mexicans to this world. This exotic fruit, also popular as pawpaw, is packed with numerous health benefiting nutrients. It is one of the favorites of fruit lovers for its nutritional, digestive, and medicinal properties. It probably thought to have originated in the Central Americas.Papaya plant is grown extensively all over the tropical regions under cultivated farms for its fruits as well as for latex, papain, an enzyme that found wide applications in the food industry.Botanically, the plant belongs to Caricaceae family of flowering plants, in the genus; Carica.Scientific name: Carica papaya.

Incredible Papaya health benefits

The papaya fruit is very low in calories (just 39 calories/100 g) and contains no cholesterol; however, it is a rich source of phyto-nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.

Papayas contain soft, easily digestible flesh with a good amount of soluble dietary fiber that helps to have normal bowel movements; thereby reducing constipation problems.

Fresh, ripe papaya is one of the fruits with the highest vitamin-C content (provides 61.8 mg or about 103% of DRI, more than that of in oranges, or lemons). Research studies have shown that vitamin C has many important functions like free radicals scavenging, immune booster, and anti-inflammatory actions.

It is also an excellent source of Vitamin-A (provides 1094 IU/100 g) and flavonoids like ß-carotene, lutein, zea-xanthin and cryptoxanthin. Vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is essential for healthy vision. These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties; help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes has known to protect the body from lung and oral cavity cancers.

Papaya fruit is also rich in many essential B-complex vitamins such as Folic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish and play a vital role in metabolism.

* Information on the traditional uses and properties of herbs/ animals/ yoga/ places are provided on this site is for educational use only, and is not intended as medical advice. all image credit goes to their Photographers.