Papaya

Christopher Columbus called papaya the “Fruit of the Angels” and this is acceped by all who have tasted this delicious fruit.

Papaya is rich in vitamin A,C, K, E, B vitamins including folic acid, carotenoids and flavonoids. Thus, it is rich in many antioxidants including lycopene. It has calcium, iron, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium and is also rich in fibre. The enzymes papain and chymopapain are present in papaya which is important for protein digestion. Papaya has almost no fat (0.1 g fat in 100 g) and 10 g carbohydrates in 100 g. Thus it is also a good food for persons with diabetes. 100 g ripe fruit has less than 40 calories and this make it ideal food for all. All these make papaya very healthy.

There are many health benefits from papaya and they include:

• Protects against heart diseases
• Helps digestive health
• Has anti-inflammatory effects
• Protection against vision loss in old people
• Promotes lung health
• It is helpful to prevent prostate problems
• It supports our imune system
• It prevents nausea including morning sickness and motion scikness
• The seeds have bitter taste and is good for expelling the worms from the intestines
• Could prevent colon cancer

Papaya is available throughout the year and you could eat as much as you like. The orange or red coulour papaya could be consumed immediately. The yellow ones must be kept for few days before eating and the green ones you could cook.

I have diabetes for the past six months, can I eat papaya?

Deliciously sweet with musky undertones and a soft, butter-like consistency have brought the name for papaya the “fruit of the angels” according to Christopher Columbus.

It is rich in vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, vitamins A, E, K and dietary fibre. It is rich in antioxidants.

Papaya is considered for the following conditions:

• It protects against heart diseases
• It has anti-inflammatory Effects
• It promotes digestive health
• It supports the immune system
• It protects against arthritis
• It promotes lung health
• It is a useful food against prostate cancer

Papaya has very low amount of carbohydrates, approximately 10 g in 100 g edible fruit and you can eat it.

A maximum of 200g papaya is recommended per day