By Elizabeth Dorset
Special to CSMS Magazine
Pineapple is an exceptional fruit with undenialable juiciness that balances the tastes of both sweet and tart flavor. This tropical fruit is only second to the banana as America’s favorite tropical fruit. Although the season for growing pineapple runs from March to June, Pineapples are available all year around. Pineapples are composed of many flowers whose individual fruitlets fuse together around a center core. The fruitlets in the pineapple are identified by the “eye” the round spiny marking on the surface of the pineapple. Pineapples have a wide cylindrical shape, a scaly brown, green, and yellow skin, and a regal crown.
The pineapple is stored with Bromelain, which is a complex mixture of substances that can be found in the stem and core of the fruit of the pineapple. Among the dozens of components known to exist in Bromealin, there is a group of protein digesting enzymes called cysteine proteinases, which provide anti inflammation in the skin and improve the digestive system. Bromelain has a wide variety of health benefits, and many of the benefits that this extract provides may not be associated with the other harmful enzymes which may lead to excessive inflammation, excessive coagulation of the blood, and certain type of tumor growth.
In addition, eating the pineapple fruit on a daily basis can also protects against macular degeneration, which is the number one vision disorder in elderly people. According to the Archives of Ophthalmology, eating three or more servings of pineapple a day may lower your risk of age related macular degeneration by almost forty percent compared to people who consume only less than half of fruit servings.
Furthermore, pineapple is also an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes crucial for energy production and antioxidant defenses. Just one cup of fresh pineapple provides 128.0% of manganese. Pineapple is also a good source of thiamin, a vitamin B that acts as a cofactor in enzymatic reactions correlating to energy production in the body.
Note: Elizabeth Dorset is nutritionist, who lives and works in suburban Toronto. She wrote this piece for CSMS Magazine.
Also see Lemon and Lime: nature’s sour fruits
Peach: The Healthy Persian Fruit
Watermelon: nature’s healthiest fruit
Avocados: nature’s health conscience fruit
Eating right is all that matters,not how much
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