Papaya Sweet Answer to our Well Being and Health
Just recently I came across an eye opening book by Barry Thomson “Join Our Escape From Death Row-Cancer Jail”, where he in a most genuine and generous ways shares valuable information and his knowledge in effective fight against cancer and ill health. Among other very interesting information I red about simple but wonderful papaya and its healing properties. One chapter in this book awoke in me more desire to learn and research as much as I possibly could as on a professional level I deal with people suffering many different health issues and aliments who look for alternative ways to help them. I would love to share what I know as I believe it can make difference in everyday life of many others. I am also hoping that this will prompt other people to share their knowledge about improving our general well being and health.
Papaya, Paw Paw, Tree Melon (botanical name Carica Papaya), it has oblong shape, normally greenish yellow, yellow or orange color. It is a large tree plant fruit usually reaching 2.5kg. It has bitter sweet taste and comes from tropical places with higher humidity, native to Mexico, countries of Central America, Thailand, Africa and Asia and growing well in Australia.
Papaya Health Benefits
Paw Paw how we call it here in Australia is these days plentiful all year round in most of the countries. The parts that are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems and leaves. I did look around and found out you can buy paw paw in all forms, in a form of fermented papaya, herbal teas even tablets and of course plenty of the fresh fruit, which can be eaten as it is or in a form of juice. So you ask what are these awesome healing properties of paw paw? Well where do I start? Papaya fruit is and excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, C and E. It also contains small amount of calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and niacine. It is also very rich in antioxidant nutrients flavonoids and carotenes, very high in vitamin C and A, and low in calories and sodium.
PawPaw tree. Paw paw is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids. The latest research shows that amino acids are responsible for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health. As we age we produce less of the digestive enzymes in our stomach and pancreas, which leads to ineffective digestion of proteins. Due to this we end up with excess amount of undigested protein, which leads to overgrowth of the bad bacteria in our gastrointestinal system and not enough of amino acids to perform all important chemical reactions. We can say that good quality protein is absolutely essential for our healthy being. This is where the papaya enzymes can be very beneficial.
The papain enzymes are produced in the skinny peel of paw paw. The combination of these enzymes repels insect during the ripening, without this protection paw paw fruit would not survive. Eating paw paw after a meal makes for better digestion, prevents bloating and chronic indigestion. It can also lower the inflammation in the body, alleviates the pain and edema caused by sport injuries. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties papaya can relieve the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Because of its high antioxidant content, papaya can prevent cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a preventative treatments against atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks and diabetic heart disease.
In a everyday health papaya works magic on strengthening the immune system preventing the recurrent colds and flu. After treatment with antibiotics eating paw paw or drinking its juice replenishes the good intestinal bacteria, which was destroyed by the antibiotic treatment. The latest good news from eating paw paw comes down once again to papain the enzyme which I talked about, it was found to destroy intestinal parasites. Papain is proteolitic enzyme, which means that it digests inert (non-living) proteins. Intestinal parasites are largely protein, the papain attacks it and causes parasite to die. Also, home applications of leaf and bark papaya extract is used to deal with mouth gums and toothaches which is being effectively practised in many cultures around the world.
Papaya Research and Products
Papain is also being studied for relief of cancer therapy side effects, especially relieving side effects such as difficulty swallowing and mouth sores after radiation and chemotherapy as well as boosting up the immune system and helping body to fight the cancer. I am big fan of the products made by Rochway, Australian company (for more information visit rochway.com.au) as they use organically grown papaya, producing among other products, product called Papaya35, fermented papaya enzymes. They also produce Blueberry and PawPaw probiotic Punch, which has very strong antioxidant properties that protects against free radicals. Free radicals contribute largely in many diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Rochway products are 99% sugar free which makes them suitable for people suffering diabetes as well. As you can see there is plenty we can benefit from this simple fruit, more and more research is being done and I can’t wait to hear more about it.
For references and more on the current studies you can look up www.pubmed.gov as for the products there are few available on the market.I am sure if you look around you will be able to find many available or simply stick with the fresh fruit. However if you are looking or hoping for more therapeutic effect of eating papaya, you need to be aware the unripened papaya (still green papaya) contains far more of the proteolytic enzymes papain and chymopapain than ripened papaya which we commonly eat. You can also juice the leaves and stems but be prepared for the vile taste of it …. you can’t naturally like its taste nor does the cancer cells.
Summary of Healing Properties of Papaya
- Increases quality of proteins in whole organism.
- Revitalise the human body and maintain energy and vitality.
- Encourages the renewal of musle tissue.
- Supports cardiovascular system.
- Boosts up the immune system.
- Helps with the digestive system, by braking down the proetins and supporting production of digestive enzymes.
- Papaya can be use also externally as a treatment for skin wounds that don’t heal quickly, for this you can use papaya peel or ointments made out of papaya.
- Prevents the cataract formation.
- Due to high vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and passive smokers.
- Alleviates inflammation.
- Helps with the nausea and constipation.
- Can benefit people suffering colon cancer and other forms of cancers and aliments of cardiovascular and gastroitestinal systems.
I would absolutely love new info on papaya and I would love to hear from any one who used it to improve their health.
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July 4th
I do agree with you that papaya is a great fruit for your health. I myself used it after recovering from Jaundice. ~Himanshu~
July 5th
Thanks for that Himanshu, I didn’t know that papaya is used in the diet and recovery diet from jaundice, I am going to find out more about it. I like your blog.
September 8th
i recently heard that pawpaw leaves crushed and drank can help build the immune system so much it can actually help remove dengue fever bacteria from the system . so i’m still looking for that info to confirm. reply if u know of this
September 30th
Papaya is an important fruit tree for diet and health improvement in Uganda. I am currently undertaking a protocal to research on it. Will be greatful if I get more literature about it. Thank you
December 10th
Such a huge benefit papaya has on health! It is also a cheap fruit available in many countries. It is well suited for some precautionary measures of some diseases in human. Thanks for your post as this will result in health improvements for many visitors.
December 10th
I love papayas, but I never knew that they are so beneficial. Who would have thought that it can prevent some types of cancer? Even more, I had no idea that people have started using papaya for medicine, I am glad I consume it often. Thanks for the information; I will now pass it on to my friends and family.
January 10th
When I was a student I had a lot of gastro-type problems e.g. too much acid - I would never leave home without gaviscon! I’d feel nauseous and retch but wouldn’t actually throw up. I was treated with various ulcer-type medicines and eventually had an endoscopy which found nothing. After that I started seeing a naturopath who got me to eat nothing but pawpaw. She never actually told me what had been wrong - but the pawpaw fixed me up within about a month!
January 11th
For last two years I have made in my kitchen, just for my family, some of fermentated beverages: ‘Kombucha Tea,’ from the living medusin-is ready in 8-10 days; ‘Tibetian kefir’, made with the living dairy bacteria-is ready in 24 hours. I made fermentated different veges (f.e., soy beans) and fruits (f.e., unpeeled bananas). Tomorow I will fermentate blended whole papaya with peel, seeds and fruit itself, using very strong dairy bacterias. How and what are You fermentate? Let’ do exchahge of our experience. 01.11.09 St. Paul. USA
January 30th
i like to eat paw paw. it gives me more vitamins and helps me to be more powerful. hope that this little words of mine could inspire more people to eat papaya.
February 7th
When anyone in my family has a toothache due to a hole in any of the tooth, my mother would get a papaya leaf and scrape the bark off the stick then sqeeze the juice out into the tooth that troubles you. You repeated that twice or three times. After a short while, you do not feel the pain anymore. It has been used for many generations in the past.
February 21st
I have a receipe for paw paw tea that my great grandfather used to cure his stomach cancer I think in the 1930’s. My mother told me that he was taken to Sydney Australia from his country home to be operated on they found when opened up that he had stomach cancer and nothing could be done. So he returned home and set about finding a cure, he believed you had to find something bitter(that’s where the paw paw tea came into the equation) that the cancer didn’t like and every other food to be red or orange. He cured himself and he lived another 7 years and died of a heart attack and no signs of cancer.
June 6th
After prolong standing on my feet my feet and ankles would swell to more than double the normal size. A gentlemen from Mexico told me to eat papaya and the swelling would disappear. Sure enough - I ate it and the swelling was gone within 48 hours. It does work and I will continue eat papaya after each meal.
June 11th
I heard that papaya leaves juice can cure dengue fever. Hope for the best.
July 9th
My grandmother was cured of stomach cancer in the early 1960’s with consuming the whole papaya. She was told by her physician that she had stomach cancer which was inoperable and to go home and put her affairs in order. Instead, she took off for Mexico to a health resort, and there she was instructed on how to go about juicing the whole papaya, seeds and all! Papaya was readily available to her upon her arrival home to So. Florida. Eight months later, she was declared, by her doctor, as totally cured–no sign of cancer!! She lived for another 14 years with no sign of cancer; ended up dying of heart complications, which she had prior to her cancer diagnosis.
We give God all the glory and praise for healing her and for using this fruit in the healing process!
My sibling has recently been diagnosed with a rare squamous cell carcinoma of the stomach and he is currently using papaya as a managing tool for comfort, nausea, and reducing of inflammation while more medical tests are being done on him to see what the doctors are gathering for the best treatment for him. Meanwhile, we trust the Lord for healing once again. Our God is an awesome God!
July 14th
Thank you for your great article on Paw Paw.
As I grow my own Paw Paw I found your article very interesting and also have found that my digestive system feels great after eating paw paw after a meal. So I googled ” the health benefits of paw paw” an your page popped up.
I just thought you might like to know about two typos I found on your page. This is not a complaint. I know webmasters are always asking for submissions on errors on their sites.
•Encourages the renewal of musle {Muscle} tissue. •Helps with the digestive system, by brakin g{Breaking} down the proteins and supporting production of digestive enzymes.
Thanks again.
September 19th
i remember in the 70’s in a hospital in South Africa we used the flesh of the paw paw to heal a massive bed sore.
November 12th
i needed to loose weight, and being a health consultant, i decided to try out paw-paw, so i could recommend it to people i came in contact with who are desirous of loosing weight. i am glad to tell you that it worked well for me and it is still working. i plan recommend it as a very safe alternative in trying to lose weight.
November 12th
also, it had been impressed on my heart that paw-paw might be able to control cancer which was what prompted this search, and i am delighted that my feeling has been confirmed. this is so important to me because i have been researching on the treatment of cancers naturally, as i am a health consultant. in addition to this, paw-paw also have skin conditioning properties!