Pineapple Health Benefits

The best sources of fibre to lower cholesterol, improve digestion and heart health.

• Fruit such as Apples, Pears, Avocado, Pineapple, Strawberries, and Rasberries.
• Vegetables such as Black Beans, Broccoli, Peas, Lentils, and leafy greens.
• Whole grains
• Oats
• Wheat
• Corn
• Bran
• Rice bran
• All-bran cereals
• Nuts
• Popcorn

Pinepple fruit contains something called dietry fibre that helps keep your heart, digestion, and cholesterol in check.

How fibre improves digestion

Fibre improves the overall efficiency of the digestive system by creating bulkier, firmer stool content. A bulkier stool, on its way through the intestines, will collect pockets of smaller waste in the large intestine that have built up over time. These pockets of built up waste can become infected, cause swelling and lead to many gastrointestinal disorders that are avoidable and repairable with a high-fibre diet.

Unfortunately, diving right in to a high-fibre diet can also create its own problems such as bloating and gas build up. Start slowly and build up over time to avoid these uncomfortable experiences.

Fibre also causes the digestive system to slow down, allowing more time to take up valuable nutrients while making you feel fuller for longer than usual.

How fibre lowers cholesterol and protects the heart

It all starts in the digestive system. Fibre rich foods such as fruits, beans, and grains protect the heart by binding to unhealthy fats in the small intestine and extracting it before the body has a chance to absorb and store it.

A diet rich in fibre significantly helps those who suffer with or who are prone to high cholesterol levels and other cardiovascular disorders.

Pineapple does contain fibre but not enough for the recommended daily amount. See the table on the right for a list of some of the best food sources of fibre to include in a diet.

Contrary to popular belief, pineapples don't grow on trees, but on a small plant that stands only 3-5ft tall. Making them ideal to grow in hot climates in a large garden pot, indoors, or for greenhouse cultivation in not so weather-blessed countries.

Pineapple plants can either be grown from a plant cutting (suckers or slips) or planted directly from a fresh crown cutting from the fruit itself. Depending on which option you choose, they take anywhere from one year to 18 months, if planting slips and suckers, to a full two years planting the crown.

A 100g serving of pineapple provides 47mg of vitamin C. Near enough the recommended daily amount.

Although the recommended daily amount (RDA) is 40mg of vitamin C for adults, taking up to 500mg per day is still a safe amount. Being water soluble, the body will safely discard any it doesn't absorb and use.

Vitamin C is a vitamin the body will quickly use up to help fight against colds and infections. It hasn't been proven to cure these ailments, but coupled with exercise it has been known to help reduce the longevity of them.

Athlete's often take large amounts of Vitamin C for a tremendous, although temporary boost to performance.

Other health benefits of Vitamin C

• Protects all cells throughout the body
• Helps the skin to recover from sun damage
• Helps to heal organs and tissue after any injury or illness
• Stops you getting scurvy

Pineapple contains antioxidants that help ward off both minor and major illnesses.

Bromelain

Bromelain is one type of anti-inflammatory antioxidant contained within pineapple that contributes in reducing blood complications, in turn lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Bromelain is also a type of enzyme that helps with the absorption of protein. This makes pineapple an ideal accompaniment to meat based dishes. People who regularly exercise or build muscle would find this particularly useful.

Although not yet a certainty, bromelain, combined with other nutrients such as rutoside, have shown positive results in reducing the effects of arthritis.

The core of a pineapple, even though small in comparison to the rest of the fruit, holds the highest concentration of bromelain. The core is also hard and fibrous, making it quit tough to chew, so most people will discard it. A clever way to incorporate it in your diet, is to drop it into a blender with some other fruit to make a healthy smoothy.

Ferulic Acid

Pineapple is a good source of ferulic acid, which is a naturally occurring compound and antioxidant found in most plants. Ferulic acid is particularly useful in the body as it has an ability to stop the formation of dangerous compounds that could cause the growth of damaging cells. It also protects against bone degeneration by promoting new bone tissue formation.

As well as exercise, including colourful fruits in your diet that are rich in antioxidants, is one of the most effective ways to promote a healthy lifestyle. All vibrantly colored fruit have valuable properties that help to significantly improve overall health.

What else do antioxidants do for health?

• They do an A+ job of mopping up toxins caused by injury, air pollutants, and natural damage sustained in the body
• Repair damaged cells
• They look after all vital organs in the body
• Antioxidants keep bones healthy and strong

Some people find it a bit annoying to cut through and prepare pineapple because of the tough outer skin and the brown knobbly patches under the surface. Usually, by the time you've finished preparing, you're left with something half the size you started with.

It's such a waste of epic fruit!

Here's a video tutorial that will demostrate how to get rid of all of that, and how to cut through the pineapple in such a way that it doesn't waste a fraction of the fruit inside.

• The pineapples birth place is said to be tropical America, primarily from Brazil and Paraguay
• Pineapple contains a whopping six B vitamins, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9
• There are lots of varieties and sizes of pineapple to choose from. Here's a few. Natal Queen, Red Spanish , Smooth Cayenne, Hmarkhawlien, Mauritius, Jaldhup, Alexandra, Kew, Common Rough, Espanola, Paulista, Yupi, Randon, Pernambuco
• Thailand is one of the biggest exporters of pineapple in the world
• Whenever it rains in hawaii on a sunny day they refer to it as pineapple juice
• One whole pineapple is made up of hundreds of individual pieces of fruit that join together as it grows, known as fruitlets
• Wild pineapple plants last a long time and have been known to still produce fruit for many decades

According to EWG (environmental working group) out of all fruits and vegetables last tested by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) for pesticide residue, pineapple fruit came out as one of the least affected, with over 89% containing no residue at all.

Pesticides are sprayed on commercially grown fruit as a way to eradicate insects and diseases that would otherwise damage them. However, even after later treatment to be removed, pesticide-residue may still be present on the surface of fruit, making it a potential hazard to your health.

To avoid pesticide residue on fruit, wash them thoroughly in fresh water and peel them before eating. Home-growing, or buying organic fruit is another way to avoid pesticides.

Other fruits and vegetables that scored for low level pesticide residue included watermelon, mango, onion, asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, sweet corn, sweet peas, avocado, and cantaloupe.

Amino acids are naturally occurring organic compounds found in all fruits, plants, meats, nuts, seeds, and dairy products. Most amino acids are vital for maintaining good health. They combine to create important proteins and help keep your metabolism working at full capacity.

There are three types of amino acids within pineapple that promote good health, essential, semi-essential, and non-essential amino acids.