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Pineapple ~ the Happy Fruit!!!

Pineapple is one of the few things that we have in canned form in our home.  We purchase it in its own juice not the sweetened stuff.  In 2001 I began researching for foods that our son, then dx with ADHD, but later found that he was dyslexic which causes similar symptoms, could enjoy.  We were doing a combination of 'few foods' and 'feingold diet' and were very restricted on what fruits we could have.  Basically it boiled down to pineapple, pears, and bananas as well as an occasional grapefruit.  No apples, melons, oranges, grapes, berries etc were allowed as they were high in sylicilates.  We also abstained from wheat and other gluten grains.  So, no bread or pasta.  Also, no food colors, preservatives (anything that took some type of medical degree to pronounce or understand what it was didn't come home from the store with us and was taken out of our pantry.)

The side effects of this diet were amazing!  Our son went from being very, shall we say, energenic to being very alert, observant of his surroundings, and could also stay 'on task'.  He and my husband gained much needed weight and I lost 40 pounds that I had been having a very hard time getting rid of.

Pineapple was a key element in our daily routine.  I made pineapple smoothies with yogurt, banana, and pineapple juice... adding just a little bit of honey as honey contains so many amino acids as well as B-vits that we needed.  Today I use honey in very limited quantities and have found coconut nectar as a wonderful substitute as it contains 23 amino acids and doesn't do to the blood sugar what honey does.  If you have hypo or hyper -glycemia you really have to watch the sugar - including honey.

Back then there were limited resourses available on the internet in comparison to today.  I remember reading an article that spoke of prezeronine.  I think it was in one of our Noni Juice brocures.  It spoke of it having the ability to curb our cravings for things that we should not be eating like candy bars and soda.  Yes, Pineapple is high in carbs and natural sugars, but in exchange for that we got something that was an amazing powerhouse of nutrients and it was an easy way to introduce a healthy drink and dessert into our diets that we all enjoyed.  The great news was that pineapple actually helps to dissipate diabetic tendency's.  So, we drank a lot of it... I mean a LOT.  Six plus cans a week for just 3 people!  Luckily it was about $1.25 - $1.50 when we were drinking that much of it!  But it did what it said it would do... got us off of the soda and candy kick... gently.  And got our digestive tracs working much more effeciently.

At the same time we gave up dairy going with soy and rice milks... we do not advocate soy milk any longer.  We have found coconut milk now available in 1/2 gallon containers.  Coconut helps with a lot of things.  There is so much that it does that I don't want to confuse the pineapple material with it so am reserving that info for another article.

We did however, eat yogurt... not the sweetened stuff, but the plain whole fat yogurt.  At the time Kefir was not yet available like it is today and neither was greek yogurt so we chose Yoplait as it didn't have anything added to it.

Well, I think I will let you get to the 'meat' of the subject now and allow you to read what the 'experts' have writtten about pineapple and its components.  I basically copied and pasted the link and the key points of the articles to make them easier for you to dissiminate.

Please feel free to make comments.  I will be coming back to this article and 'fixing' the things below so that it is in my own words... but for today I wanted to get it up as quickly as possible to help an old friend out.

Blessings,
Wendy

(Here are two links that go into more detail on how, why, and where proxeronine was found.
Both articles above talk about Proxeronine.... a pre-curser to xeronine that is a key ingredient to Bromelain.
This little 'find' helps curb our cravings for things we would like to eat, but arent' all that great for us such as candy bars and soda.  It helps in the reversal of diabetes and as you will read below many many more health benefits come from Bromelain and it's interesting ingredient proxeronine.)


The following information is directly from:  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=34
lots more GREAT info there... def should visit this site!

"Health Benefits
Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Digestive Benefits
Bromelain is a complex mixture of substances that can be extracted from the stem and core fruit of the pineapple. Among dozens of components known to exist in this crude extract, the best studied components are a group of protein-digesting enzymes (called cysteine proteinases). Originally, researchers believed that these enzymes provided the key health benefits found in bromelain, a popular dietary supplement containing these pineapple extracts. In addition, researchers believed that these benefits were primarily limited to help with digestion in the intestinal tract. However, further studies have shown that bromelain has a wide variety of health benefits, and that many of these benefits may not be related to the different enzymes found in this extract. Excessive inflammation, excessive coagulation of the blood, and certain types of tumor growth may all be reduced by therapeutic doses of bromelain when taken as a dietary supplement. Studies are not available, however, to show these same potential benefits in relationship to normal intake of pineapple within a normal meal plan.
Bromelain extracts can be obtained from both the fruit core and stems of pineapple. Potentially important chemical differences appear to exist between extracts obtained from the stem versus the core fruit. However, the practical relevance of these differences is not presently understood. Most of the laboratory research on bromelain has been conducted using stem-based extracts, however.
Although healthcare practitioners have reported improved digestion in their patients with an increase in pineapple as their "fruit of choice" within a meal plan, we haven't seen published studies that document specific changes in digestion following consumption of the fruit (versus supplementation with the purified extract. However, we suspect that the core fruit will eventually turn out to show some unique health-supportive properties, including possible digestion-related and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Antioxidant Protection and Immune Support
Vitamin C is the body's primary water-soluble antioxidant, defending all aqueous areas of the body against free radicals that attack and damage normal cells. Free radicals have been shown to promote the artery plaque build-up of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, cause the airway spasm that leads to asthma attacks, damage the cells of the colon so they become colon cancer cells, and contribute to the joint pain and disability seen in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This would explain why diets rich in vitamin C have been shown to be useful for preventing or reducing the severity of all of these conditions. In addition, vitamin C is vital for the proper function of the immune system, making it a nutrient to turn to for the prevention of recurrent ear infections, colds, and flu.
Manganese and Thiamin (Vitamin B1) for Energy Production and Antioxidant Defenses
Pineapple is an excellent source the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. For example, the key oxidative enzyme superoxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), requires manganese. Just one cup of fresh pineapple supplies 128.0% of the DV for this very important trace mineral. In addition to manganese, pineapple is a good source of thiamin, a B vitamin that acts as a cofactor in enzymatic reactions central to energy production.
Protection against Macular Degeneration
Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.
In this study, which involved over 110,000 women and men, researchers evaluated the effect of study participants' consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARMD, a more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss. While, surprisingly, intakes of vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to incidence of either form of ARMD, fruit intake was definitely protective against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease. Three servings of fruit may sound like a lot to eat each day, but pineapple can help you reach this goal. Add fresh pineapple to your morning smoothie, lunch time yogurt, any fruit and most vegetable salads. For example, try adding chunks of pineapple to your next coleslaw or carrot salad."


The following is directly from:  http://www.juicing-for-health.com/pineapple.html

"Nutritional Benefits
Pineapple is loaded with vitamin C, B1 and smaller amounts of B2, B3, B5 and B6.  It is also an excellent source of manganese, copper, magnesium, potassium, beta-carotene, folic acid, and dietary fiber.
Perhaps, the most outstanding feature of pineapple is its amount of bromelain content. Bromelain is an enzyme that has many uses for our body.
Bromelain in pineapple has the special ability to help our body balance and neutralize fluids so that it's neither too alkaline nor too acidic.  It also stimulates hormonal secretions in the pancreas that aids digestion.


Health Benefits
 Bromelain in pineapple is a protein-digesting enzyme which also effectively reduce inflammation and swelling.  So drink fresh pineapple juice and say goodbye to all your pains.</span>
Digestion:  After a heavy meaty meal, drink pineapple juice, as the protein-digesting enzymes help do the extra work of digesting for you.</span>
Inflammatory conditions:  As pineapple juice causes an anti-inflammatory effect, drinking this yellow juice can relief sufferers of much pain in the following inflammatory conditions:</span>
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome</span>
  • Gout</span>
  • Rheumatoid arthritis</span>
  • Osteoarthritis</span>
  • Injuries</span>
  • Surgeries</span>
  • Etc.</span>
Respiratory conditions:  Bromelain helps to break down and dissolve excessive mucus, providing much relief to sufferers of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and sinusitis.  It would also help tremendously if you reduced your intake of harmful foods, as mucus are formed mostly from consumption of these foods.</span>
Sore Throat:  Drinking pineapple juice significantly reduces the soreness and redness in the throat."</span>


The following is directly  From:  http://www.philippineherbalmedicine.org/pineapple.htm

"Medicinal Properties of the Pineapple Fruit
Pineapple contains micro-nutrients that experts believe protects against cancer and this micro-nutrients also break up blood clots and is beneficial to the heart. The ripe pineapple has diuretic properties. Pineapple juices also kills intestinal worms. It also relieves intestinal disorders and soothes the bile. Pineapple juice contains chemicals that stimulates the kidneys and aids in removing toxic elements in the body.

Pineapple contains a mixture of enzymes called bromelain. Bromelain blocks the production of kinins that form when there is inflammation. Test have shown that this blocking property of Bromelain in pineapple helps reduce swelling brought about by arthritis, gout, sore throat and acute sinusitis. This also helps accelerate the healing of wounds due to injury or surgery. To help reduce inflammation, eat pineapple in between meals. If eaten during or after meals, the enzymes will be utilized for digesting food."