27/06/2021
FUNCTIONAL FOOD: PAPAYA SEEDS AND THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS
Did you know these little seeds we normally throw away are hugely healthy? They are high in two of the compounds (polyphenols and flavonoids) that act as antioxidants to help promote your health.
Don’t throw them out again, use them to enhance your health – either eat them in food, pop them in a smoothie or make a paste out of them. Or like to dry them and use them in a black pepper grinder.
Here are some of their benefits:
• They provide anti-inflammatory properties to the body
• May calm a fever
• Antiviral, antibacterial
• Detoxifier
• May help to normalize blood pressure
• May reduce cancer risk due to the acetogenin present
• Great for skin – make a paste and use as a mask for 10 minutes
• Full of nutrients
• Improve digestion (papain is a digestive enzyme found in the seeds)
• Anti-parasitic
• Possess powerful antioxidants to mop up free radicals
Next time you have a papaya, save the seeds and use them to improve your health. And, you can eat them just as they come!
Smaller ones have less bitter seeds - start on a few and build up to more. By eating them with protein the wonderful protein-digesting enzymes will be put to good use. Use them with or instead of black peppercorns sometimes as they are so nutritious.
Another way you can use them is on steak. Rub the crushed seeds on the steak and let it stand for an hour before pan-frying in a little olive oil. The papain in papaya seeds acts as a meat tenderizer. It also adds flavour to the meat, and it can help you digest the steak after it gets into your stomach.
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