Pineapple

The pineapple is not only a delicious tropical fruit, but is full of benefits for you, this popular fruit is rich in antioxidants mainly and other compounds like enzymes that are capable to prevent diseases and inflammations.

Pineapples are related with many health benefits, like aiding digestion, accelerating a surgery recovery and boosting immunity.

Where did pineapple originate?

It is believed that the pineapple originate in South America, more specifically in Brazil and Paraguay, they were discovered first by europeans on the caribbean island called Guadeloupe in 1493. This tropical fruit arrived in the caribbean after hundreds of years of commerce between different native people from the zone. This could be the history of the origin of pineapple.

Christopher Columbus was one of the first who took pineapples to europe, there they tried to cultivate it just as sweet as they tasted it when they were in South America, but without any success, then they realized that the pineapples need the tropical climate to grow and taste sweet and juicy.

In the 16th century, the spanish and portuguese introduced this delicious fruit to their regions, and other regions like Asia, Africa and South Pacific colonies, where the pineapple still grows up.

The pineapple was introduced in Australia by the lutheran missionaries in the 1830’s, in the actual days they grow in the coast of Queensland mainly. This is the history where pineapple were originated.

Benefits of pineapple

They are full of vitamins and minerals

165 grams of pineapple can contain the following nutrients:

  • Fiber: 2.3 grams
  • Protein: 1 gram
  • Fat: 1.7 grams
  • Calories: 82.5 grams
  • Carbs: 21.6 grams
  • Vitamin B6: 9% of the RDI
  • Vitamin C: 131% of the RDI
  • Manganese: 76% of RDI
  • Folate: 7% of RDI
  • Thiamin: 9% of RDI
  • Copper: 9% of RDI
  • Potassium: 5% of RDI
  • Niacin: 4% of RDI
  • Magnesium: 5% of RDI
  • Riboflavin: 3% of RDI
  • Pantothenic Acid: 4% of RDI}
  • Iron: 3% of RDI

As you can see, one of the most important health benefits of pineapple is that they are a great source of vitamin C and Manganese. But not only this, they also contain little amounts of vitamin K and A, calcium and Zinc.

The vitamin C is necessary for the growth and development, to keep a healthy immune system and aiding a correct absorption of iron from the food. The manganese is a mineral that keeps a healthy metabolism and has antioxidant properties.

origin of pineapple

Eating pineapple can help you with the weight loss

If you wonder if is pineapple good for you and your weight loss, actually they are good, the pineapple juice can help you to decrease fat formation. This is not completely confirmed because these studies were done in animals.

This fruit can be a perfect choice for nutrition or snack because they are one of the fruits with a low content of calories, high content of vitamins and minerals and does not contain saturated fats.

You can replace other food or snack like ice cream with pineapple, they are juicy and really sweet, this can be an excellent dessert, you will be eating something sweet with low calories.

Aid your digestion

Pineapples are rich in bromelain, some studies shows that this is a mix of enzymes capable to reduce inflammation and nasal swelling, it can heal burns and injures too.

They can good to improve you our digestion, historically, in central and south america, pineapples have been used to treat different digestive disorders, a study donde by the Biotechnology Research International showed that the bromelain may reduce the effects of diarrhea.

Provides a huge amount of antioxidants

The antioxidants are molecules that help your body to fight oxidative stress. The oxidative stress means that the body is full of free radicals, the free radicals can damage the cells and cause chronic inflammations, a weak immune system and different diseases.

May help to reduce the risk of cancer

The cancer is known as a chronic diseases caused by uncontrolled cell growing.

The progression of this disease is related with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Different studies shows that the compounds of pineapple may reduce the risk of different types of cancer, this is because the properties of thi tropical fruit may reduce the oxidative stress and reduce inflammation.

Here, the bromelain enter in action again, test-tube studies have shown that this compound is capable to fight cancer. This also showed that bromelain suppressed the growth of breast cancer and stimulated the death of cells. The cancer of skin was suppressed too, gastric system and colon were benefited too.

Studies showed that bromelain stimulates the immune system, producing molecules that make white blood cells more effective in the suppression of cancer cells growth and their elimination. We Think this can be one of the greatest benefits of eating pineapple.

eating pineapple

Promote healthy bones

Like the calcium, the manganese is necessary for maintaining strong and resistant bones. Pineapple is one of the top food which provides a great amount of minerals, according to Oregon State University, just a cup of pineapple contains the 76% of manganese recommended per day.

Manganese can help us to avoid osteoporosis, and overall, help to improve the density of the bones. But be careful, don’t ingere a huge amount of manganese, because this may increase the risk of cognitive disorders, if you consume more than 11 mg per day. But you don’t have to be worried about that because is not easy to reach that amount, a cup of pineapple has just 1 mg of manganese.

Calories in pinapple

This tropical fruit is delicious and full of health benefits but unfortunately for those who have diabetes, pineapples are full of sugar, so you have to be careful with the portions you eat.

But the pineapple calories are low, most of the calories found in this fruit come from carbohydrates. A cup of chunks can contain 82 calories and 22 grams of carbs. Most of the carbohydrates in pineapple is sugar.

They have around 16 grams of natural sugar (fructose) in a single pineapple, you will gain 2 grams of fiber too. The glycemic load of a cup of this tropical fruit is around 6. So, carbs in pineapple is not high and actually this fruit is recommended for weight loss among others. The benefits of pineapple are huge, enjoy them!