Health Benefits of Pawpaw

Most people are guilty of this even me🤗

The question I have for you is simple…
Have you taken pawpaw this year?
Or better still, when last did you take pawpaw?
Recently I was lodging a complaint to my dad when he told me I need to start feeding more on fruits. Of course, I so love to take fruits but there are some I rarely take. Then he asked me of the last time I ever took pawpaw.
In my mind, I was like “pawpaw bi ti bawo?”

And truth be told, pawpaw is really a wonderful fruit with good taste and benefits.
Christopher Columbus reportedly called it “fruit of the angels” because it tasted so good. When ripe, the flesh is sweet and juicy and similar in taste to other melons.

Pawpaw is the plant Carica papaya, one of the 22 accepted species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae

Carica papaya has a lot of benefits which I will mention few:

Let me start with its benefits for the women😉
1) Pawpaw helps ease menstrual pain: Women who experience menstrual pain should help themselves to several servings of papaya, as an enzyme called papain helps in regulating and easing flow during menstrual periods.

2) Papaya is Used to Treat Digestive Disorders
Papaya is a great source of proteolytic enzymes that are very important in digesting food. The most important of these proteolytic enzymes found in papaya is papain

3) Skin and healing:
When used topically, mashed papaya appears to be beneficial for promoting wound healing and preventing infection of burned areas. Researchers believe that the proteolytic enzymes chymopapain and papain in papaya are responsible for their beneficial effects. Ointments containing the papain enzyme have also been used to treat decubitus ulcers (bedsores).

4) Commercial use: Papain in pawpaw is most commonly used commercially in meat tenderizers and chewing gums. Cosmetically, papain is used in some toothpastes, shampoos, and facial creams.

5) If the papaya is ripe, it can be eaten raw. However, unripe papaya should always be cooked before eating, especially during pregnancy. That’s because the unripe fruit has a high latex content, which can stimulate contraction.

Unripe papayas are green in colour and are not pulpy. Moreover, the inside of the green papayas are sometimes white in colour.
Raw green papayas contains essential nutrients and minerals like potassium, magnesium, and vitamins like A, C, B and E.

Raw pawpaw increases Breast Milk: Breastfeeding mothers must have green unripe papayas as they increase milk production in lactating women.

Side Effects of Pawpaw..
Papaya may cause severe allergic reactions in sensitive people. Papaya latex can be a severe irritant and vesicant on skin. Papaya juice and papaya seeds are unlikely to cause adverse effects when taken orally; however, papaya leaves at high doses may cause stomach irritation.

Remember we are talking about the latex, juice,seed and leaf here.
Before you use any of the 3 above for medicinal purposes, consult a Botanist and probably a Pharmacist.

Take more of the fruit instead!!!