Why pineapple juice is good for our health
The use of fruit and vegetable juices has long been included in the practice of nutrition. Freshly squeezed juice concentrates in a small volume all the most useful things that the product is rich in. Sometimes liquid is the only form of food. In other cases, a glass of juice is your daily source of vitamins. Pineapple juice is precisely a multivitamin complex with a special substance bromelain, which helps to accelerate metabolism in the body.
Choosing the right pineapple
- visually;
- tactile;
- by sound;
- as a crest;
- by smell.
When examining, you need to pay attention to the color, it should be yellow-brown. The crust should be intact, without dents or damage. You should not examine the fruit further if brown spots are found on it, the pineapple has begun to rot. Taking a pineapple in your hands, you need to determine the state of the peel, it should be soft and springy from pressing. If this does not happen, the pineapple is not ripe, and the juice from it will not be useful. The green fruit may turn yellow after lying down for a while. He certainly will not become ripe.
If you hit the crust with your palm, you will hear a sound. A deaf man speaks of maturity, a voiced one warns that it is better to refrain from buying. The tuft on the top of the berry will say a lot. In a ripe pineapple, the leaf quietly twists and comes off. Fresh foliage says the fruit has recently been picked. A dry withered crown with a small number of leaves is a sign, the fruit was plucked green, traveled for a long time across the sea, to bases, and has long been put up for sale.
When choosing a pineapple, you need to smell the fruit. The smell with prevailing spicy sweet notes indicates that fermentation has begun inside. The fruit is overripe. If the purchase is made in a brand store with a good reputation, then the high cost may be associated with the delivery of the goods by air from the place of growth. Then ripe pineapple, for sure, it will delight you with its taste. Although the price does not always correspond to the quality of the product.
Content of nutrients in juice
The tropical fruit pineapple is a very valuable product, since with a low calorie content, the composition of substances useful to humans is huge. Suffice it to say that vitamin C it has more than lemon. The calorie content of 100 g of juice is 48 kcal, but carbohydrates predominate in the energy composition. The juice contains:
- water - 86%;
- sugar - 11.5%;
- citric acid - 0.4%;
- ascorbic acid or vitamin C - 50 mg;
- group of vitamins B, A, PP.
The vitamins in pineapple are fortified by organic enzymes, some of which are unique in their action. Microelements are represented by 16 names, the most important of which for humans are salts of potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron and copper. Such a complex of useful components of the juice is enhanced by a unique substance bromelain and volatile ethers that give a unique smell to the fruit.
Bromenain, present in pineapple, is a substance capable of promoting many processes in the body. This component is unstable, decomposes during heat treatment and storage. Bromelain is not found in canned products and industrial juices.
Bromelain's action is multifaceted:
- participates in the breakdown of proteins;
- suppresses inflammatory processes;
- strengthens the immune system;
- promotes blood thinning and dissolution of deposits on blood vessels;
- has a beneficial effect on the digestive tract.
The benefits of freshly squeezed juice are greatest when consumed on an empty stomach. Then the most active effect on all body systems is healing bromelain. When using juice as a dessert, the benefits of enhancing the action of enzymes in gastric juice. Digestion of heavy and fatty foods will be more successful after drinking pineapple juice. That is, the juice is always useful, but its action in different cases is selective.
Who needs pineapple juice
Knowing about the benefits of the product, we can say that the juice has no contraindications to use, except for a few cases due to the increased acidity of pineapple and other points:
- intolerance to any of the components;
- gastrointestinal diseases in the acute stage and gastritis with high acidity;
- age up to 6 years;
- pregnancy and breastfeeding.
For those who have entered the period of maturity, after 40 years, a glass of juice twice a week will prolong health for many years. This is facilitated not only by bromelain and pineapple vitamins, but a large number of other active substances. So, potassium is necessary for the functioning of the circulatory system, including the heart muscle and brain activity. By taking juice systematically, the pressure drops to normal, the vessels are cleansed from cholesterol and the risk of thrombosis decreases.
Memory improves, joints and muscles stop hurting, colds are easier, stress conditions are relieved. In this case, you should know the rules for using a healing product.
For those who want to quickly get the result with the help of pineapple juice, we remind you that useful substances can become poison if consumed excessively. Overdose of vitamin C - cause diarrhea, heartburn, insomnia. An overdose of bromelain will lead to skin rashes, diarrhea, menstrual bleeding in women, up to miscarriage. Bromelain interacts with medications. For chronically ill patients, a consultation with a doctor is needed.
Difference between freshly made juice and industrial product
Everything that has been said about the benefits of pineapple juice applies to making it at home. Prefabricated products use dry ingredients that are dissolved in water, added flavor, sugar and preservatives. At present, even sugar is being replaced by other flavor enhancers, which is even more dangerous for the body. Even if the label says 100% pineapple juice, it is reconstituted and no longer contains bromelain. And even this composition is not in nectars, it is allowed to have only 30% juice, the rest is water.
Therefore, for use, you need to make fresh juice at home and store it in the refrigerator for no longer than a day. Before preparing the product, you need to wash the pineapple and peel it off. Cut the peeled fruit into pieces and pass through a blender or juicer. You do not need to clean the juice from the pulp; you can dilute the mass a little with water or other natural juice.
You can use such a product with health benefits one glass twice a week. The acidity of pineapple is active, the frequent inclusion of juice in the menu can cause gastritis. After drinking the juice, you must definitely put your mouth in order. The juice eats away at the enamel of the teeth. Those who drink fruit juices through a straw do the right thing.