PINEAPPLE. A JEWEL OF THE TROPICS.

Pineapple is a fruit that originated from South America; it has a sweet taste and various important properties.

PROPERTIES

• The pineapple is a fruit low in calories and with a high proportion of water. This high proportion of water present within their composition allows us to maintain ourselves hydrated at all times of the year, especially during the summer.
• Pineapple also favours diuresis thereby improving the work that our kidneys do in order to eliminate toxins from our body.
• It gives us more energy due to its richness in carbohydrates.
• This fruit also contains various sugars, mainly fructose and sucrose, which gives it its sweet taste that takes away that craving for foods rich in refined sugars when its eaten as a desert.

VITAMIN C

• Pineapple has high levels of Vitamin C.
• This vitamin is necessary to activate the immune system thereby increasing the defences of our organism.
• This vitamin also contributes to the absorption of iron that is present within various foods such as meat, fish, vegetables, etc.
• Vitamin C also affects the creation of collagen, which is a protein that affects the formation of bones, cartilages and teeth.
• Vitamin C is also a very potent antioxidant that protects us against free radicals that cause aging and degenerative diseases associated with age.

OTHER VITAMINS

Pineapples also contain Vitamin A in a smaller proportion, which enables us to have good eyesight.

Other vitamins from group B are also present within this fruit and together collaborate with other functions to ensure that our nervous system works effectively.

POTASSIUM

Pineapple is one of the fruits with the highest richness of this mineral.

Potassium also participates in the regulation of blood pressure; which is why people with this pathology are recommended to eat it.

Potassium is also a mineral that intervenes in cardiac and muscular contraction.

This mineral also has an important part to play in the transmission of nerve impulses.

MAGNESIUM

Magnesium is also another mineral that can be found within pineapples and that affect the formation of bones and teeth. It also intervenes within muscular contractions and in the transmission of nerve impulses alongside potassium.

This mineral also participates in the regulation of other minerals present within pineapples such as calcium.

FIBRE

• The fibre that can found within this fruit is a good food source for microbiota or the intestinal flora, thereby generating a feeling of fullness. This fibre also causes the sugars present within the fruit to slowly get absorbed into the blood as well as decreasing the absorption of cholesterol and fats.
• Additionally, it also helps to improve intestinal transit thereby countering constipation.

BROMELAIN

Bromelain is a natural enzyme that is present within pineapples that helps to digest the proteins of the foods rich in them such as meat, fish, eggs, legumes, etc. thereby helping us to have a good digestion.

In conclusion, we want to highlight that even though pineapples form a part of a variety of gastronomic plates, the fruit retains the majority of its properties especially vitamin C and bromelain, in its unaltered state as these two substances are destroyed by heat.

Dr. J Hurtado Martínez

Medical Director of HealthSalus