When we talk about pineapple, first thing in mind must be the fresh sweet sour meat of the pineapple. This is the reason why people simply peel the pineapple, slice the meat away from the core, eat the meat, and simply leave the core. We can easily get the core slicer to easily separate the juicy fruit meat with its core.
But have you ever thought that the pineapple core might be beneficial for you? Yes, a recent study reveal that the pineapple core you usually toss at the garbage bin is actually contain health benefits of pineapple core for you.
Nutrition Value of Pineapple Core
Some of you might think that the pineapple core is not edible as it seems less juicy and too hard to chew. But surprisingly, a study found that the pineapple core actually contains the similar value to the whole part of the fruit and the juice may also have the health benefits as the Health Benefits of Pineapple Juice. From the pineapple core, at least we can get these following values:
- Fiber
- Sugar
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Manganese
- Potassium
- Iron
- Copper
- Phosphorus
- Calcium
- Zinc
- Bromelain
The Health Benefits of Pineapple Core
Pineapple might be one of the fixed features in List of Common American Fruits and Health Benefits which is unarguably can give a significant effect on our health. But the surprising health benefits below may lead you to start craving for the health benefits of the pineapple core.
- Reduce inflammation
Pineapple is known to contain high level of bromelain. But surprisingly, the core contains higher level of bromelain that the flesh. This compound works very well as anti-inflammatory agent which effectively suppresses the pain caused by inflammation such arthritis.
- Maintain healthy digestion
Bromelain in pineapple core can also help you to relieve some stomach problems and maintain the healthy digestion. This health benefit is also supported by the content of fiber in pineapple core.
- Lower high cholesterol
It is known that the content of fiber in pineapple core is higher than we can get from the flesh. Therefore, discarding the core might be a loss for you. As we know, fiber holds an important role to reduce the high LDL level in the body. Recently, the unhealthy lifestyle can easily lead to the LDL raising.Â
- Boost immune system
The vitamin C in pineapple core is able to boost immune system and improve body’s vitality. Therefore, the regular consumption of pineapple along with its core may prevent you from easily getting sick. Besides, it can also boost the process of recovery as vitamin C aid the self-repair in the damaged cells.
- Treat wounds
Treating wounds is one of the health benefits of pineapple core. As bromelain in pineapple core possesses anti-inflammatory property, it aids the treatment of wounds and bruises. This compound also help the process of cell repair on the skin infection such eczema and psoriasis.
- Good for bones
Pineapple core contains many beneficial minerals for bones. One of them is manganese with its ability to aid bone metabolism. In addition, pineapple core also contains copper which support the formation of collagen. Collagen is one of the bone building components which also maintain the joints functioning.Â
- Prevent anemia
One of the potential factors of anemia is the lack of iron intake. In this case, pineapple core offer you the ability to provide copper. Copper is a mineral which aid the absorption of iron in the body. Iron is needed during the formation of red blood cells.
- Prevent heart diseases
Pineapple core contains at least two beneficial nutrients for heart health. It contains vitamin C, which is as beneficial as fiber to maintain the health of heart and prevent the development of heart diseases.
- Control weight
Just like the Benefits of Eating Pineapple for Weight Loss, the vitamin C and fiber in pineapple core help you to bust the exceeding fats in your body. The fiber can also help you to feel fuller a little longer. This way you may control cravings and lose some pounds as the bonus.
- Treat cancer
Pineapple including its core contains a good amount of antioxidant which actively fights the free radicals. The powerful bromelain in pineapple core is scientifically proven to be able in shrinking the size of cancerous tumors within the body.
- Treat asthma
People with asthma commonly have breathing problems. It is contributed by the mucus along the respiratory track. In this case, pineapple core possesses beneficial value which aids the thinning of mucus. This way, pineapple core help to maintain easy breathing.
The other health benefits of pineapple core are:
- Improve oral health
- Regulate blood pressure
- Improve eyesight
- Improve blood circulation
- Treat colitis
Recommendation in Consuming Pineapple Core
As the health benefits of pineapple core mentioned above, we can start to involve the pineapple core rather than use the core slicer. But how we can use the pineapple as it is very tough with slightly bitter taste compared to the watery fresh pineapple flesh? For the pineapple flesh, we can simply eat it fresh or grill it to obtain the Health Benefits of Grilled Pineapple.
But you can’t do the same for the core. Well, you may try these following recommendations to use the pineapple core:
- Throw away your core slicer. Instead, just slice the pineapple straightly from the top to bottom in a thin slice just like when you slice watermelon. This way, you’ll get a slice of thin core and thicker fruit meat. So, you’ll not be bothered with the hard and slightly bitter taste of the core.Â
- Chop the pineapple core into tiny pieces, and freeze them into ice cubes. You’ll later use them for your cool drink.
- Make a broth using the pineapple core and you’ll have the pleasantly smelling pineapple core broth. You can use the broth for to cook fish and meat dishes. Not only improving the aroma, including pineapple core to your broth may help soften the meat.
- You can also include the core of this tropical fruit into your favorite fruit and veggie smoothies and get the health benefits of Health Benefits of Fruit and Veggie Smoothies.
By the recommendations above, we can use the pineapple core while getting the health benefits of pineapple core.
Precautions in Consuming Pineapple Core
As mentioned above, pineapple contains the beneficial bromelain for health. But sadly, bromelain is not always a good thing for some health conditions. Some people being too sensitive to bromelain may experience nausea after consuming this compound and some may get diarrhea.
This compound may also influence the bleeding in woman during her period. It is also the reason why woman in early pregnancy is better to avoid consuming pineapple along with its core as the bromelain may harm the fetus.
Further, we should also take some consideration in consuming pineapple core while we are taking some medicine. Some studies proved that bromelain may net get along with some medicine such aspirin and antidepressant tablets.