Pear:
The Health benefits of pear are immense. But what is a pear?
A pear is a sweet, mild fruit that has a fibrous center. It is rich in dietary fiber, plant compounds or phytonutrients, and antioxidants. Antioxidants present in them help to fight against many health problems by boosting immunity.
Botanically, it is a “pome fruit” produced in the Rosaceae family of trees, in the Pyrus genus. Pome fruit plants are average-sized trees found in semi-tropical regions around the northern hemisphere. They bear medium-sized fruits that characteristically have several small seeds at their center encased in a tough capsule. The members of the pome family fruits include apple, loquat, quince, medlar, etc.
Scientific name: Pyrus communis.
In structure, pear fruit features a bell or “pyriform” shape; around 5-6 inches long and weighs about 200 gm. Fresh fruit is firm in texture with a mild ‘apple’ flavor. Externally, its skin is very thin; and depending upon the cultivar type, it can be green, red-orange, or yellow-orange in color. Inside, its off-white color flesh is soft and juicy. However, in the case of completely ripe fruits, their flesh may turn to a grainy texture with a gritty sensation while cutting with a knife. The center of the fruit is more or less similar to an apple in appearance with centrally located tiny inedible seeds.
If we define the health benefits of pear fruit in short, it is a fruit that packs all the nutrients in a cholesterol-free, fat-free, 100-calorie package.
Nutritional Value of Pear:
The health benefits of pears lie in the nutrients and minerals that it contains. These are some of the essential ones required for our body. Let’s have a look into its nutritional value. A 100-gram serving of pears contains:
Calories – 58
Carbohydrates – 15 grams
Total Fat – 0.1 gram
Protein – 0.4 gram
Dietary Fiber – 3.1 gram
Health Benefits of Pear:
- Improve bone health
The fruit contains copper, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, and magnesium in significant amounts, which all play a significant role in bone health. The boron-rich pears can help to absorb the calcium.
2. Reduce Weight and Cholesterol
Pear fruit is one of the very low-calorie fruits, providing just 58 calories per 100g. A low calorie but high fiber diet may help bring significant reduction in body weight, and blood LDL cholesterol levels.
3. Good for skin and hair
Vitamin A is beneficial for keeping the skin, hair, and nails healthy and beautiful. Pears contain good amounts of vitamin A. It is also enriched with nutrients like zeaxanthin and lutein that take part in a number of organ functions and enzymatic reactions. This also helps in keeping the skin youthful as it reduces age spots and wrinkles. If you want healthy skin and hair, you should increase your intake of vitamin A. So, you see the benefits of pear in the case of skin!
Pear is one such fruit that has this mineral in abundance, allowing you to keep up with your recommended daily intake.
4. Pregnancy
Folic acid is essential for a pregnant woman to keep the baby safe from birth defects. In pears, Folic acid is present in abundance to protect the baby from this issue, and it is recommended to use it regularly during the pregnancy.
5. Helps reduce inflammation
Pears are rich in vitamin C, K, flavonoids, and antioxidant components. Research has shown that the anti-inflammatory properties of pear help in reducing swelling and pain associated with inflammatory conditions like gout, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
6. Prevent Gallbladder, Colitis, Arthritis, Gout
Benefits of Pears are there in various traditional medicines in the treatment of colitis, chronic gallbladder disorders, arthritis, and gout.
7. Best for Allergic Persons
Pears are among the least allergenic of all the fruits. For the same reason, they are often recommended by health practitioners as a safe alternative in the preparation of food products for allergic persons.
8. Good for Lip Treatment
Pear has lactic acid in its extract. This acid content of the fruit can keep the cells of your lips healthy and hydrated for a long so Pears are excellent for our lips.
9. Healthy and Nourished Hair
Benefits of pear(ripe one)- It contains natural sugar alcohol named ‘sorbitol’ or ‘glucitol’, which feeds the hair roots, nourishes the scalp, and keeps the hair moisturized in order to make it healthy.
10. Helps with healing
Ascorbic acid helps in synthesizing cellular structures of the body and new tissues in the various organs. Pears are a good source of vitamin C and thus help in healing wounds.
11. Promote Heart Health
Pear fruit is high in potassium content. Potassium acts as a vasodilator that helps in lowering blood pressure. This results in increased blood flow in all parts of the body that helps in providing oxygen to organs.
Also, the high fiber content in pears ensures good heart health by reducing the cholesterol in the body and thereby protects us from heart diseases. Daily intake of fiber-rich food like pears can reduce the risk of stroke by up to 50%.
12. Boosts Immune System
The high content of antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin K, and copper helps in boosting the immune system of the body to fight against free radicals that damage our body cells.
13. Pear has anti-cancer properties
The benefits of pear in cancer are attributed to its antioxidant property. The antioxidant properties in pear have the potential to kill cancer-causing cells in our body. Antioxidants are renowned for their anti-carcinogenic activities that have been connected to the prevention of cancer. According to some studies, phytonutrients like flavonoids and cinnamic acids found in pears help reduce the risk of cancer. A pear a day can prevent breast cancer by up to 34% in women after menopause.
14. Prevent type-2 diabetes
Pear peel contains anthocyanins that exhibit both anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetes effects. Pear is a fibrous fruit, it slows down the digestion process, giving your body more time to break down and absorb carbs. As a result, your blood sugar levels regulate properly, potentially helping you to control and prevent diabetes.
15. Increases Energy Levels
The high glucose content in pears gives you instant energy when you feel weak. It gets absorbed very quickly by the body and converts into energy.
16. Enhance gut health
A medium-sized pear contains around 20-25% of the recommended daily intake of fibre. Since its fibre is insoluble, it moves through the colon easily and prevents colon polyps. The high fibre content helps and improves digestion. So, by eating a pear a day, you can keep your digestive system on track
So, the health benefits of pear are a lot. Every system of our body is benefitted from the pear.