đThis week, weâre talking about: bromelain as a unique and beneficial phytonutrient found almost exclusively in pineapple; why pineapple is good for us and what causes that stingy sensation in our mouths when we eat it; the science proving that fruit is not just ânatureâs candyâ but a foundational food group that we donât want to miss out on; the âsweet spotâ for fruit consumption so we get the most health benefits; and Iâm sharing my recipe for Pineapple and Lychee Granita.
Key Takeaways
â Bromelain is almost exclusively found in pineapple and has amazing potential to treat many conditions from heart disease, to many types of cancer.
â Contrary to you may have heard, fruit is independently beneficial, meaning that even if youâre rocking the veggies and legumes, youâre missing out if youâre not eating fruit.
â The âsweet spotâ for fruit intake at around two or three servings per day (with a serving being 1 cup, or a fist-sized amount, of raw fruit).
â For paid subscribers, your companion downloads this week are: Nutrients in Fruit and Pineapple and Lychee Granita. Check your inbox; theyâll be arriving in a separate email (or if you use the Substack app, theyâll be in their own post).
Bromelain for
đ§ŹBromelain is an incredibly unique phytonutrient that is found almost exclusively in pineapple. Technically, bromelain is a sulfhydryl proteolytic enzyme that aids the digestion of proteins. This unique nutrient is not only found in the edible portion of pineapple, but scientific studies have shown that it is also found in the stems and leaves, in addition to various other amazing compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins.
There have been numerous studies looking at the wide array of benefits and potential of bromelain supplementation including in its effects on cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases (such as IBD), blood coagulation and fibrinolysis disorders, and various types of cancer.
Despite the extensive research and success with bromelain therapies, the mechanisms of this nutrient are not yet fully understood. More research is necessary to understand how this compound performs, and further improvements to the extraction and concentration processes are needed to reduce the cost of obtaining bromelain supplements. In the meantime, itâs a great reason to eat more pineapple!
Want to know the top 25 food sources of some of the top phytonutrients? Learn them here.
Get Bromelain Only in Pineapple
đ«In addition to being a (almost) unique source of bromelain, a 1-cup serving of pineapple delivers 88% DV vitamin C, 67% DV manganese, 20% DV copper, 287 mg polyphenols and 2.3 g fiber! In fact, pineapple has a Nutrivore Score of 358, which makes it 2.5X more nutrient-dense than an apple, 89% more nutrient dense than a banana, 57% more nutrient-dense than honeydew melon, 24% more nutrient-dense than cranberries and 5% more nutrient-dense than mango. (Not that those other fruit options are bad, just that pineapple is awesome!)
Fun fact: The (completely normal and common) stingy feeling in your mouth when you eat pineapple isnât just from bromelain, but ALSO from sharp, needle-like structures of calcium oxalate crystals called raphides. Raphides cause microscopic abrasions to tongues and the insides of cheeks, then bromelain gets in and breaks down proteins in the mucus lining of the mouth (so yes, pineapple is just a tiny wee little bit eating you back when you eat it), and then the acidity of the pineapple in these exposed tissues causes the stinging!
Pineapple is the 313th most nutrient-dense food! Learn the Top 500 Nutrivore Foods here.
Pineapple and Lychee Granita Recipe
đ„ If you are looking for the perfect way to end your meal in the lingering heat of the summer, I highly recommend this refreshing and cool, melt-in-your-mouth dessert! It is the most crisp and naturally sweetened treat out there. The sweet tangy and sour combination of the fruit and limes is just a perfect blend, not to mention packed with phytonutrients and vitamins pumping up the Nutrivore Score of this recipe to a 333! Best of all, this dessert requires no heat, so no stove, oven, cooking or baking skills required.
Add this recipe to your meal plan this week with Real Plans, the official Nutrivore meal planning app!
Nutrivore Mindset Corner
đ§ You may have heard that fruit is âNatureâs candyâ and is not nutritionally important. But the science says otherwise.
Although âfruit and vegetablesâ are often lumped together when talking about the health benefits of plant foods, fruit are independently beneficial! That means that we benefit from adding fruit to our diet even if weâre eating tons of veggies! Health benefits attributed to specifically fruit include improved gastrointestinal health (including protection from IBS, IBD, diverticular disease, constipation, and colorectal cancer), reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, reduced risk of metabolic syndrome, long-term weight management, protection against lung cancer, improved bone mineral density, reduced asthma severity, reduced risk of depression and other psychological conditions, reduced severity of autism spectrum disorders, reduced risk of seborrheic dermatitis, and reduced severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eating about 3 servings per day is associated with these health benefits.
In fact, for some health outcomes, fruit actually has a bigger impact than vegetables. For example, while eating vegetables and fruits decreases the risk of hypertension, high blood pressure, per serving, the effect is stronger for fruit. And, gram for gram, fruit fiber reduces risk of metabolic syndrome more than vegetable fiber, cereal fiber, meaning grains, and total fiber! Fruit also has a bigger impact on the risk of Crohnâs disease, diverticular disease than either whole grains or vegetables. And fruit has been shown to be beneficial for chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.
Altogether the research points to 2 or 3 servings of fruit per day being optimal for a variety of health outcomes. A serving is one cup (or a fist) for raw fruits. Most fruits will shrink to about half a cup (or half a fist) when cooked. And yes, your servings of citrus and berries also count towards total fruit. So, embrace fruit as a convenient snack, a healthy dessert, a whimsical addition to salads, and a sophisticated flavoring agent in the form of salsas, jams, and chutneys.
Learn everything you need to know about the Nutrivore philosophy in my book, Nutrivore: Eat Any Food, Get Every Nutrient, and Transform Your Health!
Helpful Tip of the Week
đĄIn general, science points to a âsweet spotâ for fruit intake at around two or three servings per day (with a serving being 1 cup, or a fist-sized amount, of raw fruit). Both less and more than this amount isnât as beneficial, although even up to four or five servings per day is still better than eating no fruit!
Why isnât this a case of âthe more, the better?â In short, most studies show that this amount provides the majority of the benefits we can glean from high fruit intake. The dose response relationship between fruit consumption and our overall health isnât linear, meaning that each serving we add to our diets doesnât impact our health equally. The benefits of fruit intake increase until we hit that two-serving mark, with additional fruit intake not offering additional benefits. Of course, variety matters here, too: eating a serving of two different fruits per day delivers more benefits than eating two or three servings of the same type of fruit.
Only 12.5% of American adults eat the current recommended intake of fruit. So, if youâre able to hit that two-serving sweet spot (or close to it), youâre doing great! And if fruit isnât currently a part of your routine, try adding a serving of fruit to one meal per day. This could be adding sliced banana or berries to your breakfast cereal, having some apple slices with nut butter as part of your lunch, or adding sliced fruit to salad with dinner or using fruit salsa as a condiment. Fruit also makes a convenient snack and a refreshing dessert.
If you need more strategies for developing healthier eating habits, check out my Nutrivore90 Online Course.
This Weekâs Companion Downloads
đ„For paid subscribers, your Companion Downloads this week are:
Nutrients in Fruit - This 1-pager PDF guide highlights key nutrients in fruit and their benefits, to give you a quick-reference for why two or three daily servings of fruit is so good for you.
Pineapple and Lychee Granita Recipe - A beautifully-designed PDF version of this weekâs recipe that you can save or print out, to build your own personalized Nutrivore Cookbook week by week.
Check your inbox for the Companion Downloads arriving in a separate email (or if you use the Substack app, theyâll be in their own post). You can also find them in the archive here. Thank you so much for supporting my work and Nutrivore!
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD
Founder of Nutrivore