Guava Benefits For Health
The potential health benefits of guava include its ability to help in preventing cancer, regulating blood pressure, and treating diarrhea. It also aids in weight loss, improves the skin, treats cough and cold, constipation, dysentery, and scurvy.
What is a Guava?
Guava is a sweet and delicious fruit cultivated in the tropical climates. This seasonal fruit, scientifically known as Psidium Guajava, is round or pear-shaped and is light green, yellow or maroon in color when it ripens. It has a white or maroon flesh, depending on its type, and has small hard seeds enveloped in its soft, sweet pulp. The common types of guava include apple guava, yellow-fruited cherry guava, strawberry guava, and red apple guava. It is mostly eaten raw (ripe or semi-ripe) or consumed in the form of juice, jams, and jellies.
Guava’s believed to have originated from Mexico or Central America. It is now very popular in Asian countries and is also increasingly available in the American countries, particularly after its health benefits have been revealed.
What makes guava special is that increasing the shelf life of this fruit does not require excessive use of chemicals or pesticides as in the case of grapes, apple, and other “exotic” fruits. It is one of the least chemically treated and sprayed fruits.
Guava Nutrition Facts
This popular fruit is a powerhouse of nutrients. Guava is a good source of energy, dietary fiber, and vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, thiamine, and riboflavin. It also contains essential minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and potassium.
Health Benefits of Guava
If the traditional adage says that, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” in Europe and America, the phrase can be probably changed to, “a few guavas in the season keep the doctor away for the whole year,” in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world where they typically grow. Let’s find out why;
Improves Eyesight
Guava is an extremely good source of vitamin A, which is well known as a booster for vision health. It can help slow down the appearance of cataracts, macular degeneration and improve the overall health of the eyes. It helps protect the cells in your eyes and can also prevent deterioration of eyesight.
Treats Cough & Cold
Juice of raw and immature guavas, or a decoction of its leaves, is very helpful in relieving coughs and colds by reducing mucus, disinfecting the respiratory tract, throat, and lungs, and inhibiting microbial activity with its astringent properties. Guava has one of the richest sources of vitamin C and iron among fruits and both effectively prevent colds and viral infections. In some areas of India, roasted ripe guava is used as a remedy against extreme cases of cough, cold, and congestion. Ripe guava should be avoided by people who are suffering from cough and cold, as it can exacerbate the problem. Also, avoid drinking water immediately after eating guava as it can lead to a sore throat.
Reduces Oxidative Stress
Guava juice is rich in vitamin C and a number of other important phytonutrients that can help eliminate free radicals and slow down oxidative stress in the body. It is a very popular beverage in tropical and subtropical regions. Furthermore, guava juice can help balance blood sugar, thus lowering your risk of developing diabetes.
Treats Scurvy
Guava can outdo many fruits, including orange and other citrus fruits, in terms of its concentration of vitamin C. A deficiency of vitamin C can cause scurvy and the only known remedy for this dangerous disease is proper intake of vitamin C. In fact, guavas contain 4X more vitamin C than oranges, which are often heralded as the absolute best source of that beneficial vitamin.
Improves Brain Health
Another tremendous benefit of guava is the presence of vitamin B3 and B6 in them. Vitamin B3 (also known as niacin) can increase blood flow and stimulates cognitive function, whereas vitamin B6 is a great nutrient for brain and nerve function. Eating guava can help relaxing the nerves and enhance concentration.
Skin Care
Guavas can improve the texture of your skin. They can help you to avoid skin problems better than beauty creams and skin toning gels. This is chiefly due to the abundance of astringents available in the fruit (more astringent is present in immature guavas) and in its leaves. Your skin can benefit from either eating the fruits (this helps tighten your muscles apart from your skin) or by rinsing your skin with a decoction of its immature fruit and leaves. It will tone up and tighten the area of loosened skin where it is applied. Guava’s rich antioxidants and detoxifying properties help keep your skin glowing and free from signs of premature aging, wrinkles, and other dermal disorders.
Weight Loss
Guava is very helpful for people wanting to lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins, and fiber. As guava is high in roughage, it has no cholesterol and has a low number of digestible carbohydrates. This combination makes a filling snack that satisfies the appetite very easily. Guava, especially the raw one, has far less sugar as compared to apples, oranges, grapes, and other fruits. Add a medium-sized guava to your lunch and you will not feel hungry until evening. Ironically, it can also help lean and skinny people to gain weight. This is probably due to its wealth of nutrients, which regulates the metabolism and promotes proper absorption of nutrients.
Dental Care
Apart from guava fruit, the leaves also have many benefits. The juice of guava leaves has been known to cure toothaches, swollen gums & oral ulcers, and it speeds up the healing process of wounds when applied topically. Finally, it reduces the frequency of convulsions, epilepsy, and bacterial infections.
When consuming guava for medicinal purposes, you must perform your due diligence, and be cautious while adding any new medicinal form of guava to your diet. It is better to stick to eating guava in its natural form as a raw fruit.
