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Prickly Pear Health Benefits

Mar 28, 2011 | By Anne Tourney
Prickly Pear Health Benefits
Photo Credit prickly pear image by Sean Wallace-Jones from Fotolia.com

The fruit of the prickly pear cactus is rich in magnesium, an essential mineral that contributes to the activities of enzymes, promotes healthy heart and kidney function and helps your body produce energy. Prickly pear also contains vitamin C, which boosts immunity and provides antioxidant protection against chronic disease. The prickly pear has a tough skin and reddish-purple, yellow or white fruit, depending on the cultivar. Prickly pear may be eaten as a fresh fruit or used to make jellies, tea, beverages or candy.

Digestion and Weight Control

One skinless prickly pear fruit weighing 103 g, or 4 oz., has 42 calories, 0.5 g of fat, 4 g of fiber and 90 g of water. The fiber and water in this low-calorie, virtually fat-free fruit may promote weight control by taking the edge off your appetite while contributing to your daily requirements for vitamins and minerals. A diet rich in high-fiber fruits like prickly pear may prevent constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticular disease, a condition that can damage your intestinal lining.

Cardiovascular Function

One prickly pear fruit has 88 mg of magnesium and 227 mg of potassium. The magnesium and potassium in prickly pear fruit help your heart maintain a normal rhythm and may regulate blood pressure. Potassium is an electrolyte that contributes to healthy blood pressure and controls the fluid balance in your body. One prickly pear fruit provides 22 percent of the daily value for magnesium, or the amount that a healthy adult on a 2,000-calorie diet needs each day.

Skin and Bone Health

Prickly pear provides vitamin A in the form of the pro-vitamin beta-carotene, a pigment that protects the health of your eyes and skin. Vitamin A preserves the integrity of the tissues that line your digestive, respiratory and urinary tracts and contributes to the formation of strong connective tissues. Magnesium and potassium play active roles in maintaining bone health. Getting enough of these minerals along with calcium in your diet may help prevent osteoporosis.

Disease Prevention

A 4-oz. prickly pear fruit provides 14 mg of vitamin C, an antioxidant that suppresses the harmful actions of toxins that contribute to cancer and heart disease. The fruit of Sicilian cultivars of the prickly pear contains red and yellow pigments called betalains that may have significant antioxidant effects. An article published in the November 2002 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" notes that the pigments in the prickly pear may reduce the oxidative cellular damage that can contribute to chronic disease. According to Drugs.com, the antioxidant compounds in prickly pear may help control cholesterol and reduce the damaging effects of high serum cholesterol. More clinical research is required to confirm the antioxidant effects of the compounds in prickly pear.

References

Article reviewed by Mia Paul Last updated on: Mar 28, 2011

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