Papaya...papaya..too good for good health.

Food ValuePapaya is regarded as a wholesome fruit. The daily requirements of some of the essential nutrients like proteins, mineral and vitamins can be met from this fruit. The vitamin C contents in papaya increases as the maturity progresses. Its carbohydrate content is mainly of invert sugar which is a form of predigested food.

Natural Benefits and Curative Properties
The papaya has remarkable medicinal virtues which were fully recognised even in ancient times. It is not only one of the most easily digested fruits, but it also aids the digestion of other foods. Ripe papaya is excellent tonic for growing children, for pregnant women and nursing mothers. It is an energy giving food.

Intestinal DisordersPapain in the raw papaya is highly beneficial in the deficiency of gastric juice, excess of unhealthy mucus in the stomach, in dyspepsia and intestinal irritation. The ripe fruit, if eaten regularly, corrects habitual constipation, bleeding piles and chronic diarrhoea. The juice of the papaya seeds is also useful in dyspepsia and bleeding piles.

RoundwormsThe digestive enzyme papain the milky juice of the unripe papaya is powerful anthelmintic for (i.e. which has the power to destroy) roundworms. A tablespoonful of the fresh juice and equal quantity of honey should be mixed with three to four tablespoonful of hot water and taken as a dose by an adult. This dose should be followed two hours later by a dose of 30 to 60 ml. of castor oil mixed in 250-375 ml. of luke warm milk. This treatment should be repeated for two days, if necessary. For children of 7 to 10 years, half the above dose should be given. For children under three years, a teaspoonful is sufficient.

Papaya seeds are also useful for this purpose, they are rich in a substance called caricin which is a very effective medicine for expelling roundworms. The alkaloid carpaine found in the leaves has also the power to destroy or expel intestinal worms. They are given with honey.
Skin DisordersThe juice of the raw papaya, being an irritant, is useful in several skin disorders. It is applied with beneficial results to swellings to prevent pus formation or suppuration and to corns, warts, pimples, horn, an excrescence or an abnormal outgrowth of the skin and other skin diseases. The juice has a cosmetic, removes freckles or brown spots due to exposure to sunlight and makes the skin smooth and delicate. A paste of papaya seeds is applied in skin diseases like ringworm.

Menstrual IrregularitiesThe unripe papaya helps the contraction of the muscle fibres of the womb and is thus beneficial in securing proper menstrual flow. It is especially helpful in case of cessation of menstruation due to exposure to the cold or due to fright in young unmarried girls.
Cirrhosis of the liverBlack seeds of papaya are highly beneficial in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism, malnutriton etc. A tablespoonful of juice obtained by grinding the seeds, mixed with ten drops of fresh lime juice, should be given once or twice daily for about a month as a medicine for this disease.

Throat DisordersFresh juice of raw papaya mixed with honey can be applied with beneficial results over inflamed tonsils for diphtheria and other throat disorders. It dissolves the membrane and prevents infection from spreading.

Spleen EnlargementRipe papaya is highly valuable in enlargement of the spleen. The fruit should be skinned, cut into pieces and immersed in vinegar for a week. About 20 gms. of the fruit thus preserved should be consumed twice with meals in the treatment of this disease. Slices of peeled raw fruit with cumin seeds and pepper can also be used once daily to cure enlargement of the spleen due to malaria.