Why Every Pear is Beyond Compare
The humble, shapely pear is a member of the rosaceae family (just like roses, apples, and apricots, to name a few).
When you consider the nutritional components of the pear, its fiber profile is hard to miss. For example, did you know that you can get 22% of your daily fiber needs met by eating just one?! How crazy is that?! Which explains why the pear is beneficial to digestive health, as well as favorable to pre-biotic functions.
Compared to other fruits, let’s face it: They don’t look terribly spectacular at first glance, either, until you learn the stunning truth.
Stripping Down the Pear
Juicing 8 ounces from a pear provides the same nutritional value you’d get by eating two or three whole pears. For people like me with digestive issues (specifically for me, Crohns’ Disease), dodging the fiber means I can take in the pear’s free form concentrate of power-packed minerals without the roughage. Pears are chock full of vitamins C and K along with several forms of synergistic B, potassium, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, flavonols (anthocyanins), and iron.
What’s more, its juice improves the absorbability of many other vitamins and mineral. That’s one of the reasons pear juice is recommended for children and for anyone recovering from illness.
No need to wonder why we sometimes refer to pears as a natural immune system booster!
Need to hear more? No problem! A pear’s nutrients boost cardiovascular circulation, and its flavonoids are being studied for their ability to prevent cancer. They also increase bone mineral density, and support the entire nervous system.
And, don’t miss this CRITICAL piece: All these nutritional benefits happen in the juice form far more readily than merely munching on a whole piece of fruit because the pear’s fiber prevents nutrient absorption. Got it?
Ap(pear)ently Fun Facts
Despite the fact that the Ancient Greeks mathematically calculated the shape (and size) of the earth thousands of years before his charter from Queen Isabella, Columbus believed that the Earth was, in fact, pear-shaped! Columbus wrote, “… this western half of the world, I maintain, is like half a very round pear, having a raised projection for the stalk, as I have already described” [1].
And, what’s more, They Have Great A-peel
While we often hear about apples being rich in pectin, pears are actually a better source of pectin than the venerable apple. Pectin fiber is helpful for digestion by binding to excess fatty substances in our lower GI tract, and it removes these fatty substances along with LDL cholesterol and other waste toxins in the body.
Pear pectin literally encourages the body to dump its garbage, improving our natural detoxifying capabilities, while also helping to balance our blood sugar. The pectin is found in the highest levels in the peel, and has been shown in studies to improve plasma lipid levels. So, if you juice at home (and, I hope you do), please juice the ‘Juice Shack way’ and juice the whole thing!
Here’s Where YOU Can Help. . .
For two years, I’ve scoured the internet seeking sources that can back up the health and benefit claims of fruits, vegetables, and supplements (sometimes called “boost”).
In the chart below are the health claims I and others have discovered about pears. Where you see a footnote, you’ll find a link to the source. If there is not a footnote, that means the specific health claim is made, but neither I nor anyone I know has been able to locate sources of research or credible anecdotes to back up the claim.
So, if you are aware of a direct source of research or anecdotes to back up the claims, please post them in the comments. I’ll check them out and if they meet our standards, I’ll make sure that they’re included in the next edition of the blog and give you a shout-out!
Reported Health Benefit Claims of Pear:
Come on down into the Shack, where we’ve pre-peared a juice for you!
Speaker 1: (00:00)
Today with Dr. Davis, we’re going to learn about pears. So let’s talk about pears.
Speaker 2: (00:13)
Pears are very similar in nutritional value as an apple. So again, it has packed in soluble fiber, so it’s good for that. It’s full of antioxidant. It does have some vitamin C in it. Does have magnesium and potassium in it. But again, very similar, similar to apples with the soluble fiber in it. So it’s good for digestion.
Speaker 1: (00:42)
Does that lead to anticancer properties like you get from an Apple?
Speaker 2: (00:46)
Yes, exactly. Very similar. They’re both Asian fruits and so, very similar in nature as an apple.
Speaker 1: (00:54)
And , and so with the pear because of the magnesium and calcium that can be used for relaxing the muscles, maybe getting the body and mind prepared for restful sleep.
Speaker 2: (01:08)
Exactly, exactly. You know, people think of it as a little lower on the glycemic index than say a banana. So it would be, if you’re looking for a lower fructose or lower glycemic index fruit, how fast it gets converted into sugar pears would be a good one.
Speaker 1: (01:24)
Sounds like I need a pair today.
Sources:
Excerpt: Book of Earths by Edna Kenton (1928) pp. 209-210 on comparative folklore and mythology of earth origins. Including FIGURE 89. The pear-shaped Earth of Columbus. (From Paradise Found; William Fairfield Warren, 1885.)
- https://draxe.com/pear-nutrition/
- https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/pears.html
- http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=28
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4657810/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20109132/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12620529/
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285430.php
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12952433
- http://ijrap.net/admin/php/uploads/1473_pdf.pdf
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