Health Benefits of Eating Pears

Pears are loved all over the world for the unique taste. Learn about the nutritional benefits you can get by including these soft and sweet fleshy fruits in your healthy diet.

Soft and sweet, pears are a treat in themselves. Delicious and rich flavored pears offer crunchiness of apples yet juicy as peach and nectarine. They are widely popular, especially in the whole of the northern hemisphere, for their unique nutrient qualities, making them a delicious but healthful snacking choice.

For nutritional reasons, we're often advised to consume the skins of fruits. However, it's less often that research provides strong evidence in support of this advice. Recent studies have shown that the skin of pears contains at least three to four times as many phenolic phytonutrients as the flesh. These phytonutrients include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory flavonoids, and potentially anti-cancer phytonutrients like cinnamic acids. The skin of the pear has also been show to contain about half of the pear's total dietary fiber.

Botanically, it is a "pome fruit” produced by the tree belonging to the family of Rosaceae, in the genus: Pyrus. Pome fruit family also includes apple, loquat, medlar...etc. Scientific name: Pyrus communis.

Health and nutritional benefits of pears

Pears are excellent source of water-soluble fiber. They contain vitamins A, B1, B2, C, E, folate and niacin. It is also rich in copper, phosphorus and potassium, with lesser amounts of calcium, chlorine, iron, magnesium, sodium and sulfur. 

Pears are actually higher in pectin than apples. This makes them effective in helping to lower cholesterol levels and in toning the intestines. They are often recommended by health care practitioners as a hypoallergenic fruit that is high in fiber. They are less likely to produce an adverse response than other fruits. Check out these health benefits of pears for more good reasons to indulge in this sweet fruit.

1) Fight Free Radicals

Pears are naturally high in vitamins C and K, as well as nutrients such as copper—all of which act as antioxidants to protect our cells from damage from free radicals. One pear contains up to 11 percent of our daily recommended intake of vitamin C and 9.5 percent of our daily recommended intake of copper. Pears are also said to have more nutrients per calorie than calorie per nutrient.

2) Digestive Benefits

One medium-sized pear contains 5.5 grams of fiber toward your daily goal of 21 to 38 grams. When you eat plenty of fiber, your digestive system works the way it's supposed to. Fiber helps your body absorb the vitamins and minerals from your food. It also helps prevent and relieve constipation and can keep you from developing painful hemorrhoids as well.

3) Blood pressure

Pears have anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogen glutathione which help prevent high blood pressure and stroke.

4) Controls blood sugar level

Even though it is slightly sweet, with low glycerin index and high fiber content pears helps in controlling the sugar levels in the blood and prevents diabetes. The bloodstream slowly absorbs a pear’s carbs (just about 26 grams per pear), preventing a spike in blood sugar and helping to control blood glucose levels. Lightly sweet, pears can also satisfy the sweet tooth in a healthier way than other sweets.

5) Protect Our Hearts

Pears are an excellent source of dietary fiber, and fiber is good for the heart. Studies have shown that fiber can lower levels of bad cholesterol by binding to bile salts—which are made from cholesterol—and carrying them out of the body. Eating pears can also reduce risk of stroke by up to 50 percent.

6) Cancer Prevention

Pears can also protect us from varying types of cancer. In addition to binding to cholesterol, the fiber in pears can also bind to and help remove cancer-causing chemicals in the colon, thus reducing risk of colon cancer. Studies have also shown that eating fiber-rich fruits such as pears can reduce risk of break cancer by 34 percent in post-menopausal women.

7) Hypoallergenic Fruit

Although few studies have been done on the subject, doctors generally consider pears to be a hypoallergenic fruit because they are less likely than other fruits to produce an allergic response when eaten. For this reason, pears are generally considered “safe” and are often one of the first fruits given to infants.

8) Quick Energy 

You can get quick and natural source of energy from pear juice, due largely to its high amounts of fructose and glucose.

9) Fever 

The cooling effect in pear is excellent in relieving fever. Best way to bring a fever down quickly is by drinking a big glass of pear juice.

10) Immune booster 

The anti-oxidant nutrients in pears are critical in building up your immune system. Drink pear juice when you feel a cold coming.

11) Inflammation

Pear juice has an anti-inflammatory effect and helps relieve sufferers of much pain in various inflammatory conditions.

12) Osteoporosis

Pears contain high level of boron. Boron helps the body to retain calcium, thus prevents or retards osteoporosis.

13) Pregnancy

The high content of folate (folic acid) prevents neural tube defects in infants.

14) Shortness of breath

The summer heat may cause children to have shortness of breath with excessive phlegm. Drink pear juice during this period to help clear the phlegm.

15) Throat problem

The pears are in season during the summer for a reason. Drinking pear juice every morning and night helps to cool your body down during this time. It nourishes the throat and helps prevent throat problems.

16) Vocal chord

Boil two Chinese pear juice with some raw honey and drink warm. This is extremely healing for the throat and the vocal cord.

17) High in fiber

Pears are an excellent source of natural dietary fiber. One pear will give you 24% of your recommended daily allowance of fiber. Fiber contains no calories, and is a necessary element of a healthy diet as it helps sustain blood sugar levels and promotes regularity.

So what are you waiting for?

Combine pears with mustard greens, watercress, leeks and walnuts for a delicious salad. Serve pears with goat or blue cheese for a delightful dessert. Add chopped pears, grated ginger and honey to millet porridge for a pungently sweet breakfast treat. or Core pears, and poach in apple juice and enjoy.