Kale Pineapple Honeydew Coconut Smoothie

  • handful of kale
  • 1 cup of pineapple
  • 1 apple
  • 1 cup of honeydew
  • 1 spoon of coconut manna
  • 1- 2 cups of water

Add 1 cup of water and some ice cubes to your blender and then the ingredients and more water if necessary, depending on how you like the consistency. Choose an organic pineapple and be sure scrub the pineapple because you want to use the skin, it has higher concentration of bromelain. Also using the stem is best as it contains two very important molecules.

Bromelain is a rich source of enzymes that aid in digestion, reduce inflammation, and speed wound healing. Its effective in treating sprains, strains and bruises. Plus it is a natural blood thinner.1 It is also known to help hay fever and stomach ulcers, helps to prevent pulmonary edema – collection of water in the lungs, helps to relax muscles, good for stimulates contractions in muscles, helps to prevent cancer and helps body get rid of fat.

A Queensland team discovered that the extract also had pharmacological properties and could activate specific immune cells while, simultaneously, blocking the immune function of other cells. Lead researcher Dr Tracey Mynott said: “We discovered the CCS and CCZ proteins isolated from an extract of crushed pineapple stems and found that they could block growth of a broad range of tumor cells, including breast, lung, colon, ovarian and melanoma.”

Both CCS and CCZ are protease enzymes, more usually associated with breaking down proteins, as in the digestive process. Dr Mynott said it was the first time this class of enzymes had been shown to have a specific effect on the immune system. “The way CCS and CCZ work is different to any other drug in clinical use today. Therefore, CCS and CCZ will represent a totally new way of treating disease and potentially a whole new class of anti-cancer agent.”

Dr Julie Sharp, at Cancer Research UK, said: “The origin of many anti-cancer drugs can be found in nature.”

When first cultivated in European greenhouses in the 17th century, it was used only by the wealthy to adorn banquet tables. It became a status symbol of the social elite. During the Napoleonic Wars, English caricaturists used the fruit to symbolize high living and opulence. European colonists carried the pineapple symbol back to the Americas to represent “friendship” and as an image of “welcome”.

“It’s all real and it’s all illusory: that’s Awareness!” – Ram Dass

    Sources
  • [1] The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

  • [2] BBC News July 22, 2005

  • [3] Dr. T. Ombrello - UCC Biology Department