The Consumer Guide to Bromelain
In this guide...
Benefits and Uses
Recent findings:
Do Scientists Know How It Works?
Food sources:
Types of products:
Safety
References
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Bromelain is a naturally occurring mixture of enzymes derived from the juice or the stem of the ripe or unripe pineapple plant. The enzymes are proteolytic, or protein-digesting, and milk-clotting. Bromelain is taken as a nutritional supplement to assist in the digestion of protein and for other purposes. Its protein-digesting properties have also caused it to be used in the leather industry and, like papain (the protein-digesting enzyme derived from papaya) to tenderize meats.
Benefits and Uses:
Taken with meals, bromelain helps the intestines break down food more completely, thus reducing the likelihood of uncomfortable intestinal fermentation. Nutritionists sometimes recommend it for diarrhea due to digestive enzyme deficiency. Bromelain has also become a popular sports injury medicine. People take it internally after suffering sprains, strains, and muscle injuries to reduce bruising, relieve pain, prevent swelling, and promote wound healing and tissue repair. Obstetricians administer bromelain after performing an episiotomy, and boxers take it after a match to reduce the effects of their pounding. Bromelain may also help in the treatment of arthritis, urinary tract infections, asthma , chronic bronchitis, and circulatory conditions. It can be used externally, like papain, as a paste applied immediately to stings to deactivate the protein molecules of insect venom.
Rheumatoid arthritis may respond to bromelain therapy. An uncontrolled clinical trial conducted in the mid-1970's tested the effects of bromelain in 29 arthritic patients, 25 of whom were suffering from advanced rheumatoid arthritis and were being treated with corticosteroids. (The remainder had osteoarthritis or gout.) After their steroids were gradually reduced, the participants were put on enteric-coated bromelain supplements, and observed for up to 13 months. Based on joint swelling and mobility, 28% had excellent results, 45% had good results, and 14% had fair results. The bromelain therapy produced no side effects and allowed most participants to reduce their maintenance dose of steroids.
Recent findings:
A study of bromelain's effects
on certain immune-related cells suggested a mechanism that may help to explain
some of the clinical effects observed after administering bromelain
to patients suffering from chronic inflammatory disease, HIV,
and cancer. Bromelain
may be clinically useful in alleviating diarrhea,
according to the results of a study that looked at its effects on intestinal fluid
secretion. Bromelain-modified wheat
flour, when mixed with other ingredients including glucose and citric acid, can
be used to bake a hypoallergenic bread resembling English muffins, researchers
found. Patients who were treated with bromelain
after receiving blunt injuries experienced a clear reduction in swelling, pain
at rest and during movement, and tenderness.
Do Scientists Know How It Works?
Bromelain's protein-digesting properties are well established. Its beneficial effects on bruising may be due to its ability to break down fibrin, a blood protein involved in both the clotting and inflammation processes, and to block the production of kinins, inflammatory hormone compounds produced locally.
Food sources:
Fresh pineapple or fresh pineapple juice may have notable amounts of bromelain.
Types of products:
Safety:
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It comes in tablets and capsules, most of which range in dosage from 250 to 1,000 mg.
It is safe and nontoxic even at high doses
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