Just like apricot seeds, papaya seeds have some controversy surrounding whether or not they are edible. Papaya seeds are actually edible, and a small amount of them in your diet can be surprisingly healthy. But you have to get past the taste, and you have to start really slowly, as in one or two seeds at a time, perhaps a quarter of a teaspoon for a week or two, increasing by one seed day after day and week after week to nothing more than a teaspoonful. Do NOT over do it!
The larger seeds are stronger in flavor than the baby seeds. The seeds from the papaya have to be crushed, you can’t eat them whole or there’s no point. So you need to crush, electronically grind or pound up the little seeds before consumption. It’s good to use a mortar and pestle. You can store them in a storage container for about a week in the fridge.
Papaya seeds have a strong bitter flavor, along the lines of black peppercorns crossed with wasabi. You can dry papaya seeds, and use them instead of real pepper in your pepper grinder. Just grind it over your food. Papaya seed tea works incredibly for stomach problems due to the natural content of papain.
For this reason, some people prefer to buy a commercially prepared organic papaya herbal extract, rather than dealing with the seeds. That’s my preference too, the seeds are okay for some people, but not all, it’s the same with apricot kernel seeds. Ask your holistic practitioner if these are okay for you.
So we’ve been talking about the remarkable benefits of papaya seeds, but they’re not for everyone due to the texture and taste (a bit like peppery mustard). If eating the papaya fruit appeals to you, and that’s how you prefer to consume “papain,” then CLICK HERE to learn about 6 Amazing Benefits of Papaya Enzyme.
If you are interested in eating papaya herbal extract or seeds, here are some interesting medicinal actions that might apply:
3 Amazing Reasons to Eat Papaya Seeds
1. Fight parasites and bacteria.
Much the same way the proteolytic enzyme papain breaks down proteins, compounds in the papaya seed do to. This means they can dissolve the biofilm around some intestinal worms, nematodes, large roundworms, or other parasites and their eggs, which might be stuck in your intestine.
The seeds contain a strong, unique anti-helminthic substance named carpaine that can do a very good job at dissolving parasitic worms and some amoebas.
Breaking biofilm is hard to do, and papaya seeds have large concentrated amounts of proteolytic papain. Could this be good for people with Lyme disease, gum disease and resistant infections? I’m not sure, it’s an interesting thought.
We can’t leave this section without mentioning that papaya fruit and or seeds and tea, might be useful if you have severe Candida albicans infection.
2. Treat Liver Disease
Liver cirrhosis occurs with chronic alcoholism, as well as other disorders, rendering your body’s filtration system useless. As your liver hardens, you become sicker and more jaundiced. Papaya seeds might aid in detoxification of the liver, if consumed regularly, according to some studies. The dosage varies, it could be anywhere from 5 to 10 seeds, crushed up with a mortar and pestle (or coffee grinder) and consumed with applesauce, yogurt, or plain lemon water.
Again, work up to this, don’t just do it because the effects can be harmful if you combine this home remedy with certain medications, or you don’t titrate up slowly.
I can’t be responsible for your self-treatment, so please talk to your doctor if you have liver disease. Even for people without such obvious liver damage, a small number of papaw seeds taken regularly can help support your liver and improve its ability to eliminate toxins within your body.
3. Fight Food Poisoning.
Another potential use of papaya seeds is to combat bacterial infections and possibly even treat food poisoning caused by Staph aureus, Pseudomonas, E Coli, or Salmonella typhi. These are common pathogens when it comes to food-borne illnesses.
As a natural remedy for food poisoning, papaya seeds, or even papaya leaf juice or tea might be recommended during the first day of your illness and continued until digestive symptoms subside. Since we’ve been talking about seeds today (specifically the papaya seed), I thought it might be a good time to mention that I’ve written about another seed, and it is called TEA SEED OIL, and this is an oil you cook with. It is similar to green tea. You can read that ARTICLE here.
Suzy Cohen, has been a licensed pharmacist for over 30 years and believes the best approach to chronic illness is a combination of natural medicine and conventional. She founded her own dietary supplement company specializing in custom-formulas, some of which have patents. With a special focus on functional medicine, thyroid health and drug nutrient depletion, Suzy is the author of several related books including Thyroid Healthy, Drug Muggers, Diabetes Without Drugs, and a nationally syndicated column.
