Cures Dengue Fevers
Dengue viruses cause the life-threatening dengue fever, using mosquitoes as a medium. The symptoms take time to show up but are almost fixed – high fever, rash, and a severe headache (the dengue triad), along with joint and muscular pain, shivering, and eye pain. Ultimately, all of these lead to reduced platelet count in the body.
Having 25 ml of papaya leaf juice (in water) twice a day boosts your platelet count and reduces the severity of the infection.
The extract has essential bioactive compounds like papain, chymopapain, and caricain, which treat nausea and improve digestion.
Has Antimalarial and Plasmodiastatic Properties
A 2011 mouse study shows that papaya leaf extract can effectively treat malaria. It has plasmodiastatic properties, i.e., it decelerates the growth rate of Plasmodium in your body, indirectly controlling malarial fever.
Papaya leaf juice increases the antioxidant levels in the patients, thereby preventing malaria-induced anemia in them.
But there is a need for more in-depth research and systematic clinical trials to support this effect of papaya leaf extract against malaria and fevers like chikungunya.
Aids Digestion and Cures GI Tract Issues
Eating tender and young leaves of papaya or drinking its juice can solve digestive issues like bloating, heartburn due to acid reflux, constipation, and painful bowel movement.
It has abundant antioxidants and active compounds like papain, chymopapain, and essential fiber, which aid protein digestion and release of digestive enzymes and increase appetite.
Papaya leaf juice can also soothe gastric wall damages that lead to ulcers caused due to alcohol abuse and other stresses because of its biochemical constituents.
Protects your Liver from Inflammatory Diseases
Hypercholesterolemia or high-cholesterol levels in serum lead to complex cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and liver diseases.
Choosing alternate plant-based options like papaya leaf juice can cleanse your blood by lowering the cholesterol levels. This happens because a few phytosterols in papaya leaf juice have a similar structure to bad cholesterol (LDL). They displace LDL from the cells and compete for intestinal absorption, preventing LDL from accumulating.
Also, this way, there is minimal lipid peroxidation, and your liver is kept safe from free radical-induced inflammatory diseases, such as cirrhosis and jaundice (6).
Maintains the Glow of your Skin
Since papaya leaf has high levels of antioxidants, like saponins, flavonoids, tannins, and alkaloids, you can use its extract to nourish your face and skin.
These antioxidants, along with vitamins C and A, scavenge the free radicals in your blood, improving its circulation through your skin.
When this happens, the skin retains its texture and glow. The signs of aging, such as wrinkles, breakouts, and pigmentation, get diminished.
Papaya leaf juice, when applied along with the fruit pulp, opens the clogged pores of your skin and clears out pimples, acne, and excessive oil generated on your face.
Now you know why are there so many papaya peel-off masks in the mart!
Boosts your Immunity and shows Anticancer Properties
Traditional medicine uses papaya fruits and leaves to cure disorders as complex as cancers.
Ingesting the leaf juice can boost the activation of primary components of your immune system like T-lymphocytes, which, in turn, trigger the production of various chemical messengers (IL-12, IFN-�, and TNF-α) that perform assigned roles in defense to specific stresses, especially from chemotherapies.
The phytochemical composition of papaya leaf juice includes active compounds like α-tocopherol, lycopene, and benzyl isothiocyanate, which show potent antitumor activity and prevent cancers from metastasizing.
Fights Dandruff and Controls Hair Problems
Applying papaya leaf extract to your scalp can remove the excess oil, dirt, and grime at the roots. It is an excellent remedy to cure dandruff and itchy scalp problems.
The leaf extract balances out the moisture and oil on your scalp, making it less prone to dryness and fungal infections that can lead to premature balding.
Has Potent Anti-inflammatory and Antinociceptive Effects
Extracts of papaya leaf and seeds exhibit powerful anti-inflammatory effects due to the presence of polyphenols, saponins, and alkaloids that are natural analgesics and antinociceptive agents.
These compounds act directly on your CNS (central nervous system) and block the transmission of pain-inducing and pro-inflammatory chemicals, such as histamines, serotonin, and prostaglandins, reducing the pain and the severity of inflammation.
Drinking papaya leaf juice helps in the treatment of a host of conditions – arthritis, diabetes type 2, asthma, irritable bowel disease, periodontitis, UTIs, gastric ulcers, acute and swollen wounds, burns, bronchitis, pneumonia, heartburn, cardiovascular diseases, cirrhosis, tendonitis, menstrual cramps, migraine, and headaches.
How To Make Papaya Leaf Juice
Let’s do the basic recipe first and then move on to make it taste better.
What You Need
Clean, fresh, and, tender papaya leaves: 5-10
Regular masticating juicer or a blender
Small glass bottles (to store in refrigerator): optional
Wash the papaya leaves thoroughly with purified drinking water.
Put them in the juicer jar and blend thoroughly to a smooth consistency.
If you don’t have a juicer, use a blender to crush the leaves thoroughly.
Strain the contents through a thin cloth or a sieve.
Collect the clarified juice into small glasses (shot glasses) or bottles to refrigerate and use later.