Prickly Pear Cactus In Bloom
Tired of sticking your finger with a needle to test your blood? Try getting stuck with a Prickly Pear Cactus and you may find a new way to address your diabetic concerns!
Good news… with this cactus, you don’t need to bleed on it’s needles for it to be effective! For many generations, inhabitants of Mexico such as the Pima Indians and others of the American Southwest have used native plants for healing. ”Medicine men” of Native American tribes (who, by the way usually don’t publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals) have long known that the Prickly Pear Cactus has some very unique properties, including the ability to take the edge off a hangover, and more importantly, to regulate glucose and cholesterol in the blood and manage the causes and effects of diabetes.
The finer “points” of the cactus … what it does:
Prickly Pear Cactus, known also as Opuntia, has one of the lowest glycemic indexes of any pulpy fruit plant (Index of 7) and has been shown in studies to reduce the glucose levels in diabetic patients by 10 to 30 mg/dL after consumption. [1] Additional studies have shown that the cactus has a positive effect on platelet function, which can eliminate what some in the diabetes community refer to as “sticky blood”. The researchers said, “Prickly pear may induce at least part of its beneficial actions on the cardiovascular system via decreasing platelet activity and thereby improving homeostatic balance.” [2] In addition to regulating hyperglycemia, Prickly Pear has also been shown do reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol, while not affecting HDL (good) cholesterol levels. [3]
In essence, the properties of the Prickly Pear can lower blood sugar, reduce appetite (it is a high fiber plant), improve the way your blood flows by helping platelet function, and improve liver and blood health by aiding the uptake of bad cholesterol from the bloodstream. In all, it would take a wide range of pharmaceuticals to address the numerous benefits of this unassuming desert-dweller.
How do I get Prickly Pear?
Prickly Pear is often known as it’s spanish name “Nopal”. Nopales or Nopalitos (smaller cut portions of nopales) are often available in jars at local mexican grocery stores. The “Tuna” (not the fish, but the spanish word for the pear-shaped purple fruit that forms after the flower blooms), is known for it’s deep purple color (which is a natural food dye and will stain anything) is often made into prickly pear jellies, or occasionally the prickly pear margarita (contraindicated for most diabetics). Both portions, of the plant show similar properties, but since the pear is only in bloom seasonally (around September to October), the more commonly available portion of the plant will be the pads.
Since Prickly Pear can grow in almost all climates and even tolerates temperatures down below freezing, it is quite easy to grow at home, in back yards, on hill sides, or even on balconies. They grow to be about three to six feet high and can be just as wide.
There are several products available that offer nopal extract as juices, some as a straight extract and others, blended with other juices and natural supplements.
How do you make it and eat it?
Prickly pear would seem to be difficult to prepare because of all of the needles, but simply soaking the pads and/or pears in warm water or gently cooking them to loosen the spines. Scrape the top and bottom to remove all of the ridges left from the needles and then trim the sides of the pads to remove all of the edges. They can be sliced and used like green beans, fried with tacos or fajitas, or boiled, strained and chilled to make juice. Powdered nopal can be used as an adjunct to flour in breads as a way to increase healthy fiber content and reduce sugary carbs.
Take note:
You should consult with your physician about your use of nopales or prickly pear in conjunction with the diabetes medication you are taking, as the effects of the cactus may mean that you need to adjust your dosages.
Links:
Nopal Tablets
Nopalitos –
Recipes
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
Reference:
[1] http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102222496.html – Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) and metabolic control among patients with diabetes mellitus. – 1996
[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12878452 – Wolfram R., et al. – Department of Angiology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. – 2003
[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14600931 – Palumbo B., et al. – Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University of Perugia, Italy. – 2003
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