Prickly Pear: A Natural Way to Enhance Vitality
By: Lara Endreszl
Published: Sunday, 1 February 2009
prickly pear cactus

It turns out the cactus is not just found in the desert anymore. From grocery stores to nutritional stores, specialty boutiques and natural product aisles, a specific form of cactus has been making a name for itself. Plucked from the desert in the western United States and most of Mexico, a cactus known as the “prickly pear” is gaining popularity in the alternative medicine world. The prickly pear cactus is being harvested because every component of the plant can be used to enhance your body’s vitality.

Prickly pear cacti have flat and round plates with two different types of spines and they produce both flowers and fruit. Citizens of Mexico have long been treating minor aches and pains for centuries. People have started to use the desert’s star plant as a dietary supplement and in North America it is sold in supermarkets in its fruit form.

Chockful of rich “flavonoids,” a term which sounds more like a made-up cartoon cereal term for kids to find on the back of their box in the morning but are actually helpful plant-based metabolites. Flavonoids are primarily known for their antioxidant activity and have been called “nature’s biological response modifiers,” because of the support behind their ability to change the body’s reaction to allergens and viruses. Many reports have also said that flavonoids are also responsible for fighting off carcinogens creating anti-cancer activity, which is why the compounds found in green tea, red wine, chocolate, and certain fruits have been promoted for years.

Every part of the prickly pear cactus can be used and the pads—the big, flat, green dinner-plate-sized area of the plant—have a huge dose of nutrients. Minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium are found in the pads as well as beta-carotene (a form of vitamin A) and vitamin C. High levels of these ingredients are also found in the big, green, leafy vegetable spinach which has long been a source of healthy diets.

Mexican and Indian tribes have used the cactus to make all kinds of food products from soups and pickles to jam and cheeses because the climate necessitates multiple uses for any and all produce. It can also be used topically like aloe vera to help heal minor lacerations on the skin. The anti-inflammatory uses are great against bug bites, rashes, or even allergic reactions.

Studies have shown that the cactus helps heal inside the body as well. By protecting the immune system and staving off free radicals in your system, the prickly pear can potentially slow down the aging process and continue to help your organs function at their best. Also, the spiny fruit can lower your blood pressure by helping keep LDL (low-density lipids or “bad”) cholesterol levels down and erase the threat of an overworked heart.

Since the prickly pear cactus has been catching on, athletes have been using it to get more energy out of their workout time and exercise-related injuries and soreness have supposedly been helped by speedy recoveries fueled by the extract of the prickly pear. Aside from being low fat, high in fiber, and generally nutritious, the prickly pear cactus has one of the highest rates in studies of the herbal hypoglycemic.

Recently published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Diabetes Care, the pads of the cactus have contributed to a certain amount of effectiveness over Type II diabetes care. Another study from the University of Arizona tested the prickly pear pectin—found in the fruit of the plant—to decrease LDL cholesterol levels and it was also suggested that the pectin may help the body stabilize its glucose response, another way to ward off or maintain diabetes.

Whether or not you live near the naturally-grown prickly pear cacti found in the west and southwestern United States and parts of Mexico, or if you happen to find the transplanted type found in Europe, the cactus can still be a part of your life. You can either admire the orange, yellow, or red flowers growing from this incredible plant from pictures or find all parts of it in teas, capsules, powders, or liquid extract in order to get the best out of the prickly pear cactus and your body.