Prickly Pear Juice

Prickly pear juice has been recorded as being consumed by natives as far back as the early 1500 within the desert regions of Mexico and the southwestern United States. Whether made from the paddle-like pads of the prickly pear cactus plant or the micro-needle covered pear fruits, there are countless health benefits to consuming the juice, which is why it’s become such a popular nutritional subject of study today.

Prickly Pear Juice Flavor

Prickly pears vary in flavor according to cacti species, time of year that the fruit is cultivated and even growing conditions. It is said that the varieties of cacti that grow the dark purplish fruits, such as the Opuntia ficus-indica species used to make Nopalea, are the sweetest variety at the peak of their ripeness.

In terms of flavor, some claim the flavor is something like the cross between a watermelon and fig, which is probably why the pears are sometimes called “figs”. Personally, I tend to describe the flavor as a cross between watermelon and raspberries, since I do find a bit of that “tangy” raspberry-like aftertaste left in my mouth after drinking.

Prickly Pear Juice Benefits

The Prickly pear fruit is incredibly rich in flavonoids, which are a faction of antioxidants that have been found to boost the immune system. Among the flavonoid types contained in the pear, the most widely talked about are betalains, since they are a more rare type. In fact, given that betalain antioxidants are only found in a small number of varieties of funghi, rainbow swiss chard, beets and this cactus fruit – items which aren’t common staples in our diets, most people probably don’t get to enjoy the health benefits this variety of antioxidant has to offer.

Great Recovery Drink

One benefit of prickly pear juice is that it has the ability to reduce muscle soreness, making it an incredible post-workout recovery drink. In fact, I know of some semi-professional bicyclists and some trainers that are Nopalea enthusiasts for that very reason – they have found that by consuming 4 ounces of Nopalea an hour before and 6-8 ounces of Nopalea after a severely intense workout helps their body recover more quickly and prevents long-term muscle fatigue.

Hangover Remedy

Another interesting benefit to prickly pear juice is its ability to ward off an early morning hangover after a night of too much drinking. It’s said that as little as a teaspoon of prickly pear juice before going out drinking can help reduce the risk of you feeling lousy the next day.

The reason it makes such a good hangover remedy is that the juice is both a toxin scavenger and a good hydrator. When it enters the blood stream, the antioxidants within the juice rush through the body helping to target toxins and flush them from the body. By removing congestive toxins at the cellular level, it simultaneously rehydrates the previously “gunked up” cellular environment.

Based on that information, I guess that makes the prickly pear margarita the ultimate drink to have while out on the town, huh? Logic suggests that the hydratory effects of the prickly pear juice could cancel out the dehydratory effects of alcohol in the beverage.

Improve Cardiovascular Health

The flavonoids in prickly pear fruit have also been credited with improving cardiovascular health. They help reduce the build up of HDL (bad) cholesterol by decreasing the oxidation of LDL (good) cholesterol, they can inhibit the aggregation of blood platelets within the veins and arteries (in other words, reducing blood clot formation) and also act as arterial dilators, which actually promotes healthier blood circulation throughout the body.

The “hook” to this is that in order to feel the greatest benefits, one needs to consistently consume flavonoid-rich foods like the prickly pear juice on a daily basis.

Immune System Regulation

Your immune system is responsible for pinpointing threats to your health and calling in the support team necessary to counteract the threat before long-term damage is done. To do this, it has “spies” throughout the body that act as lookouts and who send out chemical messages to call in the reenforcement team when a threat is spotted.

The problem, however, is that sometimes these “spies” (the technical term is cytokines) are unable to turn off their call for help and actually end up confusing the re-enforcement team.

Chronic Inflammation – When a call for help turns bad

The chemical message sent out by cytokines produces the phenomenon we refer to as inflammation. While this is typically a short-term process meant to direct the attention of macrophages (the immune system’s clean up team) to an area that needs to be cleaned up or where a current threat is residing that needs to be neutralized, things can go terribly wrong when cytokines are unable to turn off their call for help.

Inflammation is like a war cry to macrophages. As long as it persists, macrophages will continue to stand their ground in the area and attack whatever is there in the way – even if that means attacking healthy cells. This is what we term “chronic inflammation”.

When the body is essentially at war with itself and begins to weaken, rather than preventing disease, it makes it makes it easier for disease to take seed. This is how a number of the most major diseases are able to inundate the body in the first place – things like arthritis, skin disorders, asthma, and cancer can all start with a call for help gone bad.

Making Prickly Pear Juice Versus Buying It

There is no denying that making juice from a freshly picked prickly pear would be the ultimate way to consume prickly pear juice, but it is a process that takes skill and can be a bit dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

It’s for that reason, and the fact that the cactus does not grow in my area, nor is it stocked in stores in my area, that I choose to buy Nopalea for my prickly pear juice needs. Additionally, I like that the juice has other inflammation-fighting ingredients, such as bromelain rich pineapple juice, which I feel further enhances its benefits.