Swift Soursop

1. THE GIANT SPIKEY GREEN EGG

As a little boy I used to spend long summers at our house in Guyana, in the southern most region of the Caribbean. When there I would always sit on the ground in my grandparent’s garden and wonder at the size and shapes of the different fruits they had been growing. Fruits which back home we could only buy in a shop…ha the only thing that we could grow in my back lawn back in the day were roses!!

My amazement was all encompassing. Mangoes, guavas and coconuts all stole my attention but none more so than the fruit I named the giant spikey green egg. I always thought it look more like a prop from a program about aliens rather than a fruit. It looked unreal!

And I sat there right on the ground in my little shorts for as long as I could before starting to get bitten by the ants!!

So what is a Soursop?

In texture, it is a cross between an an apple, banana and pineapple. Once the skin is peaked off it unleashes a fruit that is deliciously sweet. A real delight for all concerned.

But this is only part of the picture. The Soursop fruit is actually deemed a superfruit. The Oxford English dictionary defines a superfood as “any food considered especially nutritious or otherwise beneficial to health and well-being’’. A great range of foods are considered superfoods, for example pomegranate, acai, goji berries, sea buckthorn (hippophae), green tea, diktamo tea, gingko biloba, turmeric, saffron and walnuts. Overall, about 100 foods have been categorized as ‘superfoods’ or ‘functional food’ which is the scientific terminology.

Superfoods improve health and also offer wellness. Many recent scientific researches prove that superfoods are:

· nutrient dense and diverse,

· have the ability to prevent various diseases,

· they have antioxidant effects,

· help the detoxification of the body and are a first-class food choice for all the people who wish to maintain their weight at a constant level.

The last decade has seen a 20% increase in consumption of superfoods worldwide.

After reading all this new, positive and hopefully helpful information, if you would like to reach out and tell me about your soursop related stories or even purchase some our organic soursop powder feel free to write to us on the links below or at our Etsy shop

LINK

2. GRANDMA

My dear grandmother was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer on 21/12/20. Beforehand and even in her 80s, she was full of energy and vitality. I did not go with her to the hospital for this consultation, I had to dial in on Zoom . But after the appointment, I noticed a palpable shift. Why was this? Well because she was given just 3 months to live. How can someone who to the best of my knowledge, never been ill get treated so badly by life?

For those first few days, Grandma wanted to be left alone with her own thoughts. We gave her the space that she needed.

The following week, Grandma came out with all guns blazing. In her pursuit for health, Grandma gave it her all, each and every day.

She decided to follow a treatment path that involved both conventional and complementary therapies. A major component of her complementary therapy regimen was Soursop. I sat in amazement at how the very fruit I marvelled at growing in Grandma's back garden as a little boy, a fruit which in all honestly I hadn't given a moment's thought in the last 7 or 8 years, had become a huge part of all of our lives. My grandmother would always say "life is funny....because you never know what will happen next"

Sadly, she passed away from us on 16/12/22. She achieved all of the goals she wanted to achieve - her most favourite being her time in Scotland. When she passed, Grandma was at peace. This passing was almost 24 months to the day since she received her heart-breaking diagnosis. This combined approach enabled her to surpass the 3-month time line by a country-mile. We are so proud of her. This experience, which is still ever so painful, really opened our family’s eyes to the power of natural health supplements and how they can be used to direct health.

With her passing she left my daughter and I a 10-acre plot of sustainable organic agricultural land in Guyana which is the southernmost region of the West Indies. The family were already growing fruit and veg for the local markets, but now we plan to focus our energies towards the fruit Soursop.

OUR AIM: To continue using this land to share the blessing we were given in terms of growth, production and promotion of the Soursop fruit.

OUR PURPOSE: To give people like me one more additional day with the ones they love, whether they are healthy or terminally ill.

After reading all this new, positive and hopefully helpful information, if you would like to reach out and tell me about your soursop related stories or even purchase some our organic soursop powder feel free to write to us on the links below or at our Etsy shop

LINK

1. NAMES

So the Soursop is a fruit native to the Caribbean and the Americas but is also popular now is south east Asia.

It’s scientific name is Annona Muricata.

Other popular names include:

Graviola

Paw-paw

Sirsak

Guanabara.

I was amazed to learn that the Soursop has been used in traditional medicine for over the last 500 years. It is used to treat a wider angels health conditions and ailments

After reading all this new, positive and hopefully helpful information, if you would like to reach out and tell me about your soursop related stories or even purchase some our organic soursop powder feel free to write to us on the links below or at our Etsy shop

LINK

2. BENEFITS OF SOURSOP

Top benefits of Soursop:

Antioxidant properties

Antioxidants keep the body’s cells healthy by hunting disease-causing free radicals in the body and destroying them.

Soursop extract has many compounds with antioxidant abilities.

These include:

• tannins

• saponins

• phytosterols

• flavonoids

• anthraquinones

Antioxidants help people stay healthy overall.

Anti-inflammatory properties

Soursop features anti-inflammatory properties that may be used to relieve discomfort. Researchers have supported its use as a folk remedy for pain and inflammatory conditions.

In lab settings Soursop has been shown to block pain receptors and reduced inflammation in rats.

May help lower blood sugar

Soursop has been shown to help people regulate their blood sugar if they have diabetes. The research found that it significantly reduced blood glucose levels in subjects with diabetes.

In addition, despite the subjects consuming less food and water, they did not lose weight. Researchers believe this may be the result of better glucose control.

May help lower blood pressure

People often use Soursop as a folk remedy to lower blood pressure. Uncontrolled high blood pressure may increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Scientific literature has highlighted that Soursop helped reduce blood pressure without increasing heart rate. According to researchers, the herb’s hypotensive abilities are due to its effect on calcium ions.

Calming

Serotonin is a key hormone for bodily functions as well as stabilizing moods, feelings of happiness, and wellness. It also helps with sleeping. Drinking soursop tea or consuming powdered Soursop fruit promotes the release of serotonin which helps in calming the body. In the West Indies, Soursop is commonly used as a calming agent. In the Netherlands Antilles, the leaves are brewed to make a beverage that enhances sleep. The leaves can also be put into one's pillowcase to enhance sleep. For this reason, a soursop leaf tea can be a great natural supplement to relieve the body of stress and sleep deprivation.

Immune Boosting

The Soursop fruit is high in the immune boosting vitamin, vitamin C. This is crucial to the overall health of the body in its efforts to fight off infections (both bacterial and viral). We know that white blood cells contain 20 times the amount of vitamin C than other cells and require constant replenishment to keep the immune system working to its optimum capacity.

Soursop is also packed with immune boosting compounds which enhance the immune activity in macrophage cells due to the activation of certain pathways.

Another 2016 research article published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine reported that, “bioactive properties of Soursop indicate its potential as a health-promoting ingredient to boost the immune system.”

May help prevent ulcers

Ulcers are painful sores that develop in the stomach lining, oesophagus, or small intestine.

Soursop has been shown to have anti-ulcer abilities. It also helps protect the stomach’s mucous lining and prevents free radical damage to the digestive tract.

Help Reduce Appetite and Cravings

Overweight and obesity have increased sharply since the early 1980s in the United States and worldwide. These factors raise health concerns as they increase risks for a variety of diseases including type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, and certain cancers premature death.

According to World Health Organization overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Previously considered a problem only in high income countries, but nowadays overweight and obesity are dramatically on the rise in low-income and middle-income countries too, especially in urban settings (World Health Organization, 2015).

Reports of international and national experts and reviews of the current scientific evidence recommend goals for nutrient intake in order to prevent chronic diseases. These recommendations must be considered while preparing national policies and adapting dietary patterns, taking into consideration the local situation. Improving dietary habits is not just an individual, but a societal problem as well (World Health Organization, 2015).

Soursop consumption is associated with weight loss because it is a fruit that is high in fibre – up to 83% of your recommended daily allowance. Fibre helps fill you up and feel full for longer, which helps those attempting to maintain a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. It also promotes regular digestion and prevents constipation.

Anticancerous properties

There is some evidence that Soursop may help against some types of cancer. Soursop extract was toxic against some breast cancer cell lines. It also increased T cells, which are lymphocytes in the body that kill cancer cells, and other damaged cells.

Soursop may also be beneficial against some pancreatic cancer cell lines by inhibiting cellular metabolism.

Still, researchers caution Soursop alone is insufficient to eradicate pancreatic tumours, and doctors should not use it as a primary treatment. Studies are ongoing to evaluate the efficacy of Soursop as an adjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer.

After reading all this new, positive and hopefully helpful information, if you would like to reach out and tell me about your soursop related stories or even purchase some our organic soursop powder feel free to write to us on the links below or at our Etsy shop

LINK

3. HOW DO I EAT SOURSOP?

Eat it raw. The simplest way is always the best. Peal or cut the fruit. With a sharp knife cut the fruit into smaller sections and eat to your heart’s content.

One can also blend the pulp into a paste and then eat the paste with a spoon.

A handy hint to increase the sweetness of your Soursop fruit is to place it in a refrigerator

My placing the fruit in an airtight contain in the refrigerator in an airtight container you’ll notice that the fruit gets progressively sweeter.

Ice cream. Using an ice cream maker mix together the following ingredients in the mixing compartment:

3/4 cup (180 mL) pureed soursop pulp,

1 cup (240 mL) milk,

- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

- Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (150 g) granulated sugar, and

2 cups (475 mL) heavy whipping cream.

Follow the directions on your ice maker for processing and scoop out the final product when finished.

Roasting the Soursop is also a possibility and a weekly occurrence at my grandmother’s house. With the use of a sharp knife cut the soursop into chunks. Position on the top shelf of an oven at 176 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit ), and cook for 20-30 minutes or until extra soft. To add even more flavor, sprinkle the soursop with cinnamon or nutmeg prior to roasting.

After reading all this new, positive and hopefully helpful information, if you would like to reach out and tell me about your soursop related stories or even purchase some our organic soursop powder feel free to write to us on the links below or at our Etsy shop

LINK