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It’s science fun fact time! I’m gonna start tagging these (finally—that was probably long overdue sdjfskkhfdsjk) so mute the tag #sajsci if you don’t want to see my science nerd babble
#sajsci Did you know that the same substance that gives you that tingly feeling on your lips when you eat a pineapple is used to treat osteoarthritis and burns? Read on to learn why! (1/8)
#sajsci Pineapples contain a substance called bromelain in their stems. Bromelain is a mixture of proteases: enzymes that break down proteins. So, that tingly feeling of pineapple juice on your skin is actually the proteases in bromelain digesting the proteins in your skin! (2/8)
#sajsci Bromelain is actually extracted from pineapples and used to treat severe burns. Essentially, the bromelain is applied to the burn, and the proteases in the bromelain digest and break down all of the dead skin and tissue around the burn, clearing the area. (3/8)
#sajsci Bromelain is also used to treat osteoarthritis. A little about osteoarthritis: when the cartilage in your joints wears down, your bones rub against each other, causing inflammation of the joint lining, deterioration of the connective tissue, and a lot of pain! (4/8)
#sajsci Inflammation in arthritic joints is made worse by deposits of a protein called fibrin. Bromelain essentially destroys that fibrin (and the precursor used to make fibrin). This lowers the amount of pain patients experience! (5/8)
#sajsci To talk more about bromelain, we first need to discuss edema: the flooding of tissues with excess fluid. This brings white blood cells, clotting factors, and other important molecules to the site of an injury, so whenever tissue is inflammed, edema usually follows (6/8)
Why is this a bad thing, then? Well, the excess fluid hangs around too long, causing tissues to bulge and swell. This is why injured areas often start swelling! (7/8)
#sajsci Bromelain alleviates some of this swelling by increasing the permeability of your tissues, which allows the excess fluid to be reabsorbed back into the bloodstream. With reduced edema comes reduced pain. And that’s why bromelain can be used to treat arthritis! (8/8)
here are my sources (one of which is behind a paywall, because Academia Sucks):
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/PL00000936.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC538506/
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/PL00000936.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC538506/
