Pineapple Juice With Bromelain

Inaut

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After reading @Jennifer’s cellular log thread, I’ve been trying to add pineapple back in to my diet. I’d almost prefer it to oranges/OJ tbh...

My question is, without going through the effort of juicing whole pineapples with my masticating juicer due to time constraints (cleaning is a bit one :( ), is there a decent brand of pineapple juice that contains a good amount of bromelain in it?

I bought some canned dole pineapple chunks and juice but because of the canning process, I think the bromelain is non existent. Any suggestions? I remember reading @Amazoniac recipe for pineapfel sorbet and he included gelatin to synergize/catalyze with the bromelain making it more digestible and amino acid free floating. My words not his. Suggestions.

Btw, fresh pineapple juice is da best in my books so please do talk me into it if need be....
 

Waremu

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If you have a good quality blender, like a Blendtec or Vitamix blender, and a nut milk bag to use as a strainer (they are cheap), you can bled ripe pineapple at the highest speed and then drain it with the nut milk bag. That is what I do and it is the easiest way to make fresh pineapple juice. I buy ripe pineapples at my Global Foods international market as they almost always have them there ripe and cheap. I am personally not confident in relying on store bought juices as some of the vitamins are degraded by the light, and I do not like the more acidic juices being left in plastic. When I keep my juice and do not use it right away, I put it in dark amber glass mason jars which keeps out light too.
 

Literally

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Just in case you weren't aware, you can get bromelain as a supplement.

Another possibility would be to go for frozen pineapple and blend it into a smoothie.
 

Amazoniac

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After reading @Jennifer’s cellular log thread, I’ve been trying to add pineapple back in to my diet. I’d almost prefer it to oranges/OJ tbh...

My question is, without going through the effort of juicing whole pineapples with my masticating juicer due to time constraints (cleaning is a bit one :( ), is there a decent brand of pineapple juice that contains a good amount of bromelain in it?

I bought some canned dole pineapple chunks and juice but because of the canning process, I think the bromelain is non existent. Any suggestions? I remember reading @Amazoniac recipe for pineapfel sorbet and he included gelatin to synergize/catalyze with the bromelain making it more digestible and amino acid free floating. My words not his. Suggestions.

Btw, fresh pineapple juice is da best in my books so please do talk me into it if need be....
You can prepare a large batch of the sorbet in advance and freeze it in portions (there are insulated bags for cups). Its fiber is beneficial, so (unless you dislike it) I would not discard it.

This must interest you:
- Purification and Characterization of Bromelain
 

CRAIGO

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After reading @Jennifer’s cellular log thread, I’ve been trying to add pineapple back in to my diet. I’d almost prefer it to oranges/OJ tbh...

My question is, without going through the effort of juicing whole pineapples with my masticating juicer due to time constraints (cleaning is a bit one :( ), is there a decent brand of pineapple juice that contains a good amount of bromelain in it?

I bought some canned dole pineapple chunks and juice but because of the canning process, I think the bromelain is non existent. Any suggestions? I remember reading @Amazoniac recipe for pineapfel sorbet and he included gelatin to synergize/catalyze with the bromelain making it more digestible and amino acid free floating. My words not his. Suggestions.

Btw, fresh pineapple juice is da best in my books so please do talk me into it if need be....
Bromelain is extracted from the stems of unripe pineapple. When the pineapple ripens and gets sweet, the bromelain content is mostly gone. Even so, I have had some pineapple juice "jello" fail to gel, with a tablespoon of regular (non-hydrolysed) gelatin per cup of juice, so maybe there is some bromelain still present in some pineapple juices.
 
OP
Inaut

Inaut

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i added some gelatin to some dole pineapple juice after i ate the fruit....broke down the gelatin pretty quickly as well. Hmmmm. Thanks @CRAIGO
 

yerrag

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You can prepare a large batch of the sorbet in advance and freeze it in portions (there are insulated bags for cups). Its fiber is beneficial, so (unless you dislike it) I would not discard it.

This must interest you:
- Purification and Characterization of Bromelain
How is the fiber beneficial? I've gone from eating pineapples to juicing them to get rid of the fiber. I'd drink it before meals to help with digestion, not so much that I needed the help but it conserves enzymes for use elsewhere in the body.
 

Jennifer

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Hi @Inaut, I'm not sure what stores you have available to you, but I like both the Farm Direct brand ($6.98 for 62.6oz) at Walmart Supercenter and Trader Joe's cold pressed pineapple juice ($2.99 for 12oz). The Farm Direct is cold pressure processed a.k.a HPP (high pressure processing). Here, both juices are located in the cold section in the produce department. I'm not sure if they contain much bromelain, but I find them to be consistently sweet with barely any acidity to them, unlike the majority of fresh pineapples here — I used to make celery and pineapple juice daily with my Vitamix and hydraulic press back when I was doing RBTI and had a difficult time finding pineapples that were ripe and not fermented.
 

Amazoniac

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How is the fiber beneficial? I've gone from eating pineapples to juicing them to get rid of the fiber. I'd drink it before meals to help with digestion, not so much that I needed the help but it conserves enzymes for use elsewhere in the body.
It's disinfecting, it will carry the enzymes farther down the intestines. I suppose that it's the tougher parts that haven't been acted upon by the enzymes that have this potential.

If the juice isn't drunk alone but it's part of a meal that includes protein (whether it's gelatin, casein, or meat), since it's readily digested, there can be protein residue from the meal with nothing else along, so the person is relyin' on vigorous intestinal movement to minimize fermentation.
 

yerrag

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It's disinfecting, it will carry the enzymes farther down the intestines. I suppose that it's the tougher parts that haven't been acted upon by the enzymes that have this potential.

If the juice isn't drunk alone but it's part of a meal that includes protein (whether it's gelatin, casein, or meat), since it's readily digested, there can be protein residue from the meal with nothing else along, so the person is relyin' on vigorous intestinal movement to minimize fermentation.

For a long time, I used to eat fresh pineapples every meal. That may be a reason I hardly had any gut issues. So maybe I should revert from drinking fresh pineapple fruit juice to just eating fresh pineapple.
 

Amazoniac

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For a long time, I used to eat fresh pineapples every meal. That may be a reason I hardly had any gut issues. So maybe I should revert from drinking fresh pineapple fruit juice to just eating fresh pineapple.
It wouldn't be surprising. I can't think of a reason to avoid it other than taste preference or digestive upset (can be harsh for some people, depending also on the quality of the pineapfel).
 

SOMO

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Eating whole pineapple burns my mouth because of the bromelain.

I just toss whole pineapple in a blender with ice and it makes the best summer sorbet/smoothie I can think of.

You can blend it and then strain it if the fiber is an issue.
 

Fractality

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I just picked up some of the Lakewood brand organic fresh pressed pineapple juice. It is pasteurized but there is separation at the bottom of the glass. I wonder if pasteurization eliminates the bromelain?
 

yerrag

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I just picked up some of the Lakewood brand organic fresh pressed pineapple juice. It is pasteurized but there is separation at the bottom of the glass. I wonder if pasteurization eliminates the bromelain?
It does. Above 150F enzymes are destroyed IIRC
 

abruzzi

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I'm new to all of this.. I just eat Pineapple whenever I feel like it when there's a good price at the grocery store.

I try to remember to brush my teeth because the acidity can be a problem since I'm older now and I've had gum recession.

I do try to have some cheese along with the pineapple to get some protein or some gelatin.

I understand the inclination to optimize, but I think people have a tendency to over complicate
 

Amazoniac

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- Dietary Supplementation with Fresh Pineapple Juice Decreases Inflammation and Colonic Neoplasia in IL-10-deficient Mice with Colitis

"Bromelain is a mixture of cysteine proteinases that is typically derived from the stem of the pineapple plant (Ananus comosus) (1). Bromelain has historically been used as a meat tenderizer and to pre-treat cells for adhesion assays (2). We and others have demonstrated that bromelain proteolytically removes cell surface molecules that are required for leukocyte migration and activation, resulting in anti-inflammatory activity (3, 4). Accordingly, bromelain has shown promise as therapy for a variety of immune-mediated diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (reviewed in 5). For example, oral treatment with proteolytically active bromelain decreased spontaneous and piroxicam-triggered colonic inflammation in IL-10-deficient mice in vivo (5). Kane et al. (6) described 2 patients with ulcerative colitis who did not respond to conventional treatment but rapidly improved after self-treatment with oral bromelain. Furthermore, in vitro bromelain treatment of colon biopsies from human IBD patients resulted in decreased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (7). Previous work in our laboratory showed that exposure to bromelain purified from pineapple stem alters leukocyte expression of cell surface molecules including CD44, CD62L (L-selectin), CD45RA, and CD8 and can effectively decrease neutrophil migration to sites of acute inflammation in part via proteolytic removal of CD128, the receptor for the chemokine IL-8 (4, 8)."

"As is common for plant-derived products, the exact composition of bromelain preparations can vary according to source and method of purification. The major proteolytic component of bromelain obtained from pineapple stem is stem bromelain (EC 3.4.22.32; ~90%), with minor amounts of fruit bromelain (EC 3.4.22.23), ananain (EC 3.4.22.31), and comosain (9). In contrast, the major proteolytic component of pineapple fruit is fruit bromelain (~90%), with minor amounts of stem bromelain and ananain (9). Stem bromelain and fruit bromelain are highly homologous cysteine proteinases, but differ in exact amino acid sequence, molecular weight, isoelectric point, and carbohydrate content and have distinct proteolytic activities (9, 10). The differences between their potential anti-inflammatory activities are also currently not understood."

"Most experimental studies using bromelain have used commercially available bromelain purified from pineapple stem. Fresh pineapple fruit contains similar enzymes but in different proportions. Thus, the consumption of pineapple fruit may represent a more palatable way to supply active bromelain enzymes long term. This study was designed to determine whether long-term [6 months] dietary supplementation with pineapple fruit (supplied as fresh, non-pasteurized juice) would affect the severity of colon inflammation and the incidence of inflammation-associated neoplasia in mice with chronic colitis. The anti-inflammatory efficacy of supplementation with pineapple juice was compared with that of stem bromelain at the 5 mg/day dose previously shown to decrease colon inflammation in short-term studies (5). The sensitivity of a panel of murine cell surface molecules to pineapple juice-derived bromelains was also determined."

"Mice consumed 2.1 ml fresh juice per day at a 1:2 dilution with water. This quantity of juice provided proteolytic activity equivalent to 36 mg bromelain purified from stem per day and generated a stool activity equivalent to 14 ± 3 µg bromelain purified from stem per 100 mg stool. Control mice that received boiled pineapple juice with inactive proteolytic enzymes (14) consumed 2.0 ml of boiled juice per day at a dilution of 1:3 (p = 0.46 for differences in juice intake) and no bromelain-specific activity was detected in their stool."

"This study found that short- and long-term dietary supplementation with fresh frozen pineapple juice was both safe and effective for the treatment of chronic colitis in Il10−/− mice. Mice that received fresh, enzymatically active juice had decreased colitis-associated mortality, decreased colon inflammation, and decreased inflammation-associated neoplasia compared with mice that received boiled, proteolytically inactive juice. Taste preferences of the mice prevented an analogous dietary supplementation with bromelain purified from stem. Oral administration of bromelain purified from stem once daily was found to have no long-term effect on inflammation and inflammation-associated neoplasia in this model. Variables that may explain the observed differential effects of fresh pineapple juice vs. bromelain purified from stem include the manner of administration, the total dose achieved, and/or differences in enzyme composition or activity against critical cell surface molecules."

"Our studies showed that fresh pineapple juice has anti-inflammatory activity while boiled juice does not. This demonstrates definitively that the anti-inflammatory components of juice are heat-sensitive, since no components are added or subtracted from these samples. By using a variety of methods of chemical inactivation, we and others previously showed that the anti-inflammatory activity of bromelain required proteolytically active bromelain enzymes (3, 5, 7, 19–21). In separate studies, we showed the proteolytic activities of both pineapple juice and purified bromelain were also abrogated by heating (14). For these reasons, we feel that our results strongly implicate proteolytic effects of the bromelain enzymes present in the fresh juice as the mechanism for the anti-inflammatory activity that we observed. It is important to note, however, that our study design cannot rule out the possibility that the beneficial anti-inflammatory effects are due to a heat-sensitive non-proteolytic component of pineapple juice."

"The proteolytic spectrum of fruit bromelain, the major enzyme present in pineapple fruit, toward cell surface molecules is different than that of stem bromelain, the major enzyme present in bromelain purified from stem (14). However, we do not currently know which molecule(s) must be removed to achieve a long-term decrease in inflammation. Indeed, the full spectrum of cell surface molecules that are sensitive to proteolysis by either of these bromelain enzymes remains to be determined. This is further complicated by our lack of knowledge of whether the critical proteolytic effects are on leukocytes, epithelial cells, colonic bacteria, or other cell types that are present within the colonic microenvironment. Therefore, the question of whether fruit bromelain or stem bromelain proteolytic activity or some other heat-sensitive component of juice is most critical for anti-inflammatory efficacy remains unresolved. The enthusiastic consumption of pineapple juice by the mice allowed achievement of a higher daily dose of fruit bromelain (equivalent to the fruit bromelain content in 36 mg of bromelain derived from stem) than could be achieved by a single daily administration of bromelain derived from stem. It is possible that these differences in dose account for the lack of long-term effects associated with treatment with bromelain derived from stem as compared with fresh juice. The more frequent exposure to proteolytic enzymes allowed by dietary ad libitum consumption in drinking water may have further enhanced the efficacy of juice compared with bromelain administered once daily."

"The lack of long-term efficacy of bromelain purified from stem was somewhat surprising, given our prior findings that long term oral bromelain treatment decreased the incidence of spontaneous colitis in Il10−/− mice and that short term (16 day) treatment with oral bromelain decreased the severity of piroxicam-triggered colitis in this model (5). Resistance to the proteolytic effects of bromelain via mutation is not expected. The data do suggest that mechanisms by which long-term bromelain treatment may prevent onset of spontaneous colitis differ from its effects on established colitis. The differences between the short-term (16 day) efficacy of oral bromelain on severity of piroxicam-triggered colitis and its lack of efficacy in the model when given long-term (6 months) is more difficult to reconcile. It is possible, however, that continuous or episodic absence of bromelain-sensitive molecules on leukocytes may affect gene expression patterns in a manner that favors ongoing inflammation. It is also possible that the pathways that maintain chronic inflammation long-term differ from those that predominate early in the course of colitis. Daily bromelain treatment also lacked long-term efficacy in the helicobacter-triggered colitis model, where helicobacter organisms remain present and provide a continuous stimulus for inflammation."

"It is important to note that although consumption of fresh juice increased survival of these mice with colitis (Figure 2A), decreased their median severity of colon inflammation (Figure 2B), and also decreased the incidence of inflammation-associated neoplasia Figure 2C, D), a few mice treated with fresh juice continued to exhibit severe inflammation. The neoplasias observed in the fresh juice group were limited to those mice with histologic scores higher than the median. This suggests that fresh juice primarily inhibits the development of inflammation-associated colon cancers by decreasing inflammation; however our studies cannot rule out an additional effect of fresh juice on tumor growth."

"We previously showed that in vitro bromelain treatment of human colonic tissue resulted in decreased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (7). The results presented here additionally show that exposure to juice or bromelain purified from stem can increase the degradation of some chemokines that may be secreted into the lumen. This provides an additional mechanism by which consumption of pineapple juice may decrease inflammatory activity in vivo."

"In addition to determining the efficacy of fresh pineapple juice treatment on chronic colitis, we also demonstrated that, similar to bromelain purified from stem, bromelains present in fresh pineapple juice can also remove cell surface molecules known to affect leukocyte migration and function. CD44, CD45R, CD62L, and CD8 were found to be at least partially sensitive to removal by exposure to fresh juice (Figure 5)."

"The bromelain-sensitive and partially-sensitive molecules identified in this study are important in leukocyte adhesion, migration, and activation. CD8α is a co-activation molecule for MHC class I-restricted cellular immune responses and also regulates the activation threshold for intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (22, 23). CD45R is a tyrosine phosphatase that regulates T cell activation threshold (23). CD44 and CD62L were shown to be homing molecules for leukocytes (25, 26). CD44 has also been shown to affect lymphocyte adhesion (3, 27) and activation (3, 28). Thus full or partial removal of these molecules by bromelains in juice could affect leukocyte trafficking and activation."

"In summary, this study shows that long-term dietary supplementation with fresh frozen pineapple juice containing proteolytically active bromelain enzymes does not negatively affect the health or body weight of mice with colitis. Consumption of fresh juice decreases inflammation severity and the incidence and multiplicity of inflammation-associated colonic neoplasia in the commonly used Il10−/− murine model of inflammatory bowel disease. In contrast, long-term once-daily treatment with bromelain purified from pineapple stem was not effective in decreasing inflammation or neoplasia in this model. Additional studies will be required to determine how the differential effects of fresh pineapple juice vs. bromelain purified from stem are related to the manner of administration, the total dose achieved, or to the differences in enzyme activity between their formulations, since the factors that limited bromelain dosing in these murine studies can be mitigated in humans through use of enteric coated pills taken multiple times daily. Studies to better understand the mechanisms by which bromelain affects colon inflammation and inflammation-associated neoplasia, including identification of the full range of bromelain-sensitive molecules and the cell signaling pathways affected, will aid translation of these findings to effective IBD therapies. In the interim however, the safety and efficacy of fresh pineapple juice in this commonly used murine model of inflammatory bowel disease provides a strong rationale for trials of dietary supplementation with fresh pineapple in humans with inflammatory bowel disease."​
 

FitnessMike

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how does pineapple compare to bromelain supplement when it comes to gut motility enhancing effect?

I have seen a very good effect of the pineapple on my gut motility, but the acidity is messing with my bladder.
 
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