Prickly pear cactus

Better Nutrition, August, 2005 by Kim Schoenhals

Have you ever noticed a spiky, oddly shaped thing sitting in one of the bins in your produce aisle? Well, you may want to take a second glance, because modern scientists--and savvy consumers--are discovering what traditional Mexican and Native American healers have long known: The prickly pear cactus is packed with nutritional power.

The cactus's flowers and fruit are loaded with flavonoids, plant pigments that have antioxidant properties. Better yet, the prickly pear's leaf-like pads, known as nopals or nopales in Spanish, are rich in vitamin C, beta carotene and fiber.

But the real allure of nopals are the promise they show as a low-cost treatment option for diabetes.

According to a scientific review in the February 2005 issue of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, prickly pear pads can help reduce blood sugar levels. Research done at La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City in the late 1980s found that 500 grams of broiled nopals per day improved insulin function and glucose tolerance. A 2003 study of diabetic pigs revealed reduced blood sugar levels just an hour after taking 250 mg of prickly pear extract per kilogram of body weight. Researchers writing in the journal Phytotherapy Research concluded that a protein-like compound in the extract was probably responsible for these results.

And if the plant's blood sugar-lowering properties aren't enough, consider this: Eating the high-fiber nopals makes you feel full quickly, so you'll eat less overall. This can help control obesity, a major risk factor of diabetes.

Want to take advantage of the healthful benefits of prickly pear? There are plenty of ways to do it. Nopals are available in fresh, jarred or canned forms. They're also used in dietary supplements including powdered and liquid extracts. When shopping, Ran Knishinsky, author of Prickly Pear Cactus Medicine, advises looking for standardized products with labels that indicate a guaranteed proportion of the plant's active compounds (pectin, flavonoids, etc.).

So the next time you see that funny-shaped, spiny whatsit, give it a chance. It may not look like much, but the prickly pear cactus could be a key to your good health.