Pas­sion Fruit is a mys­te­ri­ous and in­trigu­ing fruit that has a sur­pris­ing num­ber of health ben­e­fits. It is usu­al­ly dark pur­ple or yel­low in colour and re­sem­bles a grape­fruit in shape. The in­te­ri­or is filled with juicy flesh and an abun­dance of seeds.

Pas­sion fruit can be found in al­most every warm cli­mate around the world, pro­vid­ed that the tem­per­a­tures re­main frost free all through­out the year. It is used as a pop­u­lar break­fast fruit and snack and is al­so used in mak­ing juices.

Here are a few health ben­e­fits of this Su­per­food:

Boosts Im­mu­ni­ty

Stud­ies have shown that pas­sion fruit is loaded with an­tiox­i­dants, which have im­mune sys­tem en­hanc­ing prop­er­ties. This im­mune strength­en­ing prop­er­ty is due to vi­t­a­min C, carotene and cryp­tox­an­thin. In fact, one serv­ing of pas­sion fruit can have up to 30 mil­ligrams of vi­t­a­min C. This vi­t­a­min stim­u­lates the white blood cells, as well as the rest of the im­mune de­fence sys­tem, fight­ing off both the com­mon cold and se­ri­ous dis­ease, si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly.

Rich in Vi­t­a­min A

Vi­t­a­min A is es­sen­tial in the de­fence of age-re­lat­ed eye con­di­tions such as mac­u­lar de­gen­er­a­tion, cataracts and night blind­ness. It sup­ports your im­mune sys­tem, may low­er your risk of de­vel­op­ing cer­tain can­cers and sup­ports bone health. How­ev­er, as with every­thing, vi­t­a­min A must be tak­en in mod­er­a­tion. An ex­cess of this fat-sol­u­ble vi­t­a­min, which is stored in the body, can lead to tox­ic lev­els.

Aids in Di­ges­tion

Pas­sion fruit is a rich source of fi­bre, which is great for di­ges­tion. Stud­ies have shown that a sin­gle cup of pas­sion fruit can pro­vide 98 per­cent of the re­quired dai­ly fi­bre in­take. Fi­bre is an es­sen­tial com­po­nent of a healthy di­et be­cause it is es­sen­tial for prop­er di­ges­tion and the reg­u­la­tion of bow­el move­ments.

Re­duces in­som­nia

There is a med­ical al­ka­loid in pas­sion fruit called Har­man, which func­tions as a seda­tive. This com­pound has been con­nect­ed to the re­duc­tion of rest­less­ness, in­som­nia and ner­vous anx­i­ety, which can af­fect one’s qual­i­ty of sleep.