Sunday, April 28, 2024

MY PAINTINGS OF FRUITS - 3rd Instalment, with their Health Benefits. Dr C D Jayaweera Bandara


MY PAINTINGS OF FRUITS -  3

WITH THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS

Dr   C. D. JAYAWEERA BANDARA

(My next post will be on Dragon Fruit Cultivation in Sri Lanka)

I have given the scientific names of each. Some of the claimed Health Benefits as described may not be strictly Scientifically verified and are debatable. Some claims are highly generalised and open to question. Readers can make up their own minds, and I'd appreciate your feedback.                                

LIME    15                                               GRAPEFRUIT 16                         

Scientific Name: Citrus aurantifolia         Scientific name Citrus paradisi          










CUSTARD APPLE  17                     SOURSOP  18          

Scientific Name Annona reticulata     Scientific name Annona muricata        










WATERMELON  19                      WARAKA  20

Scientific name  Citrullus lanatus     Scientific name Artocarpus heterophyllus 


                                                                                                                                                          



SAPODILLA  21                               DRAGON FRUIT  22       

Scientific Name Manilkara zapota    Scientific name Selenicereus undatus









HEALTH BENEFITS OF FRUITS   3

ANTIOXIDANTS ARE PRESENT IN ALL  8 ABOVE FRUITS

ANTIOXIDANT FRUIT BENEFITS

Epidemiological prospective studies show that higher intakes of antioxidant-rich fruits are associated with a lower risk of chronic oxidative stress-related diseases like cardiovascular diseases, carcinoma and death from all causes.

Benefits of Antioxidants

1. Reduce Oxidative stress

2. Support disease prevention

3. Support Eye Health

4. Aid in brain function

5. Contribute Mental health improvements

6. Reduce inflammation

7. Support healthy ageing processes

 

LIME  15
Scientific Name   Citrus aurantifolia
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
       8.  Reduce heart disease risk factors
 9.  Prevent kidney stones
10.   Aid Iron absorption
11.  Promote healthy skin 

GRAPEFRUIT  16

           Scientific Name    Citrus paradisi

In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants

               8. Weight loss benefits
               9. Help prevent Insulin Resistance and Diabetes
             10. May improve heart health
             11. May reduce risk of kidney stones
             12. Has hydration benefits
             13. Has benefits for skin
             14. Prevent constipation
             15. Healthier Cholesterol levels    

CUSTARD APPLE (ATHA) 17

Scientific Name    Annona reticulata

In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants

            8.  May prevent high blood pressure
            9.  May promote good digestion
            10.  May have anticancer properties 

SOURSOP (KATU ATHA) 18

Scientific Name    Annona muricata

In addition to the above benefits of antioxidants

          8. Used to increase breast milk after childbirth
          9. Control Cholesterol
       10. Good for Diabetes
         11.  Prevent constipation
         12.  Potential anticarcinogenic effects
         13.  Stabilize BP 

WATERMELON   19

Scientific Name   Citrullus lanatus

In addition to the above benefits of antioxidants 

  8. Helps skin to stay soft, smooth and supple
  9.  Improve skin elasticity and blood flow to skin
 10. Helps to keep you hydrated
 11. Healthy digestion
 13. Help with weight management
 14. May improve heart health
 15. Reduce Cancer risk 

WARAKA   20

Scientific Name   Artocarpus heterophyllus

In addition to the above benefits of antioxidants

   8.  May help to prevent Gastric ulcers
   9.  Control Blood sugar
  10. Help lower BP
  11. Help protect against heart disease and stroke
  12. Lower Cholesterol
  13. Keep skin firm and strong
  14. Might have Cancer fighting benefits
  15. Strengthens the bones and prevent Osteoporosis    

SAPODILLA  21

Scientific Name   Manilkara zapota

In addition to the above benefits of antioxidants

     8. Helps lower BP
      9. In folk medicine, Sapodilla has been used to treat a variety of illnesses, such as
          Arthritis, Rheumatism, Fever, Ulcers, Diarrhoea and Constipation 

DRAGON FRUIT   22

Scientific Name   Selenicereus undatus

In addition to the above benefits of antioxidants

        8.  Blood sugar regulation
        9.   Healthy circulation
  10.   Promotes gut health. Prevents constipation. Treat Irritable bowel Syndrome
  11.   May reduce risk of Colon Cancer
  12.   Fights against ageing skin
  13.   Good for hair
  14.   Healthy bones
  15.   Can boost Iron levels
  16.   Elevation of Haemoglobin level



17 comments:

  1. Mahendra
    Thank you very much for taking a lot of trouble and care to publish my 3rd instalment of Painting of fruits.
    You are great to keep our Blog alive.
    May long live our Blog !
    Chira

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another wonderful post from you, Chira. You must have done a lot of research to get all these facts. Your paintings as usual, display your manual dexterity and artistic skills. Thanks very much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mahendra
    Thank you very much for your lovely comment. Much appreciated.
    I enjoy painting. It gives me much pleasure when my paintings resemble the original photo from the Laptop. Do you know I painted the 2nd of the Peaches and Appricots and took the 2nd as I was not happy with the 1st.
    Thanks once again for taking a lot of trouble to post this article.
    Chira

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chira
    Thank you for those lovely paintings in beautiful natural colours. To me living abroad they remind me of home and what I'm missing now. Much of my childhood I lived far away from the city lights in surroundings full of fruits. Your paintings bring back many happy memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nihal
      Thank you very much for appreciating my paintings.
      I am glad my paintings bring back happy memories.
      You would be surprised that my next instalment of Paintings of fruits 4 will be what you get in UK.
      Chira

      Delete
  5. Yet again you have displayed your artistic skills Chira. Thank you for the annotations on their health benefits. your time and effort to keep your batchmates update on our common fruits is much appreciated. Grapefruit was a favourite breakfast of my late husband. I learnt from him how to cut the fruit in halves and enjoy collecting the pulp using the grapefruit knife. But I am used to yellow tinged grapefruit not this red pulp variety. I don't think I have ever seen red ones here. Maybe you have an explanation!
    Manel

    ReplyDelete
  6. Manel (Owli)
    Thank you very much for your comment. Much appreciated.
    I am surprised that you haven't seen the pink grapefruit variety. I have tasted the pink grapefruit variety more than the yellow variety. My brother in law has the pink grapefruit variety trees in Matale.
    Chira

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Chira
    Once again you have outdone yourself. Your paintings are true representations of the real fruits.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Nandi Aiya

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nandi Aiya
      Thank you very much for appreciating my paintings. I value it greatly.
      Chira

      Delete
  8. Thank you Chira for your realistic paintings of local fruit. As Nihal has said they brought back so many childhood memories...
    I remember gorging myself with Aththa, Sapodilla, Waraka -fruit that are available in abundance in the villages..we used to spend every school holiday in Seeduwa with our paternal grandparents.
    As you quite correctly say the medicinal benefits of most have not been scientifically proven... But who cares they are delicious!
    Keep up the good work
    Suri

    ReplyDelete
  9. Suri
    Thank you very much for your comment. I value it greatly.
    I agree with you that our local fruits are delecious.
    Chira

    ReplyDelete
  10. pramilla SenanayakeApril 29, 2024 at 8:38 PM

    Dear Chira. once again some fabulous paintings of our super fruit. They are true to life. i am a fruit lover consumes fruit every day. we are so blessed to have such a vast variety in Sri lanka. Your paintings remind us of some rare fruits that we do not see often in the markets. Thanks for bringing them alive.
    pramilla

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pram
    Thank you very much for appreciating my paintings. I value it greatly.
    I have painted local fruits first as suggested by Speedy. I am also a fruit lover and enjoy them daily. In addition they all have Antioxodants which are very good for our health and also they have many other health benefits.
    Chira

    ReplyDelete
  12. Is Warakapola famous for Waraka? Wondered about the name. When I was working at Chest Hospital, Welisera, we had a brilliant but quite eccenteric betel-chewing unconventional Radiologist called Warakapola or "Waraks" as we called him. He had a Jeep, dressed totally unconventionally , chewed betel all the time and had a great sense of humour.
    What I found is that Warakapola has nothing to do with Waraka. It was originally "wara" "kapolla" which became "warakapola". Polla could be the space between two large objects, such as "Hulang Kapolla" in Heramitipana. I need to check these facts. Anybody knows?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you very much Chira for your excellent life-like paintings and the wealth of very valuable information. Sri Lanka is blessed with an abundance of diverse flora and fauna. In my coconut estate, I have a dragon fruit plant, but I have got only a single fruit over the years; in adjoining estates it is grown commercially

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lama
    Thank you very much for your lovely comment. I appreciate greatly.
    I enjoy painting, it is relaxing and rewarding as I get a lot of pleasure when the end result looks natural and is like the original on the laptop.
    When I started painting the Dragon fruit I got interested in the Dragon fruit cultivation in Sri Lanka and did some research. I handed this over to Speedy along with the above. Speedy has kept it to publish it as a separate post.
    Chira

    ReplyDelete