Bartlett pears are the pear of the season.
A delicate pear that is less grainy than other varieties and stands out as having strong fruity flavors and a honey-sweet taste, the Bartlett is modestly nutritious, but a source of several impressive benefits for health.
Read on to find out what exactly are the benefits of Bartlett pears.
What are the benefits of Bartlett pears?
1- Actively combat constipation
One of the biggest benefits of Bartlett pears is they help combat constipation.
Bartlett pears are a great source of dietary fiber, including insoluble and soluble fiber. One large pear can get you over 7 grams of dietary fiber which is over 25% of the daily fiber requirements for the average adult.
See more nutrition facts for one large Bartlett pear.
The dietary fiber in Bartlett pears adds volume to stools; this stimulates peristalsis, the rhythmic contractions of the muscles of the digestive tube, and increases bowel movement regularity.
Not just this, but dietary fiber from Bartlett pears attracts water into stools, helping soften them, improving the consistency of dry, cracked, pebble-like stools common in constipation.
2- Help grow good gut bacteria populations
Yes, eating a couple of Bartlett pears with skin may make you gassy or bloated, but there are important benefits behind these symptoms.
Dietary fiber in Bartlett pears has important prebiotic properties, serving as food for good gut bacteria.
Dietary fiber in the pears is fermented by bacteria in the gut, hence the air, and this essentially nourishes, sustains and helps grow existing bacterial populations.
Maintaining healthy numbers of good gut bacteria is important for a healthy gut environment, and contributes to digestion, nervous system health and immunity.
Find out more about how gut bacteria affects your health, including the benefits of gut bacteria for vitamin synthesis, weight management and the immune system response.
3- Source of anti-aging benefits
The nutritional value of Bartlett pears is modest at most, but one of the most prominent nutrition facts of the pears is their good content of copper.
One medium-sized Bartlett pear at 178 grams can get the average adult almost 14% of all the copper they need in a day. See more nutrition facts for one medium Bartlett pear.
Copper serves as a micronutrient in the diet and is essential for good health. But one of the lesser known benefits of copper is its antiaging action.
Low copper intakes are associated with premature hair graying and iris discoloration which are common signs of aging.
The relationship of copper with aging is complex. Studies have observed regulatory mechanisms in the human body that drive an increase in serum copper levels in specific circumstances such as when pathological inflammation is present in the body, and during aging.
The increased serum requirements of copper during aging are believed to serve a ‘repair and maintenance’ purpose meant ‘to preserve health status during old age’ (source).
4- Combat low blood sugar and associated symptoms
The hype nowadays is about high blood sugar and how bad it is for health, but low blood sugar is also bad, albeit in a different way.
While high blood sugar poses health risks long-term, low blood sugar impacts health short-term such as, for example, causing fainting that can lead to falls and injuries or panic attacks, worsening existing anxiety.
A great way to combat low levels of sugar in the blood is to eat a piece of fruit. Eating just one Bartlett pear can prove an effective solution for hypoglycemia, with almost instant results.
Eating just one pear can raise blood sugar levels within minutes and combat the side effects of hypoglycemia. And it’s a great, accessible solution for when you’re time and distance away from a meal.
One small Bartlett pear at around 150 grams has a little over 22 grams of carbs, over 14 of which are sugars. See more nutrition facts for one small Bartlett pear.
5- Raise energy levels instantly
Eating just one Bartlett pear can raise your energy levels almost instantly. Bartlett pears are naturally quite sweet due to their sugar content – the sugar in the fruit raises blood sugar levels within minutes, providing quick fuel for the body and brain to use and a feeling of vitality.
6- Help lower cholesterol numbers
Bartlett pears are a great food to eat if you have high cholesterol. Bartlett pears naturally have no cholesterol (after all, they’re a plant food) and under 0.5% fat content.
More important, they are naturally high in dietary fiber which is known to lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, dubbed as ‘bad cholesterol’.
7- Bartlett pears are good for vision
Bartlett pears are very low in vitamin A, but have two important non-vitamin A yellow pigmented antioxidants called lutein and zeaxanthin with benefits for visual acuity and color vision.
According to research, lutein and zeaxanthin account for up to 80% of all carotenoids in the retina (source).
Studies show lutein and zeaxanthin can help reduce risks for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causing loss of central vision (source).
More important, the two antioxidants have been associated with a lower risk of cataract (source 1, source 2).
8- Good for the gums
Sugar content aside, Bartlett pears are actually good for the gums.
More exactly, Bartlett pears have a good content of vitamin C, with one large pear at 230 grams providing over 11% of the vitamin C allowance of the average adult person for a day.
Vitamin C is anti-inflammatory and strengthens capillary walls, preventing bleeding from gums.
Not just this, but it contributes with collagen to teeth (teeth contain a special type of collagen that makes them so resilient) and has an antibacterial action.
All of these properties combined contribute to benefits for gums and teeth.
9- Great food to eat for high blood pressure
What makes Bartlett pears good to eat for high blood pressure is the fact that they are virtually sodium free. E
xcept for a few milligrams of natural sodium that barely amount to 0-something percent of daily sodium values for an adult person, there is nothing in the fruit to generate a rise in blood pressure numbers.
If you have high blood pressure, eating foods that have no sodium, or very little like Bartlett pears, is ideal as it allows the body to recalibrate and regain a good electrolyte balance.
Not just this, but Bartlett pears are also high in water, great for flushing out excess sodium, without contributing with more.