The Reluctant Duodenum

there’s a boatload of argument about pineapple in this world- for some it is a nasty, overly sweet tropical disaster waiting to stick between your teeth and cause your blood sugar to spike, for others it is the best friend of your delightful little duodenum, that funnel where all the food goes down on the way to AdventureLand. Pineapple contains bromelain, which is a word I often misspell or mispronounce, especially when suddenly and without warning, my mind starts thinking in French. The duodenum loves bromelain because it helps break down the Chicken Korma from that Chef Tandoori meal you ate that tasted more like the container than real curry. The duodenum adores bromelain after you gorged yourself on chips, french onion dip, and coca cola at 1 o’clock in the morning while watching Godzilla Versus The Swamp Monster. But, the duodenum absolutely jumps for joy when bromelain rushes to the scene of that kitchen nightmare heading down your long and winding road…rushing through your body on a one-way ticket to the toilet bowl…

Bromelain seems like a really good idea for those of us who like to have a clean colon. As you know, a clean colon is a happy colon. But while bromelain can be found in pineapple, eating pineapple everyday can be detrimental for those more intestinally-challenged among us. This is why a bottle of bromelain tablets from the health food/natural food/holistic food establishment can provide the bromelain our body wants…and needs…to fend off the gurgles within, and provide one’s inner workings with a beneficial healing agent.

Back in the day, when papaya was cheaper here, my primary source of bromelain came from a diet rich in this wonderful fruit. But, not being in a region where it grew, my habit became a bit pricey when other people finally discovered papaya, and suddenly, people were cutting up little chunks, and sticking them in fruit salads…so, pineapple became the cheaper alternative.

Now I am not, nor have ever been, a doctor, but I have lived enough decades that I can get a senior discount from an 18 year old in the drive thru who thinks I am a “really old man.” That being said, I believe you will find sage advice in combating digestive discomfort by employing the use of bromelain tablets or eating a healthy regimen of pineapple and/or papaya. I have found this beneficial in combating the gurgles and bloating associated with eating items the intestines consider foreign objects. In my travels, I have consumed many of these adventurous foods with less destruction than before my bromelain regimen.