Dengue fever and guava

When dengue fever is endemic, suddenly, many fruit vendors peddle guava. All of this is because of word-of-mouth information that drinking guava juice can raise platelets.

In the medical community, this information is still controversial because there is no research about it. However, due to the belief in the community so large that guava juice is effective in restoring dengue fever, the doctors don't mind, as long as taking the medicine, you drink this delicious juice.

Guava, which has a Latin name of Psidium guajava L. isn't a foreign fruit in the society. A plant from the family of Myrtaceae whose height is 15 to 30 feet is planted by many residents. If you look at its ancestors, this plant comes from Brazil, which then spreads to Asian countries.

Empirically, since ancient times, people used guava leaves to treat stomach aches, diarrhea, bleeding, and frequent urination. From this experience, the researchers examine the content of this leaf. Evidently, it contains astringent tannins, effective for diarrhea.

Guava leaves don't only contain tannins but also 50 other chemicals. Various studies show guava leaves are efficacious as antibacterial and antiviral, including dengue virus.

Guava fruit is another story. This fruit is rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C. Imagine, before it ripes, the content of vitamin C is six times more than orange, which is known to be rich in it. This high content of vitamin C increases the body's resistance, so it speeds up the healing process.

Because of the growing info, many dengue patients try to drink guava juice as much as possible to rise the platelets. There is the positive thing in that. By drinking a lot of this juice, it means a lot amount of fluid enters the body.

In the condition of the sufferers losing a lot of blood plasma due to a decrease in platelets, they need to drink plenty of fluids to recover. So, actually, not only guava juice is good for people with dengue fever. Any fruit juice, as long as it's not sour, will greatly help to heal.

In 100 g of guava juice, it contains 49 calories of energy, 0.9 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 14 mg calcium, 28 mg phosphorus, 1.1 mg iron, 25 IU vitamin A, 0.02 mg vitamin B1, 87 mg vitamin C, and 86 g water.