What is Papain Used for?
The primary use of papain is as a meat tenderizer. It has also been used as a digestive aid for people who have trouble digesting proteins. However, a small double-blind, placebo-controlled trial found no benefit from proteolytic enzymes as a treatment for dyspepsia (indigestion). There is weak evidence to suggests that papain, taken in combination with other enzymes, might improve the rate of recovery from various types of injuries and reduce the chronic pain and discomfort of conditions such as neck pain andosteoarthritis. Proteolytic enzymes have also received mixed results as an aid to recovery from surgery and as a treatment for shingles. Many practitioners of alternative medicine believe that papain may be helpful for food allergies and autoimmune diseases. However, there is little to no meaningful evidence as yet supporting that papain actually works for these conditions.
