Pomegranates are rich in antioxidants and polyphenols. They have significant anti-inflammatory benefits too. Here we look at research evidence for their benefits with reducing heart and stroke risk, increasing longevity, reducing fasting blood sugar levels and helping fight prostate cancer and breast cancer.
The most striking benefits are obtained by eating the fruit or drinking the natural juice DAILY.
Pomegranate Active Ingredients:
Pomegranate has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Not just the fruit but the bark of the tree and the fruit rind is used to stem diarrhoea, dysentery, bladder problems, mouth ulcers, and intestinal parasites while the seeds and juice are considered a tonic for the heart. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate).
Pomegranates are phenol-rich and contain ellagitannins, a powerful antioxidant; other ingredients include pantothenic acid and flavonoids, plus vitamin C unsaturated oils, fiber, and many other micronutrients, especially in the seeds. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate)
1. Pomegranates contain a powerful anti-ageing precursor
A team of researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) working with the life science company Amazentis, have found that there is a molecule, urolithin A, within pomegranates that is transformed by a healthy gut microbiome into a highly active compound which cleans up withering mitochondria in the cell and thus prevents their build up and slows ageing.
Mitochondria are the cells power stations. The more active the tissue (brain, muscle, heart etc.) the more mitochondria there are. However, as the power stations become old and function less well, they can block the advance of newcomers. The dysfunctional mitochondria just litter the cell and this is believed to be one of the main causes of ageing. And diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s. The pomegranate molecule has been found to be capable of recycling the old mitochondria, thus cleaning up the cells and the tissues.
"It’s the only known molecule that can relaunch the mitochondrial clean-up process, otherwise known as mitophagy," said Patrick Aebischer, co-author of the study. "It’s a completely natural substance, and its effect is powerful and measurable." (Nature Medicine, July 2016)
This is certainly not the first time pomegranates have been suggested as capable of increasing human longevity. And it won’t be the last. In 2013, UCLA commenced a human clinical trial.
2. Pomegranates reduce plaque build up in arteries
Various heart experts like Dr. Chauncey Crandall have explained to the world the truth about artery plaque build up. It is caused by inflammation (which is actually the cause of pretty much all chronic illness). The inflammation does not occur in the muscle wall of arteries but in the inner ‘Intima Media’. As this becomes inflamed, so it can fill with debris from immune cells to oxidized fats. And as the Intima Media becomes ‘fatter’ so the artery becomes blocked.
Scientists from Haifa, Israel have been studying the beneficial properties of pomegranates for 20 or more years. In 2004, they published research which showed that patients consuming pomegranates daily for three years reduced the inflammation and thickness of the Intima Media, reduced their heart attack risk and reduced levels of LDL binding to the arteries. In other words, daily pomegranate consumption reverses plaue build up in the arteries.
Their findings showed that after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, the thickness of the Intima Media reduced by 13%, 22%, 26% and 35% respectively. These findings are simply huge. Who would need a statin if Doctors prescribed pomegranate eating?
“The most important new discoveries are the cardiovascular and stroke protection of pomegranate,” says Prof. Michael Aviram, head of the Lipid Research Laboratory of Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center and one of Israel’s top pomegranate researchers.
According to April 2013 research from Aviram’s team in Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal pomegranate juice has an even higher concentration of antioxidants than ‘high’ antioxidant sources like red wine, grape juice, blueberry juice, cranberry juice and green tea.
3. Pomegranates reduce fasting blood sugar in Type-2 diabetes patients
Researchers from Jordan University of Science and Technology have reported that people with type-2 diabetes consuming 1.5 mls of pomegranate juice per kg of weight per day, reduced their fasting blood sugar levels. This was not observed with healthy humans.
The results were taken as an average across the 85 people with type-2 diabetes in the trial. Some 20% of those showed no benefit. (Banihani et al, Nutrition Research, 2014).
In 2006 Israeli Professor Aviram found much the same results. Other studies have shown that pomegranate seeds seem to increase insulin production (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24644382). The benefit comes from a compound in the seed oil – punicic acid.
4. Pomegranates a highly effect aid in cancer
Several studies have shown that extracts of pomegranate juice can inhibit prostate cancer cells in vitro. Several clinical trials have shown that drinking 8oz of pomegranate juice a day can slow the rate of increase of PSA levels in men with prostate cancer. A 2015 study showed pomegranate juice could aid in prostate cancer prevention. Pomegranate extract was used in POMI-T along with broccoli extract, curcumin and EGCG from green tea. This is highly effective at lowering the PSA levels of prostate phttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24644382atients and putting off the need for treatment.
Pomegranate and Breast Cancer:
1. Two natural phenol compounds, common in colourful fruits, like pomegranate, plums and peaches, have been shown to stop breast cancer cell growth. The two groups of phenols (called chlorogenic and neochlorogenic compounds) were shown to do this in research (Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry) by AgriLife food scientists Dr. Byrne and Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos.
2. Several studies (for example in Cancer Prevention Research, Jan 2010) have showed that phytochemicals called ellagitannins could prevent the development of hormone-dependent breast cancer and halt the growth of oestrogen-driven tumours.
Pomegranate and Prostate Cancer:
3. According to the results of a long-term study presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), Maryland, pomegranate juice may effectively slow the progression of the prostate cancer, even when regular treatment has failed (Journal of Urology; Pantuck et al; suppl. 2009: 181, 4, abstract 826).
The two step clinical trial followed 48 men over six years. Each research subject had a rising prostate specific antigen (PSA) level after surgery or radiation therapy greater than 0.2 ng/ml and less than 5 ng/ml. The study participants were given eight ounces of pomegranate juice daily. These patients were then compared to those not taking the juice.
Despite all the men having similar PSA scores at the outset, after 56 months, there was a significant difference and progression had slowed down dramatically in the men who regularly drank pomegranate juice.
"This study suggests that pomegranate juice may effectively slow the progression of prostate cancer after unsuccessful treatment," said Dr. Christopher Amling, an AUA spokesman. "This finding and other ongoing research might one day reveal that pomegranate juice is an effective prostate cancer preventative agent as well."
4. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have shown that it contains natural compounds that can block prostate metastases. At the American Society for Cell Biology’s 50th Annual Meeting the researchers found that phenylpropanoids, hydrobenzoic acids, flavones and conjugated fatty acids in the fruit had the potential to stop cancer cells developing, to prevent metastases to nearby bone cells and even to kill prostate cancer cells. The pomegranate juice increased cell adhesion and thus decreased cell migration to other tissues.
5. This research and much more has led to the inclusion of pomegranate in a unique polyphenol mix called Pomi-T, researched in a placebo-controlled Clinical Trial amongst 200 men with prostate cancer, by Professor Robert Thomas in the UK. Professor Thomas showed that the PSA scores of recipients of pomegranate, broccoli, EGCG (from green tea) and curcumin, were 30 per cent more able to stay on active surveillance programmes, and at the end of a six-month trial, their PSA levels - a protein which is an indicator of the cancer - were 63 per cent lower than those who took a placebo.
If you can’t eat the natural fruit or juice daily, you might like to check out the Natural Selection shop to see prices and sizes available of Professor Thomas product POMI-T.