How Pomegranates Can Benefit You

The pomegranate fad has exploded on to the health scene in a big way over the last few years. From a little known fruit, it has become a darling of the health movement. Pomegranate juice has several proven benefits specially in the field of heart disease. Pomegranates are especially useful for the fact that it is drought resistant. It requires very little water to grow and does not die even when there is a scarcity of water. This is a great advantage, when combined with its many medical benefits.

Pomegranate juice is a great source of antioxidants like tannins and polyphenols which prevent bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing in the blood. Antioxidants are agents which help to reduce the number of free radicals (a kind of rogue cell) which are responsible for causing a great deal of damage, specially in older people. Antioxidants bind with these radicals and neutralize their harmful effects. Pomegranates contains as much as two to three times the antioxidants contained in other well known antioxidant foods like wine and green tea.

Pomegranates have several other benefits. A glass of pomegranate juice contains as much as 45% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C for a person, and supplies a significant amount of folic acid along with Vitamin A, E. A well known use of pomegranate is to control diarrhea. It is an age old remedy which has no scientific proof, but nevertheless works.

Along with the above, extensive studies have shown that pomegranate is somehow linked with reducing the risk of prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. In lab tests, mice who were given pomegranate extract showed significantly less incidence of cancer compared to mice who weren't given any. Pomegranate is also said to be good for people suffering from arthritis. A little pomegranate extract injected into human cartilage showed significant easing of pain, and reduction of inflammation, though this is still in the testing stages.

One of the last major benefits of pomegranate is in the field of heart care. A group of Israeli researchers have found that people taking a glass of concentrated pomegranate juice a day showed a 5% drop in blood pressure compared to people who did not. Pomegranates are a proven blood thinning agent and helps reduce clogging of arteries by eliminating plaque. It is hence a great tool in the fight against heart disease.

Though pomegranates have many beneficial qualities, one must take it in moderation as excess of anything is never good. New benefits of pomegranates are being found everyday and there is no denying the fact that this fruit must be an essential part of any health conscious persons diet.