Facts About Pomegranate

Pomegranate has been in use for years for its health benefits. Modern science found out that pomegranates may help protect one’s heart and may even fight cancer.

Pomegranates are a sweet, tart fruit with solid, red skin. While its skin is not wholesome for consumption, it holds numbers of juicy seeds that one can consume raw or spread on salads, hummus, oatmeal, and other dishes. Packaged pomegranate juice is also a fast and easy way to enjoy some of the amazing health benefits of this wonderful fruit.

Pomegranates grow on trees. These trees need abundant heat to grow and ripen the hard, luscious fruits. Pomegranates are indigenous to the Middle East alongside some Asian countries, but they may also be grown in the United States. Most pomegranates are cultivated in California. They are in production season from September to November, but their prolonged shelf life suggests you can naturally find them at any grocery store until January.

Pomegranates are one of the healthiest fruits globally. They have highly beneficial plant compounds, unmatched by other foods. Some studies have shown that pomegranate may have several health benefits for your dear health, possibly reducing your risk of getting various diseases.

Fresh juice does not have to be full of spinach to be healthy. Juice from these fruits contains more than a hundred phytochemicals. Pomegranate fruits have been used for thousands of years as medication.

Nutrition Composition

Punica granatum (pomegranate) is a shrub that bears red fruits. Termed as a berry, the pomegranate fruit is up to 5–12 cm in diameter. It is crimson, round, and appears like a red apple with the shape of a flower-like stem.

The skin is thick and not edible, but they’re more than a hundred edible seeds encapsulated in it. Each seed is wrapped by a red, juicy, and luscious seeds wrapper known as an aril.

The arils and seeds are the edible parts of the fruit, eaten either fresh or processed into some amazing pomegranate juice, but the peel is often discarded.

Pomegranates have an amazing nutrient profile. A cup of arils contains the following:

• Protein: 3 grams
• Fiber: 7 grams
• Vitamin K: 36 percent of the RDI
• Vitamin C: 30 percent of the RDI
• Folate: 16 percent of the RDI
• Potassium: 12 percent of the RDI

The arils are also very delicious, with a cup having up to 24 grams of sugar and about 144 calories.

However, pomegranates are well respected for their wealth of powerful phytochemicals, most of which have potent medicinal benefits.

Health Benefits of Pomegranate

Below are the amazing health advantages of pomegranates

1. High in Antioxidants

Pomegranates have been consumed throughout human history for their medicinal benefits. These days, the juice from this fruit is a well-known part of healthy diets.

The seeds get their vibrant red color from polyphenols. These compounds are strong antioxidants.

Pomegranate juice has a higher amount of antioxidants than many other fruit juices. It also has 3 times more antioxidants than conventional green tea and red wine. The antioxidants in its juice can aid remove free radicals, protect cell damage, and lower inflammation.

2. Cardiac Health

Studies have proved that pomegranates can shield the heart in a lot of ways, including reducing blood pressure and lowering blood sugar levels.

Atherosclerosis: The accumulation of cholesterol and fats in the arteries is a common trigger of cardiac disease. Pomegranate juice helps to lower bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) that blocks the arteries. It may also raise good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), which reduces the risk of having strokes and heart problems.

3. Cancer prevention

Pomegranate sweet extracts recently made a name when researchers discovered that it may help alleviate the development of prostate cancer cells. Despite many studies on the effects of this juice on prostate cancer, some results are still preliminary.

While there are no long-term studies on humans to prove if pomegranate juice stops cancer or reduces its risk, supplementing it to your diet certainly can not hurt.

4. Contain Two Powerful Plant Compounds Having Medicinal Properties

Pomegranates pack two vital substances that are high in their health benefits.

Punicalagins

Punicalagins are highly potent antioxidants found in pomegranate peel and juice.

They are so potent that pomegranate juice has been proved to have 3 times the antioxidant activity of either red wine or green tea.

Pomegranate powder and the extract is made from the peel due to its very high punicalagin and antioxidant content.

Punicic Acid

The major fatty acid in the arils is the punicic acid in pomegranate seed oil.

It’s a form of conjugated linoleic acid with powerful biological effects.

5. Diabetes Control

Initial studies have proved that folks with diabetes type 2 who began to drink pomegranate juice demonstrated an advancement in insulin resistance. Pomegranates may also help folks without diabetes maintain a normal weight.

6. Anti-Inflammatory Effects

Severe inflammation is among the leading drivers of most serious diseases.

This includes cancer, cardiac disease, type 2 diabetes, and even obesity.

Pomegranates have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, which are mostly mediated by the antioxidant features of the punicalagin.

Test-tube laboratory studies have proved that they can lower inflammatory activity in the gut, as well as in colon cancer and breast cancer cells.

One 3 months study in folks with diabetes discovered that 250 ml of pomegranate juice daily reduced the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 and CRP by and 30 percent, 32 percent, respectively.

7. Digestion

Pomegranate juice can lower inflammation in the GIT and boost digestion. It may also be beneficial for folks with ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and some other inflammatory bowel complications.

While there are contradictory beliefs and studies on whether pomegranate juice worsens or helps diarrhea, most doctors advised avoiding it totally until you are feeling better and the symptoms have subsided.

8. Arthritis

Flavonols in pomegranate extract may help shield the inflammation that adds to cartilage damage and osteoarthritis. The juice is, of recent, being studied for its possible effects on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and other forms of arthritis and joint inflammation.

9. Help Treat Erectile Dysfunction

Oxidative harm can impair blood circulation in all areas of the body, like erectile tissue. Pomegranate juice has been proved to help raise blood circulation and erectile response in bucks (rabbits). In a study involving 53 men with this erectile dysfunction, pomegranate seemed to show some benefits; but it was not significant statistically.

10. Antiviral

Between the ascorbic acid and other immune-activating nutrients like vitamin E, pomegranate juice may treat illness and fight off infection. Pomegranates also have been proved to be antiviral and antibacterial in lab tests. They are being researched for their effects on ordinary viruses and some infections.

11. May Help Boost Memory

There are some pieces of evidence that this fruit can boost memory. A study in surgical patients discovered that 2g of pomegranate extract halted deficits in memory following surgery.

Another research study in 28 older folks with memory complaints found that 237 ml of pomegranate juice daily significantly improved markers of visual and verbal memory.

12.  Sports and Endurance performance

Move over, beet juice and tart cherry. Pomegranate juice may appear as the new sports performance booster. The juice may help lower soreness and boost strength recovery. It also lowers oxidative damage fostered by exercise.

How to Prepare Fresh Pomegranate

To prepare your fresh pomegranate, you need to cut off the two ends. You will see the membranes that separate the inside of the fruit. Cut into its skin from top to bottom along the ridges. Next is to slice deep enough to divide the skin and the white membrane without damaging the pomegranate seeds. Hold the pomegranate upon a bowl of water and force open it apart with your fingers. Remove the seeds away from the membrane and skin, allowing them to drop into the bowl of water. The membrane will hang to the top of the water, and the seeds will sink to the bottom. Take away the membrane, and throw it off. Drain the water off the seeds.

You can easily supplement pomegranate into your daily ration by:

• Adding them to your quinoa salad with some other fresh vegetables and fruits.
• Sprinkle some seeds on your yogurt with granola to produce a parfait
• Give your salad a desired pop by adding some of the seeds.
• Use the juice or seeds to add a boost to your most wanted cocktail.
• Mix some pomegranate rice vinegar, garlic, juice, oil, and white sugar to prepare a salad dressing