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Pomegranate Hottest Health Remedy: Fad or Fact?
What’s all this hype about
a little known and rarely seen fruit
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
 Sept.
29, 2005 – So what’s with this surge of pomegranate hype. This fruit is
being touted as a miracle drug for aging, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart
disease, arthritis and even protecting unborn babies from brain
injuries. It cures about anything that can ail an aging senior citizen.
It has become a popular ingredient for mixed drinks, ice cream and even
bottled water. It’s now a popular decoration for table displays.
President Bush even brought it up in his meeting in May with Afghanistan
President Karzai, suggesting they grow these trees rather than poppies.
The Centers for Disease Control honored it by naming it the fruit of the
month.
Pomegranate is now a color, there’s a band named
Pomegranate and even a blog called Pomegranate Afternoon.
“Is there anything that pomegranates don't do,”
asks writer Chloe Rhodes in the London Telegraph. “As well as being
achingly fashionable - pomegranate martinis were served at the Oscars
and Jo Malone's new fragrance is called Pomegranate Noir - the fruit has
achieved "superfood" status.”
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Related New Stories |
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Crazy Looking Pomegranate Still Being Found to Have
More Curing Powers
Harvard Men's Health Watch says two studies show it
fights prostate cancer
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
 March 30, 2007 – In September 2005 we wrote a story
with the headline, "Pomegranate Hottest Health Remedy: Fad or Fact?" It
was highly read in 2005 and was still the fourth most read story on
SeniorJournal.com in all of2006. Yet, the attention for this odd shaped
fruit with the upside down crown still mounts. Next month's Harvard
Men's Health Watch focuses on recent research saying pomegranate juice
may help fight prostate cancer.
Read more...
Pomegranate Juice Helps Older Men Recover from
Prostate Cancer Treatment
July 1, 2006 - Pomegranate juice packs a punch on
prostate cancer that prolongs post-surgery PSA doubling time, drives
down cancer cell proliferation and causes prostate cancer cells to die,
according to a study of older men published in the July 1 issue of
Clinical Cancer Research.
Read more...
Pomegranate Juice Could Benefit Diabetics and Slow
Bad Cholesterol
Another research report touting the
health benefits of the drink
August 24, 2006 – Pomegranate juice can reduce the
risk for atherosclerosis, and thus the risk of death for diabetics,
since the condition leads to arterial wall thickening and hardening, and
accounts for 80 percent of deaths for diabetic patients. It also reduces
the uptake of bad cholesterol, according to studies at Technion-Isreal
Institute of Technology.
Read
more...
Centers for Disease Control Names
Pomegranate Fruit of Month
How to prepare it,
recipes, more - click here
Read more about Nutrition,
Vitamins, Supplements for Senior Citizens |
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Maybe this all got started in 2001, when the San
Jose Museum of Art presented a monumental installation entitled
Pomegranate Wall as the centerpiece and highlight of a photo exhibit by
noted artist Catherine Wagner. The wall, an 8 x 40 foot curved arc
dramatically displayed a series of interior images of a pomegranate.
No one really knows how this fad got started, but
certainly it has been pushed along by Pom Wonderful and their marketing
team.
 “Pom
Wonderful Pomegranate Juice is the closest thing to a miracle in a
bottle we've found yet,” wrote Reader's Digest in May of this year.
“The deep purple juice is loaded with antioxidants,
and doctors at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito,
California, have found even more to love about it,” continues the
magazine.
“Their study was presented at the annual meeting of
the American College of Cardiology in March. Heart disease patients on
cholesterol-lowering drugs were randomly assigned to drink eight ounces
of Pom a day for three months or a placebo beverage. The Pom drinkers
had improved blood flow to the heart; heart disease worsened for those
who drank the placebo. Statins can help many, but the may not always be
enough. There's no substitute for diet and exercise, says researcher Dr.
Dean Ornish. And now it looks like pomegranate juice is a good start,”
concludes the digest.
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Pom Wonderful has cocktail recipes on their site
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click |
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Pom Wonderful, which describes itself at “The
Antioxidant Superpower,” has squeezed the juice out of the pomegranate
and squirted it into about everything.
VitaZest Vitamin and Fruit Enriched Water, has no
sugar, no carbs, no calories, and no caffeine; and comes in eight
refreshing fruit flavors including pomegranate.
But they have not gone as far as SheerBliss, an
ultra super premium gourmet ice cream. They offer seven flavors:
California Pomegranate, Vanilla with Pomegranate Swirl, Pomegranate with
Dark Chocolate Chips, Freedom (Vanilla, Pomegranate and Blueberry),
Mediterranean Coffee, Chocolate, and Vanilla; and a Pomegranate Bar
(Pomegranate ice cream coated in rich, dark chocolate). They note an
exclusive agreement with POM Wonderful for creating their
pomegranate-based ice cream flavors.
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History & Legend
of the Pomegranate |
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From
www.pomwonderful.com
The pomegranate is one of the
earliest cultivated fruits. Historical evidence suggests that
man first began planting pomegranate trees sometime between 4000
B.C.E and 3000 B.C.E.
Although Pomegranates grew in the
wild before the dawn of agriculture, they were one of the first
five domesticated crops along with olives, grapes, figs and
dates. Believed to be first domesticated somewhere in northern
Iran or Turkey, pomegranates still occur in the wild. However,
the first archeological evidence of domesticated pomegranates
isn’t until around 3000 B.C. at Jericho.
Soon after their appearance at
Jericho, they turned up in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Throughout history, this
richly-colored and delicious fruit has been revered as a symbol
of health, fertility, and rebirth. Some cultures also believed
it held profound and mystical healing powers. Still others chose
to use it in more practical ways, as a dye or decoration.
The pomegranate’s irresistible
appeal and legendary medicinal properties have also made it the
subject of countless myths, epics and works of art, from Raphael
and Cezanne to Homer and Shakespeare.
Many scholars now suggest that it
was a pomegranate, not an apple, depicted in the biblical Garden
of Eden; a theory that is given further support throughout
ancient and medieval times. In the mythical tale of the unicorn,
pomegranate seeds "bleeding" from its horn symbolized Christ.
The pomegranate tree, to which it was bound, represented eternal
life.
From the Encyclopedia
The Pomegranate
is a handsome deciduous and somewhat thorny large shrub or small
tree (Punica granatum) belonging to the family Punicaceae,
native to semitropical Asia and naturalized in the Mediterranean
region in very early times.
It has long been cultivated as
an ornamental and for its edible fruit. The fruit, about the
size of an apple, bears many seeds, each within a fleshy crimson
seed coating, enclosed in a tough yellowish to deep red rind.
Pomegranates are either eaten fresh or used for grenadine syrup,
in which the juice of the acid fruit pulp is the chief
ingredient. Grenadine syrup, sometimes made from red currants,
is a flavoring for wines, cocktails, carbonated beverages,
preserves, and confectionery. The astringent properties of the
rind and bark have been valued medicinally for several thousand
years, especially as a vermifuge.
The pomegranate is now
cultivated in most warm climates, to a greater extent in the Old
World than in America; in North America it is grown commercially
chiefly from California and Arizona south into the tropics.
The fruit has long been a
religious and artistic symbol. It is described in the most
ancient of Asian literature. In the Old Testament, Solomon sang
of an "orchard of pomegranates."
Because of its role in the Greek
legend of
Persephone, the pomegranate came to symbolize fertility,
death, and eternity and was an emblem of the Eleusinian
Mysteries. In Christian art, it is a symbol of hope.
Pomegranates are classified in the division
Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Myrtales, family
Punicaceae. |
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There’s a lot of hype here, but clearly a lot of
substance, too.
Pom Wonderful says research has shown that just
“about everyone may benefit from drinking an 8 oz. glass of POM
Wonderful Pomegranate Juice daily.”
With the highest levels of polyphenol antioxidants,
“pomegranate juice is showing promising benefits for the heart: it’s 60%
better than other juices at preventing the formation of plaque-forming
oxidized LDL in the arteries… and has been shown to reduce build-up of
plaque by up to 30% in a pilot study of 19 elderly patients with
atherosclerosis.”
“In fact,” the say, “research indicates that the
high level of antioxidants found in pomegranate juice is effective in
combating free radicals that may cause a number of afflictions,
including heart disease, stroke, hypertension, premature aging,
Alzheimer’s disease…even cancer.”
And, there is research to back up their claims, and
then some.
“Pomegranates have beneficial effects on heart
disease, haemorrhoids, fertility and blood pressure - among other things
- and this week, scientists have discovered their usefulness in treating
prostate cancer and osteoarthritis,” notes Rhodes in the Telegraph.
“A single pomegranate,” she reports “provides 40
per cent of an adult's recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, and is
a rich source of folic acid and vitamins A and E. One pomegranate also
contains three times the antioxidant properties of red wine or green
tea.”
She observes that there is evidence to support the
healing and protective benefits in these diseases:
“Cancer: pomegranates contain high levels of
flavenoids - a type of antioxidant - which are exceptionally effective
at neutralising cancer-causing free radicals. Research published this
year suggests that the fruit may be effective at fighting both breast
and skin cancer, and this week American scientists found that
pomegranate juice slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells in mice
injected with the human form of the disease.
“Heart disease: new research has found that one
glass of pomegranate juice a day could improve blood flow to the heart
by more than a third. The fruit's antioxidant properties prevent bad
cholesterol from forming, which keeps the arteries clear and reduces the
likelihood of heart attacks and strokes. A separate study found that
drinking pomegranate juice regularly can also dramatically reduce the
size of atherosclerotic lesions, which narrow the arteries and cause
heart failure.
“Osteoarthritis: the most recent revelation
about the pomegranate's health benefits suggests that extracts of the
fruit could prevent the onset of osteoarthritis. Scientists in America
treated samples of human cartilage damaged by osteoarthritis with the
extract and found that it inhibited the production of the enzyme
responsible for causing the damage. Further research is needed to
establish whether consuming the extract could protect cartilage as
effectively.”
But that is only a partial list. Pomegranate has
been found to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that
have potential therapeutic benefits in a variety of diseases.
And here may be a key - a bonus with the native
Persian fruit is that its antioxidant constituents are rapidly absorbed
by the body and are non-toxic, researchers say.
And here are more success stories.
Unborn babies: Expectant mothers at risk of
premature birth may want to consider drinking pomegranate juice to help
their babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen and reduced blood
flow, a mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis suggests last June.
Skin Cancer: According to researchers from
the University of Wisconsin, one promising agent against skin cancer may
have been found in the extract of the pomegranate fruit. "For the first
time, we have clear evidence that pomegranate extract possesses
anti-skin-tumor-promoting effects," said Dr. Farrukh Afaq, lead
investigator of the study.
What is clear from all this research is that it is
the antioxidant qualities in pomegranates that are effective in fighting
disease. An antioxidant is substance that prevents or slows the
breakdown of another substance by oxygen. In the body, nutrients such as
beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor), vitamin C, vitamin E, and
selenium have been found to act as antioxidants.
They act by scavenging free radicals, molecules
with one or more unpaired electrons, which rapidly react with other
molecules, starting chain reactions in a process called oxidation. Free
radicals are a normal product of metabolism; the body produces its own
antioxidants (e.g., the enzyme superoxide dismutase) to keep them in
balance.
However, stress, aging, and environmental sources
such as polluted air and cigarette smoke can add to the number of free
radicals in the body, creating an imbalance. The highly reactive free
radicals can damage healthy DNA and have been linked to changes that
accompany aging (such as age-related macular degeneration, a leading
cause of blindness in older people) and with disease processes that lead
to cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
Studies show that the antioxidants that occur
naturally in fresh fruits and vegetables have a protective effect. For
example, vitamin E and beta-carotene appear to protect cell membranes;
vitamin C removes free radicals from inside the cell.
Antioxidants do come in the form of dietary
supplements but there is concern by many that regular consumption of
such supplements interferes with the body's own production of
antioxidants.
The American Heart Association, for example, says,
“the scientific evidence supports a diet high in food sources of
antioxidants and other heart-protecting nutrients, such as fruits,
vegetables, whole grains and nuts instead of antioxidant supplements to
reduce risk of CVD.
So, it sounds like things are going the way of the
under-recognized pomegranate and we are sure to hear more - much more -
in the years ahead.
Most of the pomegranates sold in the U.S. are
produced in California. You have to wonder if there will soon be a “Tour
of the Pomegranate Country” available there to compete with the highly
successful wine country tours.
And, this time President Bush may be right -
Afghanistan may find this an even more profitable crop than poppies.
Read the complete story by Chloe Rhodes in the
London Telegraph -
click here
Visit the Website of Pom Wonderful -
click here
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