The pomegranate has been associated with good health since 2000 B.C. when the fruit was first cultivated. It wasn't until recently, however, that scientists began to study pomegranates, including the pulp, seeds and juice, to see just how healthy they really are. What researchers have been finding is that the pomegranates have naturally occurring antioxidants that help prevent diseases in the human body at a higher rate than even red wine, blueberry juice and green tea.
Heart Disease
Approximately 71 million Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases, according to the Life Extension Foundation. Studies such as one presented by researchers at Israel's Lipid Research Laboratory, according to a 2004 issue of "Clinical Nutrition," found that pomegranates may not only prevent heart disease but could actually reverse atherosclerosis. Among patients taking as little as 2 oz. of pomegranate juice daily for one year, atherosclerotic lesions in the common carotid artery decreased by 35 percent in size, the total antioxidant activity in blood increased 130 percent, and the participants' systolic blood pressure fell by 21 percent.
Cancer
Various studies have looked at using pomegranate to treat cancers, particularly cancer of the breast, lung, skin and prostate. In 2004, Dr. Ephraim Lansky discovered that pomegranate juice can be effective at reducing lesions in cancerous mammary cells and reducing cancer cell growth and vitality in affected prostate cells. Hasan Muktar, affiliated with the Cancer Chemoprevention Program of the University of Wisconsin, used a mouse model to show that consuming pomegranates helped reduce the growth and spread of lung cancer cells and may even prevent lung cancer from developing in the first place. Another UW study led by Dr. Farrukh Afaq found clear evidence that pomegranate extract had anti-skin-tumor-promoting effects.
Diabetes
Pomegranates have also shown promise in helping people with diabetes and a pre-diabetic condition known as metabolic syndrome. An Australian study reported in "The Journal of Ethnopharmacology" found that consuming pomegranates appeared to lower blood sugar levels immediately following a meal, lessening the after-meal spike in blood sugar that is damaging to diabetics.
Arthritis
There is new evidence that pomegranate extract may prevent the onset of osteoarthritis. When scientists at Case Western University treated samples of human cartilage damaged by arthritis with the extract, they found it inhibited enzymes that break down cartilage, sharply reducing the volume of inflammatory products released from the tissue.
Alzheimer's Disease
A 2006 study at Loma Linda University in California reported exciting research on using pomegranate juice to help prevent Alzheimer's disease in laboratory animals. The pomegranate juice works by reducing and even stopping the oxidation thought to produce the Alzheimer's protein known as amyloid beta. They also found that the treated animals outperformed control animals in cognitive tasks by 35 percent.
Dental Health
Pomegranate juice has been shown to fight plaque caused by a buildup of microorganisms on teeth; pomegranate juice fights this plaque buildup, which leads to cavities and gum disease, by actually killing the microorganisms. The same researchers at Thailand's Mahidol University also discovered that pomegranate extracts can enhance gum healing after dental procedures such as scaling and root planing.
Skin
A 2005 University of Wisconsin study in the Department of Dermatology found that pomegranate extracts can protect skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light, both UVA and UVB radiation. Other researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School showed that pomegranate extracts promoted regeneration and thickening of both the dermis and epidermis layers of the skin.
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