5 Health Benefits of Pomegranate & Why You Should Eat Them

The Pomegranate is a special fruit has been known for its healing properties for centuries. In fact, it’s featured prominently in ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Indian texts for its medicinal properties. While it's flavor is associated with drinks such as Pomegranate Red Bull, Pomegranate Ciroc, or a Pomegranate martini, many people aren't aware of the health benefits of Pomegranate and why you should consider adding it to your diet.

What Are The Benefits of Pomegranate Juice?

So what makes pomegranates so beneficial to your health? It turns out that modern science has validated their wide range of positive health effects. Here are a few reasons why pomegranate deserves a place on your plate this fall:

• Pomegranates are rich in potassium

• which can help lessen tension in our blood vessel walls and can help our body offload sodium via urine. (Check out our Circulatory article on the effects of potassium to learn more!)

• Pomegranates can help reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol

• One study found that drinking pomegranate juice may help reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol, and multiple other studies have shown that it can protect LDL cholesterol particles from oxidation, which is a process that can contribute to the development of heart disease.

• Pomegranates are a Great Source of Antioxidants

• Pomegranate juice is extremely rich in Punicalagins, a potent kind of antioxidant. In fact, it may actually have three times the antioxidant activity as green tea and red wine!

• Pomegranate peels are anti-bacterial & anti-fungal

• Pomegranate peels have been shown in multiple studies to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects, which can help you stave off infections and oral inflammation (i.e. gingivitis, periodontitis, etc.).

• Pomegranate extract might benefit those with Cancer

• Pomegranate extract may help with breast and prostate cancer by slowing cancer cell reproduction and even killing off cancer cells.

The American Heart Association calls our attention to a review in Pharmacological Research of 8 clinical trials showing that pomegranate juice reduced systolic and diastolic BP even when consumed in different quantities. The authors concluded that it “may be prudent to include this fruit juice in a heart healthy diet."

And like the 5 other key ingredients in 120/Life, pomegranates mimic the effects of many different classes of blood pressure medication, like:

• ACE inhibitors, which prevent your body from producing angiotensin II, a substance that constricts blood vessels.
• Anti-sclerotics, which prevent the hardening of arteries.
• Anti-inflammatories, which prevent inflammation of the body's vascular smooth muscle. (Plus, they can help reduce the effects of arthritis and joint inflammation!)
• Beta blockers, which prevent adrenaline from binding to nerve receptors. This is important because prolonged exposure to adrenaline can raise blood pressure and damage blood vessels!

So how can we work more pomegranate into our daily diet? Lots of ways! You could pick fresh pomegranates up from the store and eat them, or mix the seeds into yogurt for a healthy breakfast or mid-afternoon snack. There's also pomegranate tea, which is delicious and very heart-healthy. Or—you guessed it—you can pick up a bottle of 120/Life, which has all the pomegranate juice you need per day to keep your heart in shape!

Here's to your health!