Pomegranate for Cardiovascular Health

Pomegranates are one of the oldest recorded fruits and have become popular worldwide. I remember a few years ago there was a massive craze of pomegranate juice due to a ton of research that had come out at the time about its health benefits. All that craze has died down and people have moved on to the next ‘fix it all’ superfood. But I don’t want people to forget about poor old pomegranate! It really is worth including it your diet, as research has shown that it has potent anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-carcinogenic and cardio-protective properties. This may be due to its abundance of phytochemicals such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, tannins, ellagitannins and ellagic acid.

In this article I am focusing on the cardio-protective effects of pomegranate. Clinical research has repeatedly shown that daily pomegranate juice consumption decreases hypertension, reduces atherosclerosis, reduces oxidative stress, lowers lipid oxidation, reduces blood glucose levels, increases vasodilation. All of these factors make it an important food to consider for those with cardiovascular disease.

Let’s have a deeper look into pomegranates effects.

Atherosclerosis

Pomegranate has been shown to slow the progression of the atherosclerotic plaque that can build up in our arteries. There have been fantastic in results in some small studies performed in Israel, where patients with narrowed arteries were divided into 2 groups, 1 group getting conventional medical treatment and one group getting conventional medical treatment plus daily pomegranate juice. The trial lasted a year at the end showed that the patients treated with conventional medicine alone had a 9% increase in artery thickness, while the group getting the medical treatment plus pomegranate had actually decreased their artery thickness.

Hypertension

In the trial mentioned above, the pomegranate taking group also saw significant reductions in blood pressure. Follow ups to this research in randomised trials confirmed the benefits, showing stress tests and nuclear scans that patients given pomegranate juice daily had improvements to cardiac blood flow.

There has been a plethora of clinical trials done on pomegranate juice and hypertension with beneficial results and it seems effects can be seen quite quickly after you begin regular consumption. In one trial, 2 weeks of daily pomegranate consumption inhibited activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) by 36%. This is a significant reduction (ACE inhibitor drugs are a front-line conventional treatment for blood pressure). The same trial showed a reduction in systolic blood pressure of 5% over the same 2 week period.

A longer trial lasting 3 years showed significant reductions in blood pressure, reduced LDL cholesterol oxidation and artery thickness with pomegranate juice consumption.  Many other clinical trials of varying durations all showed beneficial clinically significant reductions blood pressure.

Cholesterol

When it comes to benefits for those with high cholesterol there are many. Multiple clinical studies have shown that pomegranate juice can lower plasma levels of fatty acids, triglycerides and total cholesterol and prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (‘bad cholesterol’).

Word of Warning

So, are there any downsides to including pomegranates and pomegranate juice in the diet? Well, you’ll need to consider it in your daily calorie intake; it has around 140kcal/586Kj per serve.

Also, you don’t need to drink gallons of it a day to get effects. More is not always better. In most studies the serving size given is around 8oz / 240ml a day so stick to these doses. If taken in very large amounts you can expect to get a case of diarrhoea!

If you are currently taking medication, in particular ACE inhibitors, you should monitor your blood pressure to make sure it doesn’t drop too low when combined with pomegranate juice.

If you need assistance with managing your blood pressure, cholesterol or heart disease naturally, book an appointment and lets get started to the road to health. I have an extensive family history of cardiovascular disease and it is one of my main focuses in clinic. I would love to help you gain control of your health and live life to the fullest.