Pomegranate juice

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Culinary use

Pomegranate juice is a Middle Eastern beverage.

Pomegranate juice is also used in cooking both as a fresh juice and as a concentrated syrup ("pomegranate molasses") in dishes such as the Persian "fesenjan" and "ash-e anar" and the Levantine muhammara.

Possible Health benefits

While preliminary research has shown that the fruit juice may play a role in reducing the risk of cancer, can reduce serum cholesterol, and protect arteries from clogging, more research is needed to validate these findings. Its possible benefits also need to be balanced against its high caloric content derived from its natural sugars.

The cholesterol reduction effect has been observed only in small studies. [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pomegranate-juice/AN01227] This, as well as the anti-clogging effect of pomegranate juice, are the result of its concentration of antioxidants, and are similar to the effects shown in studies of red wine, black tea, and purple grape juice. There has been no large clinical trials showing that antioxidants can prevent heart attacks or other major heart-related events [http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20050321/pomegranate-juice-may-clear-clogged-arteries] .

In a peer-reviewed, men who had undergone surgery or radiation therapy for prostate cancer, could significantly slow the increase of prostate specific antigen when they consumed a glass of pomegranate juice daily. [Pantuck, A. et al., "Phase II study of pomegranate juice for men with rising prostate-specific antigen following surgery or radiation for prostate cancer.", "Clinical Cancer Research", Vol. 12, 4018-4026, July 1, 2006.]

While pomegranate juice provides vitamins and minerals, it is loaded with sugar. A 250 ml (8 oz) glass of pomegranate juice provides approximately 50% of an adult's recommended daily allowance (RDA) of the vitamins A, C and E, 100% RDA of folic acid, and 13% RDA of potassium. However, each such glass also exceeds the maximum daily amount of sugar recommended by the FAO and WHO, who recommend that only 10% of calories come directly from sugars. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition] With about 30 grams of sugar, a glass of pomegranate juice has about as much sugar as many popular soft drinks [http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/mail/goodanswer/soft_drink_nutrition.pdf] and roughly equal to two servings of a sweetened breakfast cereal. And many commercial blends of pomegranate juice contain added sugar, sometime in the form of apple juice or grape juice.

External links

*Lovgren, Stefan. [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0322_050322_pomegranates.html "Pomegranate Juice Fights Heart Disease, Study Says"] , "National Geographic News", March 22, 2005. Accessed February 13, 2006
* [http://pomegranate-resource.blogspot.com/ Pomegranate Resource] Discover info, articles, benefits, and more about pomegranates.
* [http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/11-health-benefits-of-pomegranate-juice.html 11 Health Benefits of Pomegranate Juice]

References

*Malik, Arshi et al. "Pomegranate fruit juice for chemoprevention and chemotherapy of prostate cancer", "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", [http://www.pnas.org/content/102/41/14813.full 102:14813-14818, 2005] .
*de Nigris, Filomena et al. "Beneficial effects of pomegranate juice on oxidation-sensitive genes and endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity at sites of perturbed shear stress", "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States", 102: 4896-4901, 2005.

Further reading

*Aviram, M. et al. "Pomegranate Juice Consumption for 3 Years by Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis Reduces Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Blood Pressure and LDL Oxidation", "Clinical Nutrition", (2004), 23: 423-433.
*Aviram, M. and L. Dornfeld. "Pomegranate Juice Consumption Inhibits Serum Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Activity and Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure", "Atherosclerosis" (2001), 158: 195-198.
*Aviram, M. et al. "Pomegranate Juice Flavonoids Inhibit Low-Density Lipoprotein Oxidation and Cardiovascular Diseases: Studies in Atherosclerotic Mice and in Humans", "Drugs Under Experimental and Clinical Research" (2002), 28(2/3):49-62.
* Kaplan, M et al. "Pomegranate Juice Supplementation to Atherosclerotic Mice Reduces Macrophage Lipid Peroxidation, Cellular Cholesterol Accumulation and Development of Atherosclerosis", "Journal of Nutrition" (2001), 131(8): 2082-2089.
*Noda, Y. et al. "Antioxidant activities of pomegranate fruit extract and its anthocyanidins: delphinidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin," "Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry" (2002);50(1):166-71.