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. 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. 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.
A peer-reviewed study showed that 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. 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 With about 30 grams of sugar, a glass of pomegranate juice has about as much sugar as many popular soft drinks 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.
Pomegranate is known to be one of the best remedy to cut down unwanted weight pounds from the body thereby burning fats deposited in bellies and thighs and often provides other benefits to the body such as weight loss, low blood pressure, reducing cholesterol level which plays a vital role in losing unwanted fats from human body. Main concern of pomegranate is to reduce body weight upto certain extent and provides perfect shape to the body.
Pomegranate helps in weight loss, which reduces the chance of arteries hardening, which saves the human physique from heart failure, which often occurs due to high cholesterol levels. The bad cholesterol level is quite successfully controlled using pomegranate upto huge extent.
In preliminary laboratory research and human pilot studies, juice of the pomegranate was effective in reducing heart disease risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Tannins and punicalagins are primary factors for reducing oxidative stress which may account for such risk factors.
Pomegranate juice has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotensin-converting enzyme, may inhibit viral infections,and may have antibacterial effects against dental plaque. Containing polyphenols which inhibit estrogen synthesis, pomegranate seed oil was effective against proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro.
A new study shows that pomegranate juice should be the beverage of choice to fight hardening of the arteries. Researchers found that pomegranate juice not only appears to prevent hardening of the arteries by reducing blood vessel damage, but the antioxidant-rich juice may also reverse the progression of this disease.