Pomegranate for Cardio-Vascular Health

A controlled human study was conducted involving patients with severe carotid artery narrowing (stenosis). One group received conventional drugs only (statins and anti-hypertensives), while the other group received pomegranate plus the same drugs. The findings observed in the pomegranate group were unprecedented.

After one year, the group receiving the drugs, but not pomegranate showed a significant 9% increase in intima-media thickness. In contrast, the group receiving the pomegranate plus drugs showed a reduction in carotid intima-media thickness as follows:
After three months: 13%
After six months: 22%
After nine months: 26%
After one year: 35%

Carotid artery blood flow improved in the pomegranate plus drugs group as follows:
After three months: 16%
After six months: 20%
After nine months: 31%
After one year: 44%

Blood samples were collected before and during treatment with pomegranate in these patients with narrowed carotid arteries. The changes shown in the box above help explain why pomegranate so effectively reversed carotid intima-media thickness.

Another blood test used in this study measured paraoxonase-1, an antioxidant enzyme produced in the body. Paraoxonase-1 is associated with beneficial HDL and is believed to protect against the oxidation of LDL. Low levels of paraoxonase-1 predict increased severity of coronary artery disease. In patients administered pomegranate, the paraoxonase-1 levels increased by 83% after only one year!

After one year of taking pomegranate, there was also a 21% decrease in systolic blood pressure and more than 50% reduction in measured free radical activity in the carotid atherosclerotic plaque.

The scientists attributed the regression in carotid atherosclerotic lesion size in the pomegranate group to significantly reduced oxidative stress in both blood and atherosclerotic plaques, along with modestly lower blood pressure (beyond that of the anti-hypertensive drugs that were prescribed).

Previous studies have correlated the degree of carotid artery atherosclerosis to coronary and other artery diseases. The fact that pomegranate was shown to reverse carotid artery atherosclerosis indicates that even aged humans might be able to dramatically lower their risks of stroke, heart attack, impotence, etc.

One group of cardiac patients received their medications plus placebo, while the second group received their medications plus pomegranate. After three months, coronary blood flow was again measured using the same tests performed at baseline. In the group receiving the pomegranate juice, stress-induced angina episodes decreased by 50%, whereas stress-induced angina increased by 38% in the placebo group.

When the test to measure coronary artery blood flow was performed, the placebo group worsened by 17% after three months, whereas coronary blood flow improved by 18% in the pomegranate group.

This study showed for the first time that daily consumption of pomegranate can improve blood flow to the heart in coronary artery disease patients in a relatively short period of time. The doctors noted that the test they used to measure coronary blood flow was recently shown to be the best predictor of future heart attack risk. The doctors attributed the anti-atherosclerotic benefits of pomegranate to the polyphenols, tannins, and anthocyanidins contained in the fruit. They pointed out that while grape juice/red wine contain some of these extracts, neither grape juice nor red wine has been shown to improve coronary blood low in patients with established heart disease.

"Pomegranate for Prostate Health."

In July 2006, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers reported on 50 prostate cancer patients whose PSA levels doubled on an average of 15 months after conventional therapies (such as surgery or radiation). This meant that conventional therapy had failed in these patients and that prostate tumor cells were rapidly propagating in their bodies.

As an experimental treatment, pomegranate was given every day and the results were nothing short of astounding. This study found that 80% of the men receiving pomegranate reduced the velocity PSA increase and extended PSA "doubling times" out to an average of 54 months!

In other words, before these prostate cancer patients began taking pomegranate, their PSA level doubled in only 1.25 years, indicating relatively rapid progression of their disease. After ingestion of pomegranate commenced, it took 4.5 years or 3.6 times longer for their PSA to double again. Based on these PSA readings, men receiving pomegranate significantly delayed the progression of their disease.

To further validate the anti-cancer effects of pomegranate, the UCLA scientists took blood from these study participants both before and after pomegranate ingestion began. They then administered the blood taken from these patients to prostate cancer cells in a Petri dish. The blood taken after pomegranate was ingested caused a 12% decrease in prostate cancer cell proliferation and a 17% increase in apoptosis (cancer cell death) compared to pre-pomegranate ingested blood. These cell culture findings, coupled with the clinical data showing that it took 3.6 times longer for PSA levels to double, provide a clear picture of pomegranate's effects against prostate cancer.

The UCLA researchers who conducted this study where so excited they stated that older men who have been treated for prostate cancer may be able to outlive their cancer by taking pomegranate every day. The researchers added that pomegranate might enable aging men to delay or avoid the need for chemotherapy and hormone blocking drugs, both of which have harmful side effects and limited efficacy.

This UCLA study was published in the prestigious journal Clinical Cancer Research and received a fair amount of media attention. The results, however, are not completely surprising. In previous animal studies using transplanted human prostate cancer cell lines, the oral administration of pomegranate resulted in reduction in the secretion of PSA, corresponding with the significant inhibition of tumor growth and induction of apoptosis (cancer cell death). 

Related product: Pomegranate Extract.