Pomegranate fruit has many beneficial compounds. Pomegranate fruit has substances, such as polyphenols, that have antioxidant, anti-viral, and anti-tumor activity. Pomegranate fruit may also be helpful in maintaining healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and it has compounds that could benefit those with bone thinning and provide prostate health. Pomegranate is a small deciduous tree, growing to heights of 5-8 meters. It is very adaptable, being both drought and frost tolerant. The trees naturally adapt to areas with cool winters and hot summers. 
The tree produces large, bright red flowers in late spring and summer, and then fruits in autumn. The fruits are about the size of a grapefruit, and orange/red in color. The skin is leathery and tough and inside is found a juicy whitish/pink pulpy flesh with many seeds. Pomegranate trees can begin bearing fruit just 1 year after planting and have been known to live over 200 years.

Availability
Pomegranate fruit is available, of course, in most grocery stores.

Pomegranate extract 500 mg, 60 Capsules, Club Natural


Pomegranate Extract (Punica granatum) from a pure, whole-fruit source to maximize its antioxidant benefits.

Get the benefits of pomegranate juice and avoid all the calories and sugar (fructose).

Supplement Facts
Pomegranate extract - 500 mg *

Recommendation: Take 1 or 2 pomegranate capsules daily with food or water.
* Pomegranate daily value not established.

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Pomegranate Fruit use
The pomegranate fruit can be made into pomegranate juice, pomegranate extract, jam, jelly, pomegranate juice concentrate, molasses, and even pomegranate wine and martini. Pomegranate pills are available and are a good option in order to avoid the calories.

Q. I am diabetic and would like to use pomegranate as a fruit. Could you please tell me any medically significant differences between white and red pomegranate? I have been told that the sugar content in white pomegranate is less than in red pomegranate. Anything else that you could share to shed light on any significant medical differences between the two varieties (red versus white / yellow) will be appreciated.
   A. We are not familiar with the differences between white and red pomegranate. In small amounts, pomegranate is a healthy fruit for a diabetic.

Pomegranate Fruit Benefit
Even though pomegranate has substances, such as polyphenols, that have antioxidant, anti-viral, and anti-tumor activity, it will take many years to find out how the health benefit of pomegranate fruit in humans. Two drawbacks with pomegranate fruit are the difficulty in peeling and the excess calories and fructose. Hence, a pomegranate extract supplement could be useful by reducing the caloric intake from the pomegranate fruit and the hassle of peeling.

Pomegranate fruit protects nitric oxide
Pomegranate fruit protects nitric oxide against oxidative destruction and enhances the biological actions of nitric oxide.
Nitric Oxide. 2006 Apr 18; Ignarro LJ, Byrns RE, Sumi D, de Nigris F, Napoli C. Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
Pomegranate fruit, a rich source of potent flavonoid antioxidants, was tested for its capacity to protect nitric oxide against oxidative destruction. Pomegranate juice was found to be a potent inhibitor of superoxide anion-mediated disappearance of NO. Pomegranate fruit juice was much more potent than Concord grape juice, blueberry juice, red wine, ascorbic acid, and dl-alpha-tocopherol. These observations indicate that pomegranate fruit juice possesses potent antioxidant activity that results in marked protection of nitric oxide against oxidative destruction, thereby resulting in augmentation of the biological actions of NO.

Pomegranate fruit juice antioxidant research
Pomegranate fruit juice has a higher level of phenolic content and antioxidant activity than red wine, Concord grape, blueberry and orange juices. Pomegranate fruit juice ranks higher than other beverages touted as containing high levels of antioxidants such as acai juice and green teas. Pomegranate fruit juice is a leader in the healthy beverage category since it has a high free radical scavenging activity, provides greater protection of low-density lipoprotein -- cholesterol from oxidation -- and has higher polyphenol content compared to red wine and several juices.

Pomegranate fruit and osteoarthritis
Pomegranate fruit extracts can block enzymes that contribute to osteoarthritis according to a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine study published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition. The study looked at the ability of an extract of pomegranate fruit against Interleukin-1b (IL-1b), a pro-inflammatory protein molecule that plays a key role in cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis. Plant-based flavonoids found in fruits, leaves and vegetables have attracted a lot of attention for their beneficial health effects in various diseases. Pomegranate, in particular, has been found to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that have potential therapeutic benefits in a variety of diseases. The Case study demonstrated for the first time the ability of pomegranate fruit extracts to slow the deterioration of human cartilage.

Pomegranate fruit and prostate cancer
Pomegranate fruit extract may prevent prostate cancer or slow its growth, if results of lab experiments conducted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison translate to real-world benefits. Pomegranate fruit is high in polyphenolic compounds, making its juice higher in antioxidant activity than red wine and green tea. When they incubated prostate cancer cells with low concentrations of pomegranate fruit extract, they observed a dose-related inhibition of cell growth. In prostate cancer cells driven by male hormones (androgens) and expressing prostate specific antigen (PSA), treatment with pomegranate fruit extract decreased androgen receptors and PSA expression. When human prostate cancer cells were injected into mice, feeding the animals pomegranate fruit extract delayed the appearance of tumors. Tumor growth was significantly inhibited and survival was prolonged.

In men with recurrent prostate cancer, drinking 8 ounces per day of pomegranate fruit juice significantly increases the time it takes for an increase in levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), an indicator of prostate cancer. Before the men in the study began consuming pomegranate fruit juice, the average PSA doubling time, a measure of tumor activity, was 15 months. The average time after treatment was 37 months. So, there was almost a 2-year increase in the doubling time. Pomegranate juice contains a number of antioxidants thought to have anti-cancer effects, Pomegranate juice contains estrogen-like plant substances called phytoestrogens that could be useful in combating prostate cancer. Pomegranate fruit juice therapy was well tolerated and no serious adverse effects were reported. In addition to the beneficial increase in PSA doubling time, in vitro testing showed decreased cancer cell division and proliferation and increased cancer cell death. Urine testing confirmed the presence of pomegranate antioxidants in all men. The study was funded by the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Trust, which own the POM Wonderful pomegranate fruit juice company.

Pomegranate and pregnancy
Drinking pomegranate fruit juice during pregnancy may help reduce the risk of brain injuries in babies. Decreased blood flow and oxygen to an infant's developing brain during pregnancy, birth and early development is linked to premature birth and can lead to brain tissue loss, seizures and mobility impairments such as cerebral palsy. The phenomenon, called hypoxia ischemia, causes brain injury in approximately two of every 1,000 full-term human births and in a very high percentage of babies born before 34 weeks of gestation. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that newborn mice whose mothers drank water mixed with pomegranate fruit concentrate lost 60 percent less brain tissue than mice whose mothers drank sugar water or other fluids. Pomegranate fruit contains very high concentrations of polyphenols, a substance also found in berries and grapes, which has been shown to potentially have anti-aging and neuroprotective effects.

Pomegranate fruit and breast cancer
Breast cancer chemopreventive properties of pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum) extracts in a mouse mammary organ culture.
Eur J Cancer Prev. 2004 Aug;13(4):345-8.
Mehta R, Lansky EP. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
We previously reported anticancer effects of pomegranate fruit extracts in human breast cancer cells in vitro and also chemopreventive activity of pomegranate fermented juice polyphenols (W) in a mouse mammary organ culture. In the present study we decided to expand the investigations to also include an evaluation of the potential chemopreventive efficacy of a purified chromatographic peak of W (Peak B), and also of whole pomegranate seed oil. The results highlight enhanced breast cancer preventive potential both for the purified compound peak B and for pomegranate seed oil, both greater than that previously reported for pomegranate fermented juice polyphenols.

Pomegranate fruit juice consumption for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduces common carotid intima-media thickness, blood pressure and LDL oxidation.
Clin Nutr. 2004 Jun;23(3):423-33.
We investigated the effects of pomegranate fruit juice, which contains potent tannins and anthocyanins, consumption by atherosclerotic patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS) on the progression of carotid lesions and changes in oxidative stress and blood pressure. Ten patients were supplemented with pomegranate fruit juice for 1 year and five of them continued for up to 3 years. Blood samples were collected before treatment and during pomegranate juice consumption. In the control group that did not consume pomegranate fruit juice, common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) increased by 9% during 1 year, whereas, pomegranate juice consumption resulted in a significant IMT reduction, by up to 30%, after 1 year. The results of the present study thus suggest that pomegranate fruit juice consumption by patients with CAS decreases carotid IMT and systolic blood pressure and these effects could be related to the potent antioxidant characteristics of pomegranate fruit juice polyphenols.

Pomegranate leaf extract
An extract from pomegranate leaves may offer promise for weight control after an animal study showed the extract suppressed appetite and reduced food intake for high-fat diets.

Pomegranate fruit questions
Q. How does 500 mg of pomegranate fruit extract compare to 8oz of pomegranate fruit juice? I would like to substitute the pomegranate fruit extract capsules for for the juice that I've been drinking.
   A. This is a good question and we really don't have a good answer. It is very difficult to compare since no studies have been done to find out which form is better and what the equivalency of pomegranate fruit juice is to pomegranate fruit extract. The pomegranate juice has a lot of calories and fructose. On average, most people take 1 to 3 pomegranate capsules a day. Studies in the future could perhaps shed some light.