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Pomegranate

Specific Recommendations:

• Pomegranate Juice Extracts at iHerb

News & Research:

• Pomegranate Juice Lowers Cardiovascular Risk Factors - Medscape, 11/12/11 - "Hemodialysis patients were randomized to receive 100 mL of pomegranate juice (n = 66) or an equivalent-tasting placebo (n = 35) 3 times a week for 12 months ... At 12 months, all components of the lipid profile improved in the pomegranate juice group but not in the placebo group. In the juice group, there were statistically significant decreases in TGs from baseline to 12 months (P = .01), especially in patients with a baseline TG level of at least 200 mg/dL (P < .001). Over the same time period, HDL rose significantly (P = .005) in the juice group. There was no significant change in any of these parameters in the placebo group ... During the study period, there was a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure in the juice group overall (P < .006), especially in patients who had a baseline systolic pressure of at least 140 mm Hg (P < .005); this was not the case in the placebo group ... At 12 months, those in the juice group were taking significantly fewer antihypertensive drugs than those in the placebo group (P < .05). In the juice group, 22% of the subjects were taking fewer and 12.2% were taking more antihypertensive drugs; in the placebo group, 7.7% were taking fewer and 34.6% were taking more antihypertensive drugs"
• Pomegranate juice components could stop cancer from spreading - Science Daily, 12/12/10 - "Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have identified components in pomegranate juice that both inhibit the movement of cancer cells and weaken their attraction to a chemical signal that promotes the metastasis of prostate cancer to the bone ... the researchers identified the following active groups of ingredients in pomegranate juice that had a molecular impact on cell adhesion and migration in metastatic prostate cancer cells: phenylpropanoids, hydrobenzoic acids, flavones and conjugated fatty acids"
• Pomegranate juice reduces damage to tissues, inflammation and infections, study suggests - Science Daily, 11/19/10 - "[dialysis] patients who drank pomegranate juice experienced reduced inflammation and the damage of oxidative stress caused by free radicals, was minimized. Furthermore, pomegranate juice drinkers were less likely to be hospitalized due to infections ... those who drank pomegranate juice also showed an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors, such as reduced blood pressure, improvement in lipid profile and fewer cardiovascular events, suggesting that they had better heart health"
• Pomegranate compounds show skin health potential - Nutra USA, 8/10/10 - "ellagic acid may prevent the degradation of collagen in human skin cells, which would maintain skin structure and slow the formation of wrinkles ... Topical or dietary interventions with berries and pomegranate rich in ellagic acid and ellagitannins are promising strategies in curtailing skin wrinkling and cutaneous inflammation associated with chronic UV exposure leading to photoageing" - [Abstract]
• Pomegranates May Stall Breast Cancer - WebMD, 1/5/10 - "Eating pomegranates or drinking pomegranate juice may help prevent and slow the growth of some types of breast cancer ... Researchers say the ellagitannins in pomegranates work by inhibiting aromatase, which is a key enzyme used by the body to make estrogen and plays a key role in breast cancer growth"
• Pomegranate’s prostate protection potential grows - Nutra USA, 10/27/09 - "Pomegranate juice consumption, thus, may be of considerable advantage in prostate cancer chemoprevention, not only in patients with a genetic predisposition toward prostate cancer but also in patients undergoing cancer therapy"
• Pomegranate Juice May Slow Prostate Cancer - WebMD, 4/26/09 - "All of the men drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily, and that slowed down the time it took for their PSA levels to double ... Fifteen of the patients stayed with the study for up to 64 months (a little more than five years), and it typically took four times longer for their PSA levels to double when they were drinking pomegranate juice, compared to their PSA doubling time at the study's start" - See pomegranate Juice Extracts at iHerb.
• Taking Statins? Five Ways to Boost Your Energy - ABC News, 4/14/09 - "It's a cruel irony that if statins make patients more lethargic, it could impair their ability to exercise or make dietary changes that would help them address their high cholesterol ... some studies have found that patients' energy levels increased while using CoQ10 and statins together ... Try pomegranate juice or a small chunk of dark chocolate, both of which have beneficial antioxidants ... Skimping on sleep has been found to increase calcium deposit build-up in your arteries"
• Pomegranate’s anti-inflammatory effects strengthened - Nutra USA, 4/10/09
• Study supports pomegranate’s anti-prostate cancer potential - Nutra USA, 1/6/09 - "the average doubling time increased from an average of 15 months to 54 months for the men drinking the pomegranate juice" - [Abstract]
• Dietary Agents for Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer - oncologystat.com, 6/16/08 - "In this review, we have summarized the findings from clinical and preclinical studies on dietary agents including green tea, pomegranate, lupeol, fisetin, and delphinidin that are currently being investigated in our laboratory for their chemopreventive potential against CaP" - Click here for the review but it is 172 pages in the .pdf format.
• Pomegranate extract may stop inflammation, says Bugs - Nutra USA, 6/13/08 - "COX-1 and COX-2 activity was significantly reduced in the pomegranate-fed animals, compared to control, particularly for COX-2. Indeed, COX-1 activity was reduced by about seven per cent following ingestion of the extract, while COX-2 activity decreased by about 26 per cent"
• Anti-inflammatory Effects Of Pomegranate In Rabbits: A Potential Treatment In Humans? - Science Daily, 6/12/08
• Pomegranate extract shows joint health potential - Nutra USA, 6/5/08 - "The severity of arthritis was significantly decreased in the animals receiving POMx, with a reduction of 69.2 and 76 per cent in the groups consuming 13.6 and 34 mg per kg of POMx" - [Abstract]
• Finding the Right Prostate Cancer Diet - WebMD, 2/15/08 - "the men's overall PSA doubling time was nearly four times slower after they began drinking pomegranate juice"
• Berries and pomegranate - the ultimate Valentine's combo? - Nutra USA, 2/14/08 - "The results of this study demonstrated, for the first time, that daily consumption of PJ for seven weeks caused increased spermatogenic cell density, epididymal sperm concentration, sperm motility and decreased abnormal sperm rate related with decreased lipid peroxidation in male rats ... Forty-seven per cent of subjects reported erections improvements as a result of pomegranate juice, compared to only 32 per cent in the placebo group"
• Pomegranates beat apples for antioxidant boost: study - Nutra USA, 2/13/08

Abstracts:

• Clinical Evaluation of Blood Pressure Lowering, Endothelial Function Improving, Hypolipidemic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Pomegranate Juice in Hypertensive Subjects - Phytother Res. 2013 Mar 21 - "Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice (PJ) contains different types of antioxidants and bioactive polyphenols and has been reported to promote cardiovascular health through several mechanisms. The present study aimed to examine the effects of 2-week intake of fresh PJ on blood pressure, flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), serum lipid profile and concentrations of inflammatory and endothelial function biomarkers. Twenty-one hypertensive patients (aged 30-67 years) were recruited into the trial and assigned to receive either PJ (150 ml/day in a single occasion between lunch and dinner; n = 11) or the same amount of water (n = 10) for a period of 2 weeks ... PJ consumption was associated with significant reductions in SBP (p = 0.002) and DBP (p = 0.038) but not FMD (p > 0.05)" - See pomegranate Juice Extracts at iHerb.
• Pomegranate Polyphenols and Extract Inhibit Nuclear Factor of Activated T-Cell Activity and Microglial Activation In Vitro and in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer Disease - J Nutr. 2013 Mar 6 - "Alzheimer disease (AD) brain is characterized by extracellular plaques of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide with reactive microglia ... Three months of pomegranate feeding decreased the path length to escape of mice compared with their initial 12-mo values (P < 0.05) and their control-fed counterparts (P < 0.05). Brains of the 3-mo study pomegranate-fed mice had lower tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) concentrations (P < 0.05) and lower nuclear factor of activated T-cell (NFAT) transcriptional activity (P < 0.05) compared with controls. Brains of the 3-mo pomegranate or control mice were also compared with an additional control group of 12-mo-old mice for histologic analysis. Immunocytochemistry showed that pomegranate- but not control-fed mice had attenuated microgliosis (P < 0.05) and Aβ plaque deposition (P < 0.05) compared with 12-mo-old mice ... These data indicate that dietary pomegranate produces brain antiinflammatory effects that may attenuate AD progression"
• Pomegranate Juice Protects Macrophages from Triglyceride Accumulation: Inhibitory Effect on DGAT1 Activity and on Triglyceride Biosynthesis - Ann Nutr Metab. 2011 Jan 6;58(1):1-9 - "pomegranate juice (PJ) ... PJ (0-50 μM) significantly and dose-dependently decreased the triglyceride content and triglyceride biosynthesis rate in J774A.1 macrophages or in C57BL/6 MPM by about 30%. Similarly, punicalagin, the major PJ polyphenol, inhibited the MPM triglyceride biosynthesis rate by 40%. The triglyceride hydrolytic rate, however, was not significantly affected by PJ or punicalagin. The activity of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1; the rate-limiting enzyme in triglyceride biosynthesis) was significantly inhibited, by 54%, in C57BL/6 MPM that were treated with 50 μM PJ or punicalagin, with no significant effect on DGAT1 mRNA or protein expression. Both PJ and punicalagin increased (1.7-fold) MPM PON2 mRNA expression, and PON2 was previously shown to inhibit DGAT1 activity. However, the addition of PJ or punicalagin (50 μM) to microsomes from PON2-deficient MPM still resulted in a significant reduction (50-58%) in DGAT1 activity"
• Dietary compound ellagic acid alleviates skin wrinkle and inflammation induced by UV-B irradiation - Exp Dermatol. 2010 Aug;19(8):e182-90 - "Ellagic acid, a polyphenol compound present in berries and pomegranate, has received attention as an agent that may have potential bioactivities preventing chronic diseases ... These results demonstrate that ellagic acid prevented collagen destruction and inflammatory responses caused by UV-B. Therefore, dietary and pharmacological interventions with berries rich in ellagic acid may be promising treatment strategies interrupting skin wrinkle and inflammation associated with chronic UV exposure leading to photoageing"
• Pomegranate polyphenols down-regulate expression of androgen-synthesizing genes in human prostate cancer cells overexpressing the androgen receptor - J Nutr Biochem. 2008 Dec;19(12):848-55 - "A twofold suppression of gene expression was considered statistically significant. Pomegranate polyphenols inhibited gene expression and AR most consistently in the LNCaP-AR cell line (P=.05). Therefore, inhibition by pomegranate polyphenols of gene expression involved in androgen-synthesizing enzymes and the AR may be of particular importance in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells and the subset of human prostate cancers where AR is up-regulated"
• Consumption of hydrolyzable tannins-rich pomegranate extract suppresses inflammation and joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis - Nutrition. 2008 May 17 - "collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) ... Consumption of POMx potently delayed the onset and reduced the incidence of CIA in mice. Severity of arthritis was also significantly lower in POMx-fed animals. Histopathology of the arthritic joints from POMx-fed mice demonstrated reduced joint infiltration by the inflammatory cells, and the destruction of bone and cartilage were alleviated. Levels of IL-6 were significantly decreased in the joints of POMx-fed mice with CIA. In mouse macrophages, POMx abrogated multiple signal transduction pathways and downstream mediators implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis" - [Nutra USA]
• Comparison of Antioxidant Potency of Commonly Consumed Polyphenol-Rich Beverages in the United States - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jan 26 - "pomegranate juice (PJ) ... PJ had the greatest antioxidant potency composite index among the beverages tested and was at least 20% greater than any of the other beverages tested. Antioxidant potency, ability to inhibit LDL oxidation, and total polyphenol content were consistent in classifying the antioxidant capacity of the polyphenol-rich beverages in the following order: PJ > red wine > Concord grape juice > blueberry juice > black cherry juice, açaí juice, cranberry juice > orange juice, iced tea beverages, apple juice. Although in vitro antioxidant potency does not prove in vivo biological activity, there is also consistent clinical evidence of antioxidant potency for the most potent beverages including both PJ and red wine" - See Pomegranate Juice Extracts at iHerb.
• Ellagitannin-rich pomegranate extract inhibits angiogenesis in prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo - Int J Oncol. 2008 Feb;32(2):475-80 - "pomegranate extract standardized to ellagitannin content (POMx) ... POMx decreased prostate cancer xenograft size, tumor vessel density, VEGF peptide levels and HIF-1alpha expression after 4 weeks of treatment in SCID mice. These results demonstrate that an ellagitannin-rich pomegranate extract can inhibit tumor-associated angiogenesis as one of several potential mechanisms for slowing the growth of prostate cancer in chemopreventive applications"