Pomegranates: All About This Miracle Fruit

Pomegranates are a wonder food — which we all need to include in our diet as much as possible. The pomegranate originated in eastern Iran — pomegranates are drought tolerant, and can be grown in dry areas with either a Mediterranean winter rainfall climate or in summer rainfall climates, which is why I see so many of them here is Los Angeles.

The health benefits of pomegranates are insane: one pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult’s daily vitamin C requirement. Pomegranates are also a rich source of folic acid and are packed with antioxidants — and they’re high in polyphenols.

The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate are hydrolysable tannins, particularly punicalagins, which have been shown in many peer-reviewed research articles to be the antioxidant responsible for the free-radical scavenging ability of pomegranate juice. In several human clinical trials, the juice of the pomegranate has been found effective in reducing several heart risk factors, and has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure, and is effective against certain cancers such as prostate cancer.

Eating a Pomegranate: After opening the pomegranate by scoring it with a knife and breaking it open, the arils (seed casings) are separated from the skin and internal white supporting structures. (Separating the red arils can be simplified by performing this task in a bowl of water, whereby the arils will sink and the white structures will float to the top.) The entire seed is consumed raw, though the fleshy outer portion of the seed is the part that is desired. The taste differs depending on the variety of pomegranate and its state of ripeness. It can be very sweet or it can be very sour or tangy, but most fruits lie somewhere in between, which is the characteristic taste, laced with notes of its tannin.

I love to add pomegranate seeds to everything I can, from homemade yogurt at breakfast, to green leafy salads at lunch. The added bonus is that the jewel-like seeds add a beautiful visual to almost any dish.

As far as juice goes, you need to be really wary of the marketing claims of some Pomegranate juice companies. I like to buy the organic juice with no sugar added — one of my favorites is the juice from Organic Juice USA.

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com