13 Exciting Reasons Why You Should Eat More of this One Red Fruit

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4. A Red Fountain of Youth

In Chinese medicine, pomegranate juice is considered to be a longevity treatment. Science backs up some of this as this fruits powerful antioxidants have been shown to help keep the skin soft and supple, and even prevent wrinkles. You will find many anti-aging creams that contain pomegranate extract because of its ability to delay the aging process. The punicic acid in pomegranates is a rare type of omega-5 fatty acid that has been shown to help improve overall skin tone as well as elasticity. Pomegranate extracts keep the skin healthy and fight the free radicals that cause premature aging.

5. Anti-Inflammatory Effects

Everyone is looking to fight chronic inflammation in the body since it is the leading cause of many chronic and killer diseases in the body, including cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. The antioxidant compound punicalagin has strong anti-inflammatory properties and studies done in vitro show that it can reduce the inflammatory effects in the digestive tract. One study that involved persons diagnosed with diabetes showed that consuming 250 ml of pomegranate juice each day over a 12 week period lowered their inflammation markers by as much as 32 percent.

6. Lowers the Risk of Heart Disease

Heart disease is still the number one killer in America but stopping it is not as easy as it sounds because it is a disease that is driven by many different factors. The good news is that you can lower your risk of developing heart disease by consuming more pomegranate juice. The main fatty acid in pomegranates, punicic has been shown to help protect you in several different ways. First, studies show that for those with high cholesterol levels, consuming 800 milligrams of pomegranate seed oil each day over a 30 day period was shown to lower bad cholesterol levels but improve the good cholesterol in the body.

7. Improves Memory

There have been several studies done recently that show that pomegranate can help to improve cognitive function and memory skills. In one study involving surgical patients, consuming 2 grams of pomegranate extract prevented any memory deficits after their surgery. Another study that involved 28 elderly subjects who had difficulty with their memories found that when these subjects consumed 8 ounces (238 ml) of pomegranate juice each day, all subjects had improved markers in tests done involving verbal and visual memory. In studies done with mice, pomegranates appeared to help fight Alzheimer’s disease.

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