Pomegranate – What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know
For Years Scientists have said that it is impossible to reduce plaque in the arteries, once it has developed, without medical removal. There are now some new studies that show that Pomegranate may prove them wrong.
Research confirms that pomegranate is one of the best natural sources of antioxidants.
There is new research that indicates that certain compounds that are found in pomegranate can actually reverse the process of atherosclerosis. (Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries.)
These studies show that pomegranate produces cardiovascular protection by restoring the endothelial lining, reducing blood pressure, and protecting your arteries from LDL (bad cholesterol.
The good news is that these health benefits are now easier to obtain through highly concentrated extracts, rather than eating multiple pomegranates every day.
Enhances Nitric Oxide and Improves Endothelial Function
Pomegranate increases nitric oxide in the endothelial cells (which is the inner lining of your ateries). Nitric Oxide signals your arteries to relax or widen which increases blood flow and circulation.
Nitric Oxide protects your arteries from damage, which helps prevent plaque from sticking.
In an Italian study, scientists selected mice with a genetic likeliness to develop atherosclerosis. Then they put the mice on a high fat diet, which increases the amount of plaque in their arteries. After they observed a considerable amount of plaque buildup, they added pomegranate extract to one groups drinking water. And gave the other group, plain drinking water. After 24 weeks, it not only increased the amount of nitric oxide, but increased it the most in the arteries that had the highest plaque buildup.
By increasing the amount of nitric oxide that was made in the blood vessels, pomegranate reduced damaged and increased plaque buildup in the arteries.
In healthy parts of the blood vessels damage was reduced by 26%, while in areas that had plaque damage, pomegranate reduced the damage by 20%.
Pomegranate’s ability to increase nitric oxide within the blood vessel and it’s ability to make the nitric oxide last longer shows that it offers profound cardiovascular protection.
Reversing Plaque Buildup and Reducing Risk of Heart Disease
Even though antioxidants and other nutrients can slow down atheroscelerosis, scientist have believed that they do very little to reverse the plaque once it is on the artery walls.
A recent study from Israel now shows that pomegranate can reduce existing plaque from the arteries.
In a study done by the Vascular Surgery Clinic in Haifa, Israel, 19 patients were chosen to take part in a 3 year study.
All of the patients were between the ages of 65 and 75 and had severe narrowing (70-90% blockage) of their carotid arteries.
Ten of the participants took 50ml of pomegranate juice every day, while the other 9 had a placebo. Both groups had similar blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose at the start of the study and continued any medications they were on previously.
After only 3 months the group that consumed the pomegranate juice, had a reduction in the average thickness of the blockage in their carotid arteries of 13% and after 12 months it was down by 35%.
Meanwhile, the thickness of the blockages in the placebo group increased by 9% over the same 12 months.
The reduction in blockage of the pomegranate group decreased their risk for heart attack and stroke and reduced their systolic blood pressure by 21%. In addition, their blood work showed an antioxidant increase of 130%. Since LDL (Bad cholesterol) must be oxidized before it can stick to the wall of the artery, this increase keeps new plaque from building up.
It is important to maintain a steady usage of pomegranate to maintain these improvements. In this study, one month after stopping supplementation, the participants saw an average drop of 35% in their antioxidant levels.
In a different Israeli study the participants used 50ml of pomegranate juice and after 2 weeks, they reduced both systolic blood pressure by 5% and (ACE) activity by 36% which helps prevent atherosclerosis.
So it is important to make pomegranate a regular part of your supplementation plan to improve and protect your cardiovascular system.
Pomegranate is one of 30+ ingredients in the Tikva product. You can read more about pomegranate and its many benefits by clicking here.
