Pomegranate And Cancer – This Glorious Red Fruit Can Prevent & Treat Cancer FoodSniffr For Healthy Eating & LivingFoodSniffr For Healthy Eating & Living -
The pomegranate, which most Americans are familiar with, is a deep red fruit with a tart to sweet taste. Press a ruby red seed between your fingers to witness the gorgeous blood red juice that is packed with antioxidants; the entire fruit is also a rich source of anthocyanins, ellagitannins, and hydrolysable tannins.
Pomegranate And Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a colossal disease that claims the health and lives of thousands of women worldwide as well as in the US. Any non-invasive and gentler treatments (as compared with the invasiveness and toxicity of radiation and chemotherapy) can bring huge relief to this group of patients.
Researchers have found that pomegranate juice as well as some of its compounds “increase cancer cell adhesion and decrease cancer cell migration but do not affect normal cells.” [1] They discovered that pomegranate juice as well as a combination of luteolin + ellagic acid + punicic acid – all compounds of the fruit – inhibit the inflammatory and metastatic processes involved in breast cancer ( as well as prostate cancer) and can be a very valuable aid in preventing the further growth of cancers.
In another study [2], it was found that all the parts of the pomegranate fruit (the seed, peel and juice) exerted powerful “antiproliferative, anti-invasive, and antimetastatic effects….In addition, pomegranate inhibits the activation of inflammatory pathways including, but not limited to, the NFκ-B pathway”.
Pomegranate and Prostate Cancer
A large number of studies have been done into the chemopreventive and chemotherapy properties of pomegranate in prostate cancer. In this study [3] in 2006, researchers reported that the men who drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily had slower PSA (prostate specific antigen) doubling times. “They found that the PSA doubling times of the men who kept drinking pomegranate juice were about four times longer than the PSA doubling times at the study’s start — and longer than the PSA doubling times of the men who stopped drinking the juice.”
Another study concluded [4] that men with advanced prostate cancer did not benefit from regular drinking of pomegranate juice.
Similarly, pomegranate has shown great promise in preventing and treating other forms of cancer such as skin cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer.
The Problem With Pomegranate Juice
Now that we are enthused big time about the health impact of pomegranate on various cancers, we have to point out one of the biggest pitfalls of pomegranate juice – one of the easiest ways to consume this powerful fruit. And that is the high sugar content of this rich red fruit. A cup of this antioxidant rich juice contains 31g of sugar! This is not a healthy sugar consumption for anyone.
So what are the alternatives?
Thankfully, there are a number of great pomegranate extracts that are powerful, effective and convenient to consume:
- Fruit Advantage Pomegranate with 200mg of Ellagic Acid per serving
- Pomegranate Extract 500mg by Source Naturals
- Pomegranate Extract (40% Ellagic Acid) -250g Pure Powder
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