For many centuries these rather unexciting and overlooked looked fruit have grown
on Fincas all around the Mediterranean area and have been a seasonal
part of the diet just taken for granted. However recent research has
uncovered some almost miraculous health benefits of pomegranates from
which the people of the Mediterranean area have been unwittingly
benefitting.

Firstly they have a marvelous ability to not only protect against
atherosclerosis,i.e. the thickening of arterial walls which can
cause heart attacks and strokes, but to actually reverse this thickening
and thus return your arteries to a more youthful state. This is something
that no drug on the market today is capable of.

Another health benefit of pomegranates is that they have the ability to
lower blood pressure in addition to which they can effectively reduce your levels of
bad cholesterol and help to increase levels of the good cholesterol.

One of the other health benefits of pomegranates will be of interest to
men with problems of impotence as this is often caused by atherosclerosis
as the resulting thickening of the blood vessels affects blood flow in all areas of the body.
In fact it is not uncommon for narrowing of the arteries to only be
diagnosed as a result of a man consulting his doctor over impotence
problems. The exceptional effect that the powerful antioxidants found
in pomegranates has is to improve blood flow in all areas of the body
and thus dramatically lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes and impotence.

Other recent research has uncovered evidence of the cancer protecting and even treating
abilities of pomegranates, particularly in relation to prostate cancer although
there is also some suggestion that the same benefits may extend to breast cancer.
A substance in this remarkable fruit has been found to reduce the levels of PSA
(prostate specific antigen,) high levels of which are a marker of how
well a patient has responded to conventional prostate cancer treatments
such as surgery, radiotherapy etc. One study of prostate cancer patients discovered that 80% of
the men receiving pomegranate juice daily reduced they rate at which
PSA increased dramatically. In addition there was a marked decrease in
the proliferation of prostate cancer cells and an even greater increase in
the rate of apoptosis, or cancer cell death.

Even in men without prostate cancer it is important to keep these PSA levels low as you age because
their elevation is a precursor to cancer and can also contribute to
benign prostate enlargement which affects many men as they age and causes much discomfort.

Although there has been no direct human research as yet into the protective
action of pomegranates viz a viz breast cancer this type of cancer is akin in some
ways to prostate cancer and certain in vitro studies have been very promising.
With pomegranate extract inhibiting breast cancer cell proliferation
and inducing apoptosis in the laboratory.

The general antioxidant effect of pomegranates is three times greater than that
of either red wine or green tea and they should definitely be included in
everyone's diet.

Pomegranates tend to have a fairly short season and do not store very well.
However if you want to make the most of the health benefits of
pomegranates all the year round then buy them when they are in season
and therefore plentiful and cheap and freeze them.

The easiest way to prepare pomegranates for freezing is to cut them in half,
immerse them in a deep bowl of water then break the segments apart prying
out the seeds.The seeds will sink and the pith and skin will float.
Skim this off the top and then strain the seeds, pat dry on a clean tea towel and freeze in
polythene bags excluding the air. On defrosting pop them in your
juicer. Alternatively you could juice them first and then freeze the juice.

Heart attacks and strokes are the number one killer for men and women alike in the
western world so if you are only going to adopt one element of the healthy Mediterranean diet
then I think they should definitely be top of your list. The incredible
effect pomegranates can have on not only maintaining a healthy heart but their ability
to even reverse some heart disease makes this so. No doubt as more
research is done into the health benefits of pomegranates they will
be found to have many other advantages.