The grenade: a great ally

It inspires us with the desires of milk-grenadine , perfumes our fruit salads ... But, the air of nothing, the pomegranate is also the object of a hundred or so recent scientific studies that scrutinize its health benefits, in particular, in the field of cellular aging.
It must be said that pomegranate contains antioxidants, which fight to prevent or reduce the oxidation of other chemicals, responsible for the production of free radicals, themselves bad for health.
Cardio-vascular diseases, cancers or premature aging of the skin are, in part, linked to the excessive development of these free radicals. Is the 400 seed fruit the new anti-aging grail?

More antioxidant than green tea

On paper, the pomegranate is all good. Its richness in antioxidants (measured in "ORAC index") would be greater than that of green tea or red wine , traditionally cited as an example. It is granted, in fact, 3,037 ORAC units / 100 g , even if we know little about the antioxidant index of tea and wine ...
The " fruit of paradise " is nevertheless in a good position, behind the cranberry (9,584 ORAC units) and in front of the blueberries (2,400 ORAC).
In the pomegranate, there are polyphenols that "capture free radicals and react with them to form harmless bonds ," says Dr. Jean-Paul Curtay, Nutritional Therapist.

A real medicine?

"Even though the preclinical results are very promising today , they still have to prove themselves in practice," warns Dr. Curtay. Pomegranate should therefore be considered as a nutritional supplement rather than a real medicine. In addition, the individual quality of the intestinal flora also determines how much of the active substance will eventually be assimilated into the blood. Thus, in studies carried out on patients, pomegranate juice was of no use for ... 20% of them (on average). Evidence that the assimilation variation differs for each person.

Beware of poor quality juice!

Pomegranate contains a lot of nutrients and antioxidants , but they can be complicated to absorb because it is difficult to eat raw . The simplest seems to drink its juice, then pay attention to the promises of brands that, because of its difficulty of production, offer poor quality juice while declaring 100% fruit. A German study showed that fresh pomegranate juice sold in Europe contained only 1.4 g per liter of polyphenols, a rate insufficient to produce health effects: the juice must be pure, without additives or preservatives.

Thank you to Professor Edeas, President of the French Society of Antioxidants, and Dr. Jean-Paul Curtay, author of "Fermented Pomegranate Juice, Pomegranate, Food-Plus," Editions du Rocher.

For effective action ...

... 1 glass of 25 cl / day of pure juice provides the necessary antioxidant content . You can opt for concentrated capsules (1 / day for 1 month) or elixir (20 ml / day), very effective because it contains up to 30 times more antioxidants than other pomegranate products.