Pomegranates are being tested for weight loss, diabetes, COPD, prostate cancer, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The case of POM Wonderful (the pomegranate juice company) v. Federal Trade Commission made up to the US Court of Appeals. before being denied review by the Supreme Court. In this landmark case, a panel of judges concluded that many of POM’s ads made false or misleading claims and the company “advertised medical studies that ostensibly showed that daily consumption of its products could treat, prevent or reduce the risk of various conditions, including heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction.” The US First Amendment does not protect misleading and deceptive advertising. Surprising a blow to its billionaire owners, the Court ruled that at least one randomized clinical trial will be required to substantiate disease treatment or prevention claims.
If you look at the medical literature on pomegranate in general, you will see reviews touting its many benefits, with charts like the one below about the medicinal effects of pomegranates (which you can also see at 1:01 in my video Pomegranate: A natural remedy for rheumatoid arthritis).
But if you dig a little deeper, you will see that this is what it is based on in studies like the one that talks about “the anti-obesity effects of pomegranate leaf extract in a mouse model.” First of all, who eats pomegranate leaves? And secondly, who is the mouse?
He is eating pomegranate influence burden on humans? If you look at all the randomized controlled clinical trials (meaning human trials), pomegranates have no significant effect on body weight, BMI, belly fat, or even body fat percentage in those randomized to consume pomegranate products. What about the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease? Researchers be reconsidered 25 clinical trials, which looked at cholesterol, blood pressure, artery function, atherosclerotic plaque formation and platelet function, found no significant evidence of benefit even in the best studies.
POM Wonderful helped capital a study on pomegranate juice and erectile dysfunction, but it also failed. Other studies I establish no benefit for diabetes markers and was observed no benefit for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as emphysema. They used the antioxidant activity of pomegranate juice to help, but this is the antioxidant activity in vitro (meaning in a test tube or petri dish). To my surprise, a meta-analysis of data from 11 randomized controlled trials “no support compelling evidence” that pomegranate intake has a significant effect on increasing total antioxidant capacity in the bloodstream, because some of the most powerful antioxidants do not even appear to be is absorbed in the human body. No wonder pomegranate supplements didn’t seem to do it influence oxidative stress in tissue samples obtained from prostate cancer patients. But, of course, what we’re interested in is whether it affects the cancer itself.
It is said that the strongest evidence for the anti-cancer activity of pomegranates Come from prostate cancer studies. Unfortunately, the initially promising results were not confirmed when they were actually put to the test. For example, the daily intake of pomegranate was I establish in a randomized controlled trial to have no effect on PSA levels, a marker of tumor progression. In addition, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial I establish virtually no difference in prostate cancer disease progression, as you can see below and at 3:19 in my video.
It was banking on the anti-inflammatory effect of pomegranate juice to help, but again, this had been proven in vitro. In humans, a meta-analysis based on five randomized controlled trials published in 2016 concluded that pomegranate juice had no significant effect on levels of C-reactive protein, a key marker of inflammation. If you look at the forest plot, however, you’ll see all five tests trending toward lower C-reactive protein levels, so the combined data almost reached statistical significance, as you can see below and at 3:53 in my video.
Indeed, an updated meta-analysis published in 2020 based on seven studies passed the threshold for statistical significance and found a significant drop in two other inflammatory markers as well.
Maybe pomegranate juice could aid in the control of inflammatory diseases after all. But you don’t know until you try it.
Osteoarthritis includes the degeneration of the shock-absorbing cartilage within the joints, particularly in the knees. It’s dripping A pomegranate extract in human osteoarthritic cartilage samples appears to exhibit cartilage protective effects. As you can see below and at 4:43 in my video, compared to baseline levels of cartilage breakdown, summation Inflammation triples the damage. However, with increasing amounts of pomegranate extract, the breakdown begins to calm down.
But then again, this is in a petri dish. How do we know that when we eat pomegranates, the active ingredients enter our bloodstream so they can find their way to our joints? The ingredients that protect the cartilage were I establish be bioavailable (at least in rabbits), lifting the possibility that pomegranates could be a safe and non-toxic treatment with no side effects, unlike drugs used today. But is it effective?
The first clinical trial on pomegranate juice and osteoarthritis was not a placebo-controlled trial, but instead randomized world in pomegranate juice or nothing. Those who drank the juice reported less stiffness and impaired physical function, but not much better than doing nothing. Shoot.
Just as I was about to give up the pomegranates, I saw a study titled “Consumption of Pomegranate Extract Rich in Hydrolyzable Tannins Suppresses Inflammation and Joint Damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis.” But it turned out to be from the “Not-So-Wonderful” POM company, causing joint damage in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis. Come!
There it was an open study, where patients knew what they were taking. Eight people with active rheumatoid arthritis took pomegranate extract every day, and the six who stuck with it reported fewer tender joints. But as we learned from the osteoarthritis study, if you don’t have a control group, you don’t have any sense of what role, if any, the treatment actually plays.
Finally, us Come in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The time has come! Half of the study participants unknowingly took pomegranate extracts. the other half unknowingly took the equivalent of a sugar pill. There appeared to be a significant improvement in the number of swollen joints, tender joints, pain intensity, disease activity score, a health assessment questionnaire and morning stiffness compared to placebo. So, if you have rheumatoid arthritis, I would recommend you to start eating pomegranates. Why not just pomegranate pills? After all, it was a pomegranate extract that alleviated disease activity. A good reason to stick to fruit is that when 19 pomegranate supplements were tested in a lab, most actually didn’t seem to have any pomegranate in them at all! Only 6 out of 19 appeared to be authentic.
Doctor’s note
I had previously mentioned about POM Wonderful in 2011 in my video Is Pomegranate Juice That Great?. My other video about this fruit is Flashback Friday: Pomegranate vs placebo for prostate cancer.
What is one way to eat them? Watch my cooking video Bowl Cran-Chocolate Pomegranate BROL.
