Pomegranate juice helps reduce blood pressure
Drinking pomegranate juice could potentially help reduce blood pressure.
According to a recent study, pomegranate juice had short-term benefits for blood pressure after 51 healthy adults demonstrated a large decrease in blood pressure after consuming the juice for four weeks.
The research team examined whether pomegranate juice could minimise cardiovascular health risks by assessing the pulse wave velocity (PWV – a market of arterial stiffness), blood pressure and plasma antioxidant status.
The researchers had said: “Consumption of pomegranate juice for a four-week period did not influence PWV. This was contrary to our hypothesis that ingestion of a juice rich in polyphenolic antioxidant compounds would reduce arterial stiffness”.
Fifty-one adults, aged between 30 and 50, consumed 330ml of pomegranate juice daily.
Effects on PWV, blood pressure and plasma antioxidant status were measured against a control group that had consumed 7Up, a lemonade drink containing no antioxidants.
The researchers said that there was no effect on the plasma antioxidant status, but noted a large drop in blood pressure amongst participants that was higher than drops observed in other studies by dietary interventions of sodium and potassium.
The study added: “We conclude that pomegranate juice supplementation has benefits for BP in the short term, but has no effect on PWV. The mechanism for the effect is uncertain.
“We found no effect on serum ACE, but there is the possibility that the juice’s content of polyphenols and/or potassium was responsible for the hypotensive effect”.
A recent study has claimed that pomegranate peel extract could possibly demonstrate prebiotic potential.
Pomegranate juice is thought to be rich with polyphenolic antioxidants and several past studies have said that antioxidants compounds can minimise arterial stiffness.
