A study in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by Italian and American scientists reports that pomegranate juice helped keep fatty deposits from collecting on artery walls in mice, and kept human heart cells healthier. The mice were specially bred to have high cholesterol and on human heart cells in culture.
Dr. Claudio Napoli, a professor of medicine and clinical pathology at the
in Italy, found that mice that drank pomegranate juice were able to significantly reduce the progression of
oxidative stress by 30 percent.
The pomegranate is a native Middle Eastern fruit which has crunchy seeds surrounded by juicy pulp and is a good source of potassium, vitamin C and antioxidants, Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Centre says the juice is probably the easiest way to gain benefit from the fruit. Dr. Napoli says previous studies suggested the antioxidants found in pomegranate juice might reduce plaque build-up on artery walls and reduce oxidative stress on endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels. These cells produce nitric oxide, a substance that helps the blood vessels relax.