Pomegranates can be a scary fruit, but once you get the hang of breaking it open you are going to be in for a delightful treat.
Not only are pomegranate seeds delicious, pomegranate seeds are incredibly good for you. This superfood has a leathery rind and has been eaten for centuries in various parts of the world. Only in recent time has this been considered a healthier choice in the western world.
So how good are pomegranate seeds for you? Pomegranate seeds are full of nutrients and antioxidants.
These are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and potassium.
Pomegranate seeds also contain some vitamin Bs. In fact, you can get more of many of these nutrients from pomegranate seeds than you can from other antioxidant beverages including green tea.
It wasn’t until the the early 2000s when pomegranate became very well-known as being a superfood , after there was extensive research on the health benefits.
The origins of its popularity can be traced back to POM Wonderful’s product, which boasted the numerous health benefits. Since then, it has gone from something used in holiday treats to something people try to consume on an everyday basis.
Why Eat Pomegranate Seeds?
Eating pomegranate seeds are great for your health, which is why you should eat pomegranates.
These are tasty treats that contain various nutrients and compounds that are essential to living a healthier life. There are several benefits to eating pomegranates, which you can learn about in this section.
Pomegranate seeds can be great for lowering your blood pressure.
There is evidence that drinking pomegranate juice can reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure. This means that pomegranate seeds can be exceptionally good for people who may be at risk for cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
Another benefit of pomegranate seeds is that it can aid in fighting oxidative stress.
Pomegranates are full of antioxidants such as quercetin and anthocyanins, which can not only prevent oxidative stress but also repair cell damaged that was caused by it.
With pomegranate seeds, you get a lot of vitamin C which is excellent for your bones, muscle, and cartilage.
Vitamin C is such an important nutrient for the blood vessels, muscle, cartilage, and the bone structure.
Vitamin C is also important because it promotes wound healing as well as the absorption of iron.
The benefits to the muscles can be amazing for improving your performance when working out. It’s important to know that our bodies don’t naturally produce vitamin C, so it’s essential to get this through your diet.
By consuming pomegranate arils, your body gets a boost of fiber that it needs to be as healthy as possible.
Fiber is essential because it helps with improving your digestive health, lower your cholesterol, and improve your satiety.
Fiber can also slow your body’s absorption of sugar, making it so that your blood glucose won’t spike after you eat food.
There is also some evidence that there are compounds in pomegranates that could help prevent cancer.
These seeds are rich in polyphenols, compounds responsible for fighting against oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage.
These same compounds can potentially inhibit the growth of tumors as well as kill cancer cells. There are clinical trials that show that these compounds can help protect people from certain cancers including breast cancer, leukemia, hepatic cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Pomegranates can be great for your brain health.
The antioxidants in pomegranates are excellent to help improve your brain health.
Since it has properties to fight against oxidative stress, this can help protect your brain. Its anti-inflammatory properties can lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. There is also some evidence that it can stimulate your body’s formation of neurons.
What Happens if We Eat Pomegranate Daily?
If you eat pomegranate daily, you can earn a lot of amazing health benefits.
First of all, pomegranates are a low-calorie and nutrient dense way for you to hit the daily goal for eating fruit. Additionally, it has a wide variety of nutrients and minerals that you need for your daily nutrition including:
- 1% daily value of calcium (17.4mg)
- 3% daily value of iron (0.5mg)
- 20% daily value of vitamin C (18mg)
- 24% daily value of vitamin K (29 micrograms)
- 17% daily value of folate
These are just a few of the essential nutrients that you can get when you consume these seeds.
By consuming pomegranate seeds every day, you can help ensure that your body gets the nutrient it needs to be as healthy as possible.
How to Include Pomegranate in Your Diet
One of the great things about pomegranate seeds is that they are delicious and versatile foods.
You can include them in your diet in your diet in a variety of different ways so that you always have an interesting way to consume them.
Some ways to include pomegranate seeds into your diet, including:
- Add them to a fruit salad or green/garden salad.
- Add pomegranate seeds to your oatmeal or yogurt.
- Add some to smoothies.
- Toss pomegranate seeds into cocktails, mocktails, or sangria.
- Eat them fresh.
- Use them in breakfast, like with avocado toast.
- Garnish grilled or roasted proteins with pomegranate seeds.
When are Pomegranates in Season and Available?
Pomegranates grown in the United States typically come from California and are in season starting from the end of September all the way through November.
However, since they can store well they are available as late as December and January depending on the year. These fruit need a lot of heat to grow and ripen.
When you are picking out pomegranates, you want to make sure that you pick ripe ones. As they are stored, they will start to dry out and shrink. To pick ripe ones, you want to make sure that the pomegranates are plump and round. They should be free of bruising, soft spots, or cuts.
However, natural splits are normal and perfectly fine.
How Do You Seed A Pomegranate?
There are two approaches that you can take to seeding a pomegranate: with a spoon or using a knife.
To remove them with a spoon, you need to cut the pomegranate in half.
Then you hold it over a bowl as you hit the back of it with the back of a wooden spoon until all of the seeds fall out. To remove them with a knife, you will want to take a paring knife and remove the stem located at the top of the fruit.
Then score the sides ensuring that you cut between the ridges (which you can typically feel).
These shouldn’t be too deep, otherwise the juices will come out. Hold over a bowl and pull the sections apart as the seeds fall in the bowl.
or you could just watch the following.
How Do You Store Pomegranate?
You can keep them on your counter for up to a week.
You could also wrap a couple up in loose plastic wrap to refrigerate it, which can last at least a few weeks but sometimes more.
The seeds can be stored in an air-tight container for a week in the fridge or up to a year in the freezer.
Conclusion
Pomegranates are a versatile superfood that you can fit in your diet very easily.
They can be added to practically any dish, either sweet or savory, because they are so versatile.
The pomegranate seeds offer so many different benefits that it’s important that you consider adding these to your daily diet. If you are looking for an efficient and effective way to get your daily nutrients, pomegranate seeds are an excellent option.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.