If enough plaque builds up in your arteries, you're gonna have a bad day and a shortened life. Punnicalagin is a natural way to de-clog.
Some health-related issues are inevitable. For example, most men will have enlarged prostates if they live long enough. Other health issues can be avoided with a healthy lifestyle.
Take atherosclerosis, where fatty plaques accumulate on the inner walls of the arteries, leading to reduced blood flow and stroke risk. Atherosclerosis is an "age-associated disease process." As we get older, blood vessels become less elastic and more injury-prone, making them more susceptible to plaque formation. A super healthy lifestyle reduces the risk, but aging still does its thing.
If enough plaques build up, you get diagnosed with severe carotid artery stenosis, defined as 70% or more blockage of one or both carotid arteries. Around 400,000 Americans are diagnosed with it annually, and many don't know they have it until they have their first mini-stroke. Untreated, it can lead to permanent brain damage, disability, or death.
Drugs and stents are the usual treatments, but one study shows that we can treat and maybe even prevent all these problems with a natural substance: pomegranate.
The study
Researchers recruited 19 people with carotid artery stenosis and instructed 10 of them to drink 1.7 ounces of pure pomegranate juice daily. After a year, carotid intima-media thickness (a marker of arterial plaque) decreased by 35%. In contrast, controls experienced about a 9% increase, even though they all stayed on their drug regimen.
How? Pomegranate is rich in polyphenols, tannins, and anthocyanins that scavenge free radicals and inhibit LDL oxidation, roles central to atherosclerosis development. Punnicalagin is the most abundant and bioactive polyphenol in pomegranate juice, and it played a central role in the cardiovascular effects observed in the study.
Should I drink pomegranate juice daily?
It doesn't hurt, but keep in mind that most popular pomegranate products are mostly water (usually with added sugar), not 100% juice. But drinking close to two ounces of pure juice daily may help prevent plaque build-up as you age. That amount contains roughly 55-95 mg of punicalagin and 13-16 grams of natural sugar.
You can also take punicalagin supplementally and avoid the tart juice and sugar. Our prostate and sexual health supplement, P-Well ➔ Buy at Biotest, contains 180 mg.
We included it in the formula because it's a potent inhibitor of aromatase activity, impeding the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, and it elevates levels of nitric oxide (NO), which relaxes the smooth muscle fibers of the penile arteries to allow more blood flow to the penis. But, based on the above study, it's also a powerful cardiovascular health booster. Learn more here.
Reference
- Aviram, Michael, et al. "Pomegranate Juice Consumption for 3 Years by Patients with Carotid Artery Stenosis Reduces Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Blood Pressure and LDL Oxidation." Clinical Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 3, June 2004, pp. 423–433.
