Keeping healthy and lowering the risk of heart disease never looked so tasty! Pomegranates are the ruby red jewels of the fruit family, native to Iran and North India. While being a star in the Mediterranean cuisine, you’ll find incorporating pomegranates into your diet to be both easy and tasty.
If you’d like to know why you should be getting your hands on a fresh pomegranate when visiting your local fruit and veg shop next, here are four health benefits you need to know.
Digestive Health
Pomegranates are filled with fibre – the key to a healthy digestive system. Including half a cup of pomegranates to your breakfast ticks off a good portion of your daily fibre intake for the day.
Heart Health
Staying on top of your heart health can be easy by including pomegranates in your diet. Being a good source of fibre, they can help lower bad cholesterol, which is the key to reducing risk of heart disease and stroke. Another benefit of pomegranates is that they’re high in potassium, an important nutrient to prevent high blood pressure.
Diabetes Management
If you have type 2 diabetes, pomegranates can be beneficial for managing inflammation. Research has shown that drinking 50 grams of concentrated pomegranate juice per day was associated with lower inflammation and an increase in good cholesterol.
Antioxidant Properties
What brings that beautiful ruby red colour to pomegranates is the high number of antioxidants present. Particularly anthocyanins – a strong type of antioxidant which has caught the attention of researchers. Anthocyanins found in pomegranates may help with reducing inflammation and minimising the risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
How To Enjoy Them
Adding pomegranates to your diet is super easy! Starting with breakfast, they go perfectly on top of yoghurt or sprinkled on top of smashed avocado. For lunch, why not toss them through a salad, for a juicy burst of sweetness among your greens. If you’re looking to enjoy pomegranates in a heartier way, why not try our Chicken Fillets with Pomegranate Glaze. Do you have a sweet tooth? If so, you’ll have to give our Pavlova with Kiwifruit and Pomegranate a go! But, if you’re looking for the easiest approach, you can always enjoy a glass of pomegranate juice!