Lowering high cholesterol is not an easy affair, given the drastic changes one has to make in his or her diet and lifestyle. Medicines can help, but they are often accompanied by side effects and dependency symptoms. So, they are to be used only in absolutely unavoidable situations. Almost 50% of the adult Americans reportedly have higher than normal level of cholesterol and are at a great risk of heart attacks and strokes. Already, heart attack is the number one killer in America. People are, therefore, immensely curious to know the ways and means of tackling high cholesterol naturally. And pomegranate holds a lot of hopes for them...
Pomegranate is a delicious fruit with many health benefits. It has antioxidant, antiviral and antitumor properties. It is helpful in maintaining normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Some recent studies indicate that pomegranate can also be helpful in treating osteoarthritis and prostate cancer. The fruit can be eaten raw or can be made into pomegranate juice, pomegranate concentrate or pomegranate extract and taken to derive the excellent health benefits.
Cholesterol by itself is not harmful to the body. In fact, almost 85% of the cholesterol is made inside the body. The rest 15% comes from the foods that we eat. Cholesterol helps the body for development and repair of cell membranes, creation of sex and pleasure hormones such as progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, estradiol, formation of Vitamin D from sunlight and production of bile salts to eliminate toxins from the body. Cholesterol begins to harm the body only when it increases beyond normal level. Improper diets, consumption of too much of fat, weight gain, and lack of exercise are mainly responsible for high cholesterol.
Cholesterol by physical appearance is a fat like substance that keeps moving inside the body through the blood vessels. However, it cannot move on its own and has to depend on two 'carrier' proteins - the HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and the LDL (low-density lipoprotein) to do the taxiing. HDL is a good taxi, but LDL is not. So, if HDL is high, there's no problem - the cholesterol can fairly circulate inside the body. But, if LDL is high, cholesterol finds it difficult to move around inside the body. It then begins to form tiny deposits inside the blood vessels. These cholesterol deposits along with other substances such as fibrous tissues, calcium and other fatty materials form plaques on the arterial walls, which narrow the passage for smooth flow of blood. This puts more and more pressure on the heart to keep the blood in circulation, thus making the heart weak over time and develop problems. Apart from such heart problems, plaques can burst inside the arteries to suddenly block the blood flow. This condition is called stroke and such situations can turn fatal.
So, high cholesterol is bad and has to be lowered at any cost.
Pomegranate has polyphenols that act as powerful flavonoid antioxidants and protect nitric oxide against oxidative destruction. This enables the body to optimally use the biological benefits of nitric oxide. Pomegranate is also helpful in improving lipid profiles. In one study involving 14 men and 8 women who were diabetic and had high lipid profiles, consumption of 40gm/day of concentrated pomegranate juice for 8 weeks showed remarkable reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. However, no significant changes were seen in triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol levels. Polyphenols that are abundant in pomegranate are particularly known to inhibit LDL-cholesterol oxidation, macrophage foam cell formation and creation of plaques within the arteries. That is why pomegranate holds so much of promise in reducing high cholesterol naturally and minimizing the health risks associated with high cholesterol.
One pomegranate or two medium servings of pomegranate juice a day can be a good way to beat high cholesterol and keep off viral infections and tumors as added advantage.
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