Pomegranate juice

[Fed1000]

Has anyone ever used pomegranate juice? My dietician recommended me as an anti-inflammatory to alternate periodically with cranberry juice.

[park_bear]

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Pomegranate juice exacerbates oxidative stress and nigrostriatal degeneration in Parkinson's disease.

Abstract

Numerous factors contribute to the death of substantia nigra (SN) dopamine (DA) neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD). Compelling evidence implicates mitochondrial deficiency, oxidative stress, and inflammation as important pathogenic factors in PD. Chronic exposure of rats to rotenone causes a PD-like syndrome, in part by causing oxidative damage and inflammation in substantia nigra. Pomegranate juice (PJ) has the greatest composite antioxidant potency index among beverages, and it has been demonstrated to have protective effects in a transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease. The present study was designed to examine the potential neuroprotective effects of PJ in the rotenone model of PD. Oral administration of PJ did not mitigate or prevent experimental PD but instead increased nigrostriatal terminal depletion, DA neuron loss, the inflammatory response, and caspase activation, thereby heightening neurodegeneration. The mechanisms underlying this effect are uncertain, but the finding that PJ per se enhanced nitrotyrosine, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and activated caspase-3 expression in nigral DA neurons is consistent with its potential pro-oxidant activity.

[Fed1000 in reply to park_bear]

Thanks park_bear, evidently my nutritionist is poorly informed and I sent her the article you reported to me. I will definitely continue to use cranberry juice.

[park_bear in reply to Fed1000]

Agree cranberry juice is good stuff. I use the unsweetened concentrate. A little of that added to tea or other juice goes a long way. Much better than the heavily sugared version.

[Fed1000 in reply to park_bear]

Vey well, it will be done. In our case everything is needed, even the cranberry juice.

[jackedmonston in reply to park_bear]

I drink cranberry juice every day, but I also live down the street from ten acres of cranberry bogs and the compliant one often hears has to do with the growers’’ use of pesticides and fungicides. Very few growers are organic, unfortunately. civileats.com/2015/11/23/wh...

[park_bear in reply to jackedmonston]

Agree organic is way to go:

swansonvitamins.com/lakewoo...

[LAJ12345 in reply to park_bear]

Ooh that’s a worry. Our naturopath recommended it too and I bought a bottle of concentrate. Haven’t used much but it does have a lovely rich sweet and sour taste which adds depth to a sauce.

[KERRINGTON in reply to park_bear]

That was a shocker...Any info on tart cherry juice, I take it before bed, since it contains melatonin. Thanks

[park_bear in reply to KERRINGTON]

Yes it was. Nothing wrong with tart cherry juice as far as I know. I take it too. I use an organic version.

naturalmedicinejournal.com/...

"30 ml of juice concentrate (estimated to contain the equivalent of approximately 90–100 cherries) ... contained approximately 42.6 mcg melatonin...There were significant increases in time in bed, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency total (P<0.05) with cherry juice supplementation"

I wonder if it is really the melatonin that is the main active ingredient, since 42 micrograms is not much.

[Bundoran]

When I was in China a few years ago pomegranates were in season (October) and you could buy freshly squeezed juice on the street. Since then I juice them myself when I can find them but the juice varies a lot. The Chinese poms were very sweet but some of the European ones have a lot of tannin. They do nothing for my P though.