Pomegranate in the Mediterranean Cuisine

February 24, 2012

Our recent Mediterranean diet culinary recipe for the special Valentine’s Day dinner included the use of pomegranate seeds. There are many Mediterranean diet recipes for Mediterranean foods, salads and desserts which have as one of their ingredients either pomegranate seeds or pomegranate juice or the pomegranate syrup known as grenadine.

Pomegranate is definitely part of the Mediterranean diet as one of the Mediterranean fruits, basic to the Med diet.
The obvious question that comes to everybody’s mind is whether it is true that pomegranate is a healthy fruit. The answer is off course: Yes. The noteworthy effect that pomegranate has on addressing various health related problems is probably due to the fact that it is easily absorbed by our organism.pomegranate

Several studies throughout the years have shown and proven that pomegranate inhibits the development of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is also known as Arteriosclerotic Vascular Disease, AVSD, and it is a disease where the arteries get thicker due to the accumulation of fat and cholesterol on their walls.  Pomegranate also reduces the high blood pressure and thus reduces the risk of cardiac diseases.

The pomegranate juice is equally beneficial for our health since it contains 3 times more the quantities of antioxidants that are contained in green tea or red dry wine. The antioxidants that are found in the pomegranate juice are: tannins, flavonoids, polyphenols and some other antioxidants which give the pomegranate juice the red color. In addition to the antioxidants, the pomegranate juice contains vitamin C and 3.2 fluid ounces of the juice account for 1/6 of the daily needs of an adult in Vitamin C. The juice is also a good source of vitamin B5 and fibers.

Based on all of the above we can safely deduce that pomegranate is a safe and an effective factor for the fighting of skin and colon cancer and a source for the fight against prostate cancer.

It is important to note, something that is not known to many, that a fresh pomegranate contains only 105 calories and about 0.017 oz of fat.

Pomegranate has been part of the Mediterranean diet cuisine for thousands of years and it has been part of many tasty salads, foods, and desserts giving them taste and at the same time protecting the Mediterranean people.


Andrea Aurelio
About the author

Andrea Aurelio adopted the Mediterranean diet and the Mediterranean way of living after evaluating a series of diets and realizing that the Mediterranean diet is a proven diet and the best way to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You can connect with him on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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