Pomegranates Peel Tea (DIY)

I love pomegranate, it’s a wonderful fruit to incorporate into your diet because it can help reduce brain inflammation and protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

After extracting the delicious aryls, do you normally throw out the pomegranate peels, right?

So did I, until I discovered their potential to help keep you healthy and happy.

During the late nineties scientists discovered the health benefits from the discarded part of this extremely beneficial fruit.

Chief among these discoveries were the substantial benefits you can derive from using pomegranate peels, especially in your digestive system.

So before you start tossing away what might be the best part of pomegranates, here are some key benefits to convince you otherwise.

 Benefits of Pomegranate Peels

1. They’re a Great Tool to Fight Heart Diseases

Pomegranate peels are loaded with antioxidants. As their name might imply, antioxidants are extremely effective at eliminating oxidation from LDL cholesterol.

If your LDL cholesterol accumulates too much oxidization, it will eventually wreak havoc in your cardiovascular system, leaving you vulnerable to most heart diseases.

When it comes to antioxidants, I’ve felt that you can never get enough, especially if they come from a completely natural source.

2.They’re Packed with Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an integral part of a healthy holistic diet. Its health benefits cover a lot of areas in your health, ranging from improving your immune system, your cardiovascular system, preventing prenatal health complications, avoiding wrinkles, and reducing your chances of developing ocular diseases.

Pomegranate peels carry enough vitamin c to render vitamin pills or tablets obsolete. This is perfect because we’re trying to base our diet’s needs on completely natural sources.

3.They’re an Effective Form of Detox

Remember the plentiful antioxidants that could help your heart? Well, here’s where they shine again. Pomegranate peels pack enough antioxidants to make them the perfect natural detox you can get your hands on.

If you ever feel the need to detox, be it to keep it in shape or if you feel like you want to spoil yourself, pomegranate peels make the perfect detox tea.




Most of us well known about the benefits of pomegranates, but, very few are aware of the benefits of its peel. We often discard the peel of pomegranates. But this peel is blessed with numerous health and beauty benefits. It is an excellent remedy for stomach infections, throat tonsils, heart disease, acne, wrinkles, mouth odor, hemorrhoids and cough.

Pomegranate peels have more powerful antioxidants such as flavonoids, phenolics, and proanythocyanidins than what the pulp yields.

Health Benefits of Drinking Pomegranate Peel Tea

Prevents Wrinkles & Signs of Ageing

Drinking its tea prevents breakdown of collagen in your skin, in turn promoting cell growth, which helps delay signs of ageing and wrinkles effectively.

Improves Dental Hygiene

Pomegranate peels tea might help cope with a number of dental issues just like avoiding foul breath, gingivitis, carries as well as mouth ulcers.

Remedy for Sore Throat

If you are having sore throat or are suffering from tonsil pain drink pomegranate peel tea, it help you soothe your troubled throat and give immediate relief.

Improve Gut-Health

The peels have got tannis within them which help decrease inflammation of the intestine, swelling of hemorrhoids, tighten up intestinal lining, prevent bleeding throughout diarrhea and improve digestion.

Heart Health

Pomegranate peels tea good for heart disease. It reduces stress and lowers the blood pressure. Mix the sun-dried pomegranate peel powder with warm water and drink it daily or in alternate days to improve your heart health.

Prevent Skin Cancer

Many study show that pomegranate extracts contain a preventive agent that fights against the onset of skin cancer.

Good Moisturizing Agent

Pomegranate contains ellagic acid. This is a very good moisturizer and is rally effective in trapping the moisture in your skin. It ensures that the moisture in your skin cells does not dry out. Your skin is kept well hydrated.

Homemade Pomegranate Peel Tea Recipe

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of my herbal mixture or
pomegranate powder
mint
ginger
cumin
organic green tea leaves
1 teaspoon of honey

Instructions:

Put all the herbs in a coffee grinder and grind together to a fine powder.

Add in 1 teaspoon of the mixture to 1 and 1/4cup of water and bring to boil for 1 minute.

Remove from the fire and allow to steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the tea and add in the honey.

Enjoy!





I said to her, do you usually discard the peels each time you eat pomegranates and she said yes. Well, that's got to stop cos you are missing a whole lot from this medicinal and nutritious fruit. I made her understand that apart from using the pomegranates seeds for food preparations and juices such as the pomegranate juice, the peels can also be used for making tea.

First of all, you are not supposed to discard the pomegranates peels. Pomegranates peels are used for making pomegranate peel tea, which is packed with so many nutrients and antioxidants. Making the pomegranate peel tea is pretty easy; just wash the peels and add in a kettle of boiling water or a jug of hot water.

Cover and allow to stand for at least 30 mins before drinking. I must confess that the tea is slightly bitter but you can add a bit of honey, maple syrup or sugar for sweetness. For this recipe, I used maple syrup and it tasted perfectly okay.

Although I shared some few reasons with my friend but I am also using this opportunity to share with you some important things you definitely need to know about the pomegranate tea.


Pomegranate is botanically known as Punica granatum and the tea is simply made from its peels. Pomegranate peels have been proven to contain numerous nutrients, vitamins and anti-oxidants that are essential for the healthy functioning of the body.

Some Health Benefits of Pomegranate Peel Tea include:

Acts as a Detoxifier
Pomegranate peel tea is an excellent detoxifier due to the presence of antioxidants. Drinking pomegranate peel tea eliminates toxic substances from the body thereby keeping our body systems sound, healthy and capable of fighting diseases.

Boosts the Digestive System
Drinking the pomegranate peel tea is essential for destroying pathogenic cells in the gastrointestinal tracts thereby promoting healthy functioning of the digestive system. Drinking pomegranate tea helps to treat colitis, diarrhoea, bile, salmonella and ulcers.

Offers Relief from Sore Throat
Gargling the pomegranate peel tea or powdered pomegranate peels mixed with salt and hot water helps to give quick relief from sore throats.

Maintains Healthy Heart
Pomegranate peels are an excellent source of antioxidants that penetrate into the hot water for the body to utilise. The presence of antioxidants in the body is vital as they help to get rid of LDL cholesterol oxidation. It is worthy to note that excessive oxidization accumulation in the body is harmful to the cardiovascular system and can lead to heart diseases.

Good Dental Hygiene
Warm pomegranate peel tea with salt can be gargled by those suffering from a toothache. Gargling the tea also helps to tackle bad breath and mouth odour.

Reduction of Ocular Diseases
Drinking the pomegranate peel tea can help to minimise the onset of eye problems.


Excellent Source of Vitamin C
Pomegranate rinds are an excellent source of Vitamin C, therefore, drinking the tea supplies our body with enough vitamin C that are essential for repairing damaged body cells, healing wounds, cuts and bruises as well as for maintaining strong teeth and bones


Treatment of Cough

Pomegranate peels are anti-microbial in nature thus the tea can be taken for fighting cold and cough.

How Pomegranate Affects Women's Health,

Today the lovely pomegranate is recognised as a source of numerous benefits specific to women. 

Recent research suggests that the pomegranate, rich in flavonoids, may be effective at treating and possibly preventing breast cancer.

Moreover, pomegranate may help with the depression and bone loss associated with menopause. 

Phytoestrogen from pomegranate seeds have been shown to reduce some of the symptoms of menopause through gentle, mild stimulation of estrogen receptors -- hormone receptors that, following menopause, lose effectiveness.

Click here to read e-book . (Page 33-43) ....

Page 44: The concentrations of bio-identical estrogens (in the seeds) and phytoestrogen (in the fruit and juice) are not adequate to raise concern about promoting the growth of breast cancer. According to published studies, unlike its 17-beta sister, 17-alpha-estradiol does not promote cancer. 

In the two-thirds of breast cancers that are estrogen-receptor positive, the body's estrogen stimulate the proliferation of tumor cells. Recent laboratory research has found that the phytoestrogens in pomegranate can alter the way cells respond to the body's own estrogen. And polyphenolic substances in pomegranates have been shown to block the activity of the enzyme aromatase, which is involved in the synthesis of estrogen. Both laboratory findings suggest that the pomegranate may have a place in breast cancer treatment regimens. 

Scientists studied the effect of pomegranate seed extract on breast cancer cells in a laboratory environment. They discovered that the extract reduced the activity of 17-beta-estradiol -- the estrogen of concern in breast cancer -- by 50 percent.  Additionally, breast cancer cells that experienced this reduction in estrogen stimulation died with a significantly greater frequency than normal cells. 

The beautiful pomegranate rightly deserves its place as a symbol of fertility, women’s health, beauty, and healing.

Ancient secret for hormonal balance

Mankind has revered the magical, mystical pomegranate since the dawn of recorded history. Ancient Greeks, Romans, and the peoples of China, India, and the Middle East found its properties to be life-giving and invigorating.

Furthermore, the pomegranate fruit has been revered for thousands of years in all the world’s major religions as The Fruit of Life, springing from The Garden of Paradise. As the traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth, it was also thought to bestow invincibility upon the person who enjoyed its glittering sweet tartness. It is a fruit of legend and power – a sacred symbol of human civilisation. This fruit, known as ‘the jewel of winter’, was used for centuries in Middle Eastern folk medicine to treat many symptoms.

Modern science has now shown that pomegranates contain a rich and diverse range of beneficial and protective substances, including phytoestrogens, polyphenols, elligatannins, and anthocyanins. These compounds are all powerful antioxidants.

A woman’s elixir

Traditionally, the pomegranate has been renowned for being one of the most powerful elixirs for women’s health, hormonal balance, beauty, and fertility. The pomegranate assists women of all ages – it enhances fertility, balances menstrual cycles, corrects PMS, and alleviates menopausal hot flushes and night sweats.

In herbal tradition, there is a guiding principle called ‘the Doctrine of Signatures’ – relating specifically to the similarity of plants and their medicinal uses to parts of the body. By careful observation, one can intuit the healing properties of a plant from some aspect of its ‘nature’, appearance, or place of growing. According to the renowned Greek healer, Galen, this is “the ancient idea that the Creator left a signature on the plants to tell you what they’re for.”

Applying this, the Doctrine of Signatures can give greater appreciation about the correlation between the pomegranate’s colour and form and its corresponding medicinal properties. The reddish, round fruit is filled with many arils (seeds surrounded by fluid-filled sacs). These arils are encased within delicate inner membranes, very similar to the order, structure and appearance of the milk glands within the breast. The pomegranate also reminds us of the shape and structure of the ovaries, with its many follicles. There is another correlation with the similarity of the colour and shape of the heart and with the red juice reminiscent of the blood.

Far from just a quaint notion, modern science has actually discovered that the benefits of the pomegranate from its seeds, juice, peel, flowers, and stem, do indeed have a profound impact on breast health, fertility, hormonal balance, skin rejuvenation, and heart health.

Hormones and menopause

The flowers, peel, juice and pericarp (the ripened walls of the plant’s ovary) all contain compounds that especially help to support and modulate hormones and hormonal balance. One of the most powerful parts of this plant is oil extracted from its tiny seeds, which contains the greatest variety of phytoestrogens found anywhere in nature.

About 80 percent of the oil contains a very rare fatty acid, punic acid. This is similar to conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has potent fat-burning and anti-inflammatory abilities. The seeds have the highest plant source of the oestrogen, oestrone; plus, the main steroidal oestrogen in pomegranate seed oil is 17 alpha-oestradiol, a bio-identical oestrogen that is hundreds of times weaker (and safer) than other forms of oestrogen. In fact, 17 alpha-oestradiol is the mildest of all steroidal oestrogens.
The wide variety of safe phytoestrogens makes the pomegranate unique. Not only does it contain a wider range of phytoestrogens than any other plant, the oestrogenic richness of pomegranate encompasses additional steroidal oestrogens, such as oestradiol, oestriol, and oestrone, with an assortment of many phytoestrogenic flavonoids.

Dr Ephraim Lansky, one of the world’s leading researchers and experts in the health benefits of pomegranates, says, “The entire fruit is laced with oestrogens of various potencies in varying amounts. The mildest forms are the most common while the strongest kind is the rarest. There are over 10 oestrogenic compounds found in the pomegranate fruit. Oestrogen is defined as anything that binds to oestrogen receptors. The forms that can bind but not stimulate a strong oestrogenic effect are considered anti-oestrogenic and prevent stronger ones from having an effect. This is important for modulating diseases that are provoked by too much oestrogen.”

The ability of the many components found in the pomegranate to help safely and modulate and regulate hormones is certainly good news for women of all ages. These weaker and safer forms of oestrogens (while helping to stimulate the less responsive menopausal oestrogen receptors) will not contribute to oestrogen dominance. Pomegranate’s oil, as well as its juice, peel and flowers all help reduce many of the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. With the added progesterone- like benefits, women can experience more balanced hormones.

Beat inflammation

Another challenge to women’s health is the increasing incidence of chronic inflammation. Inflammatory conditions include: endometriosis, fibroids, polycystic ovarian syndrome, arthritis, autoimmune disease, asthma, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. Inflammation goes hand-in-hand with free radical damage. Dr Lansky developed a process creating potent pomegranate extracts combining fermented pomegranate juice, peel, leaves, flowers, and seed. This combined antioxidant activity has a powerful synergy.

Research demonstrates that the pomegranate extract’s anti-inflammatory effect inhibited the inflammatory enzyme COX-2 by an impressive 31 to 44 percent. Since oestrogen dominance also exacerbates inflammatory conditions, this superior fermented extract, in addition to its hormonal benefits, also has a huge impact on reducing inflammation. This is another huge plus for women’s hormonal health!

Breast health

The pomegranate is a paradoxical fruit. It has beneficial oestrogenic properties as well as anti-oestrogenic properties. Pomegranate extracts are able to effectively kill both oestrogen-positive and oestrogen-negative breast cancer cells. Dr Lansky reported in Breast Cancer Research & Treatment that, according to published studies, his unique pomegranate extracts selectively inhibited or killed the growth of breast cancer cells in culture. His ongoing research has demonstrated the extracts initiate eight different actions or mechanisms that can prevent breast cancer, as well as help in the treatment of breast cancer:

* Suppresses breast cancer cells
* Interferes with cancer’s growth cycle
* Inhibits products of hormones that stimulate cell growth
* Stops tumour cell invasion
* Initiates apoptosis (cell death)
* Promotes cell differentiation
* Has anti-angiogenesis properties (stopping the growth of blood vessels to tumours)
* Acts as an aromatase inhibitor (stopping the fat cells from making oestrogen)

According to Dr Lansky, “Pomegranates are unique in that the hormonal combinations inherent in the fruit seem to be helpful both for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Pomegranates seem to replace needed oestrogen often prescribed to protect postmenopausal women against heart disease and osteoporosis, while selectively destroying oestrogen-dependent cancer cells.”

Ovarian cancer hope

A yet unpublished study conducted at Yale University found impressive results with pomegranate extract and ovarian cancer cells. The study used the most virulent ovarian cancer lines, which had been resistant to all forms of treatment. The pomegranate extract was able to inhibit the cancer growth. Other types of cancers have responded positively in studies using pomegranate extracts, including prostate, stomach, lung cancers, and leukaemia.

Vaginal dryness

Without adequate lubrication, vaginal tissue becomes dry and thin. Besides painful intercourse, it can also lead to incontinence, bladder infections, and pelvic floor problems. The only really effective solution is a vaginal oestriol cream, which is not advised for women diagnosed with breast cancer, or at high risk of breast cancer since. Even though it is a weaker form of oestrogen, it can still increase oestrogen levels.

This is where pomegranate comes to the rescue. Dr Earl Surwit of the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine conducted a study looking for alternatives to oestrogen creams, and found that a pomegranate lipid complex successfully restored vaginal lubrication and healthy vaginal tissue. It also had a positive effect on incontinence and helped to strengthen pelvic floor muscles. In every way, the pomegranate extract was as effective as oestrogen creams, without raising oestrogen levels.

Treatment program: Use pomegranate seed oil, both topically, applying 2-4 drops daily to the vulva, and intravaginally. In addition, use a good pomegranate seed extract to help balance the entire hormonal system. Women who have been used this combination have reported an unexpected bonus: to their delight, they have experienced increased libido!

Glowing skin

Pomegranate seed oil has many cosmetic benefits, including the ability to restore epithelial tissue, which means it helps repair and stimulate the regeneration of new skin cells. It can be used topically, directly on the hands and face, as well as orally, as a dietary supplement to:

* Nourish and revitalise your skin and body
* Stall the effects of ageing while strengthening and supporting your immune system
* Soothe minor irritation as it smooths away wrinkles

Heal-thy self ...

 To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here) 

Sunday, 21 March 2010
POM WONDERFUL IN TROUBLE
It has now been seven years since the Journal of the National Cancer Institute asked, rhetorically, if pomegranate were "nature's power fruit." There have now been at least 30 scientific articles on the anticancer potential of pomegranate. One company, Pom Wonderful, has been spending some of its hard-earned money furthering research in this field. Their "reward" came February 23, 2010 when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a scathing 10-page warning letter, declaring POM Wonderful juice to be an unproven "drug," and demanding that the company stop providing health information relating to pomegranate on the company Web site.

According to the warning letter, "FDA's review found serious violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act." To understand this, you have to follow FDA's reasoning process. Each bottle of POM Wonderful juice understandably gives the company's Web address, www.pomwonderful.com. This Web site then cites various scientific studies that support the idea that pomegranate juice is a healthful beverage. According to FDA logic, this constitutes advertising. In regard to prostate cancer, the company states the following:

"In a clinical study involving 46 men with rising PSA after prostate cancer treatment (surgery or radiation) who consumed 8 ounces of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice daily over two years, PSA doubling time increased from 15 to 54 months....PSA doubling time is an indicator of prostate cancer progression."

These are truthful statements, derived from a 2006 phase II clinical trial conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). There were 14 coauthors on this study, which was published in Clinical Cancer Research (Pantuck 2006).

But according to FDA, the mere act of citing a scientific study automatically constitutes a form of advertising and turns an innocuous and healthful drink into a drug. Why? "When scientific publications are used commercially by the seller of a product to promote the product to consumers," they say, "such publications may become evidence of the product's intended use....The citation implies treatment or prevention of a disease."

POM Wonderful is not just a drug, but a "misbranded drug." Why? Because, according to FDA, "POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and POMx products are offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners; therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use these drugs safely for their intended purposes. Thus, your products are misbranded...in that the labeling for these drugs fails to bear adequate directions for use."

In other words, a person with prostate cancer cannot possibly 'treat' his own cancer because he is not a medical practitioner. Pomegranate juice is intended for use by the general public. Therefore no adequate label could be written for it, since de facto no layperson could possibly understand or interpret such instructions.

 To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here) 

Truly, this whole situation with FDA has gotten out of hand. It would require the writings of a great satirist, such as a Jonathan Swift or a Kurt Vonnegut, to capture the absurdity of the situation. A harmless juice, which has already demonstrated some huge health benefits, is arbitrarily reclassified as a drug, and then declared "misbranded" because no patient (other than a medical doctor) is by definition allowed to treat cancer, even his own.

Meanwhile, FDA avoids a few larger problems that in a saner world might capture its attention. I could mention a couple of dozen of them, but will simply point out that E. coli bacteria are running rampant through the entire food supply. In November there was a recall of 546,000 pounds of contaminated ground beef in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. This was only the tip of a huge iceberg of truly dangerous food products. But people who are trying to improve the health of the public are maligned and hampered by governmental agents.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

 To simplify complications is the FIRST essential of success. (Click here)