Pomegranate: The Most Medicinal Fruit
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About this ebook
Robert A. Newman
Is a faculty member at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
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Pomegranate - Robert A. Newman
POMEGRANATE
The Most Medicinal Fruit
ROBERT A. NEWMAN, PH.D.
AND EPHRAIM P. LANSKY, M.D.
WITH MELISSA LYNN BLOCK, M.ED.
The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the authors. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other healthcare provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a healthcare professional.
The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular healthcare protocol but believes the information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and authors are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the authors and the publisher strongly suggest consulting a professional healthcare advisor.
Basic Health Publications, Inc.
28812 Top of the World Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-715-7327 • www.basichealthpub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newman, Robert A., Ph. D.
Pomegranate : the most medicinal fruit / Robert A. Newman, Ephraim P. Lansky, with Melissa Lynn Block. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59120-535-7
1. Pomegranate—Health aspects. I. Lansky, Ephraim P. II. Block, Melissa. III. Title.
RM666.P798N49 2007
615.8'54—dc22
2007002926
Copyright © 2007 by Robert A. Newman and Ephraim P. Lansky
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
Editor: Roberta W. Waddell
Copyeditor: John Anderson
Interior design and production: Gary A. Rosenberg
Cover design & illustration: Kris Waldherr
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction
1. A Wealth of Phytochemicals
2. A Pleitrope by Any Other Name
3. Women’s Health
4. Men’s Health
5. Your Heart Will Love Pomegranates
6. The Pomegranate Diet
7. The Most Beautiful Fruit
8. Today’s Best Pomegranate Products and Supplements
9. Pomegranate as a Source of Beneficial Compounds
Conclusion
Practical Tips and Recipes
Resources
References
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to my co-authors, Robert A. Newman and Melissa Block, for their diligence, creativity, and quality control. Neal Holtzman and Steve Schwartz helped greatly to keep the process on track and the fires burning. Jarrow L. Rogovin and Peilin Guo were sources of inspiration. The following people assisted spiritually, materially, and energetically throughout: Drs. Shen Yu, Robert Zimmerman, and Martin Goldman, Edith, Zipora, Shifra, Yale, Aaron and Sidney Lansky, Cousin Barbara Mickelson, Ann Glassman, Matthew Robinson, Mark Efron, Yossi Diamant, Uri Burstyn, Eli Merom, Jacob Habooba, Shlomo Ben Shushan, and Rav Avidan Chazani.
—Ephraim P. Lansky
I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of my co-authors and thank them for guiding me through this publishing experience. I am also truly grateful to our patients and their families, who are the driving force that inspires us on a daily basis to find and improve products of value for maintenance of good health and prevention of disease. To you, our valued reader: please know that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book are being used to develop the first pharmaceutical pomegranate product to one day directly assist in the prevention of breast cancer.
—Robert A. Newman
Thanks to Norman Goldfind for sending this fascinating project my way; to Ephraim Lansky for his commitment to integration of Nature’s gifts with modern medicine; to Steve Schwartz and Neal Holtzman for their enthusiasm and patience; to Sue Emonds for her help and support; and to Bobby Waddell for her editorial expertise (and flexibility in the daunting face of Track Changes).
—Melissa Lynn Block
Introduction
T
he two of us, Robert A. Newman, Ph.D., and Ephraim P. Lansky, M.D., have been collaborating for years on the development of a botanical for use in the treatment and/or prevention of cancer. As a result of this search, we have found pomegranate to be an excellent candidate. We studied in vitro the effects of various components of this fruit—peel, seed, and juice—on the growth of breast, prostate, and skin cancer cells, and the results have been uniformly promising. We and fellow researchers have found that pomegranate is useful for other indications as well.
While research into creating specific pomegranate preparations is ongoing, pomegranate can be added to the diet in multiple ways right now. Juice, whole fruit, and supplements from properly prepared extracts can all provide benefits. Although our experience has been more in the realm of peer reviewed scientific journals, we decided to create this book about pomegranate’s benefits to provide a bridge between the research and the public.
The pomegranate has long been used as a symbol of medicine. Patricia Langley’s marvelous article, Why a Pomegranate?
, describes how the pomegranate has been held sacred by many of the world’s major religions and how preparations of different parts of the plant have been used to treat a variety of medical conditions through the ages. The pomegranate features in the coat of arms of several medical associations and it was chosen over DNA, the human body, and a heartbeat as the logo for the 2000 Millennium Festival of Medicine.
Royal College of Physicians Coat of Arms
In Judaism, the pomegranate is a symbolic food representing sanctity, fertility, and abundance. Its seeds are said to number 613—one for each of the Bible’s 613 commandments. The fruit has been featured in Jewish architecture and even decorated the pillars of King Solomon’s temple. The Song of Solomon compares the cheeks of a bride behind her veil to the two halves of a pomegranate.
In Christian art, the pomegranate is a symbol of resurrection and eternal life. It is also found in paintings of the Virgin Mother and Child. In medieval representations, the pomegranate tree, a fertility symbol, is associated with the end of a unicorn hunt. According to legend, unicorns, wild by nature, can be tamed only by virgins. Once tamed, the unicorn was held in a garden and chained to a pomegranate tree, symbolizing the impending incarnation of Christ.
In her article, Langley describes the myth of the Greek goddess Persephone, in which the fruit has an integral part in the creation of the seasons. Persephone is allowed to travel from the underworld to the verdant surface of the Earth for a part of each year, bringing Spring and Summer to the planet, but she must return to the underworld each fall. Her union with Hades, the god of the underworld, is sealed not with a kiss, but with the consumption of a pomegranate seed.
Langley points out, The pomegranate fruit is topped by a structure which provided the prototype for the crowns of kings; the sanguine-colored juice brings to mind the life substance flowing through the arteries; and the multiplicity of seeds is a natural metaphor for reproductive success. These parallels suggested to the ancients that the pomegranate might also possess some impressive chemistry with direct practical relevance for the armamentarium of the physician. Contemporary medicine is beginning to recognize this as well. The pomegranate enjoys a coveted medicinal image with multi-faceted applications for protection and improvement of health.
This guide to the pomegranate details what each part of the fruit—seeds, juice, and peel—has to offer. Even the tree’s leaves, bark, and roots have therapeutic properties. This venerable fruit is filled with much more than just juicy red seeds, known as arils. (Wikipedia defines an aril as a fleshy covering of certain seeds formed from the funinculus, the attachment point of the seed.
)
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the chemical composition and history of the pomegranate.
Chapter 2 proposes that pomegranate deserves a place in the realm of superfoods, delivering numerous potent health benefits.
Chapter 3 details how pomegranate