The Health Benefits and Cautions of Pomegranate: What to Avoid Mixing

 Pomegranate is a sweet fruit with a red hard shell. It has four to five chambers inside, and each one holds juicy seeds. These seeds are the edible part, and can be eaten plain or you can sprinkle them on fruit salads and other dishes. For long, people have been including this fruit in their diet due to its potential health benefits. It may be good for your heart or help in reducing the severity of arthritis. But mixing it with certain fruits may not be a good food combination. It may also interact with the medications that you have to manage health conditions. Read on to know what not to mix with pomegranate.

What are the Health Benefits of Pomegranate?

Pomegranate may offer the following health benefits:

1. Heart Health

Pomegranate is full of antioxidants, such as flavonoids and anthocyanins. They can help in reducing oxidative stress and fat build-up in blood vessels, says dietitian Ramya B. These antioxidants can reduce bad cholesterol or low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and increase good cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which in turn help to support heart health.

2. Arthritis

It is a degenerative joint disease caused due to inflammatory action that happens in the body. Pomegranate may help to manage rheumatoid arthritis complications by reducing the inflammation and oxidative stress, according to a research published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice in 2021.

3. Fertility

Pomegranate seed extract and fruit extract have a protective nature over embryos against oxidative stress. So, it may support both male and female fertility, says the expert.

What are the Side Effects of Pomegranate?

Pomegranate usually does not have side effects, but some people may experience diarrhea. There are also chances of people developing allergic reactions such as itching and swelling, says the expert. You can eat them in the morning or enjoy it as a mid-morning snack. Don't overeat; just half a cup of pomegranate seeds per day is enough, says Ramya.

What Not to Mix with Pomegranate?

While pomegranates can be part of numerous dishes, avoid having them with the following:

1. Sweet Fruits

Pomegranates are sub-acidic fruits or low acidic fruits. So, mixing them with sweet fruits like bananas is not a good food combination. Mixing the two can hamper your digestion.

2. Warfarin

Termed as blood thinners, it is a drug used for controlling coagulation. Pomegranate may interact with Warfarin, as per research published in the Journal of Food and Drug Analysis in 2018. It may increase the blood clotting rate in people treated with Warfarin.

3. Nitrendipine

It is a calcium channel blocker used to treat hypertension or high blood pressure. If you frequently drink pomegranate juice, it may reduce the intestinal metabolism of the drug, says the expert.

4. Statin

Statins are medicines that are prescribed to lower the level of LDL cholesterol. In rare cases, having it with pomegranate may cause rhabdomyolysis in which the muscle tissue breaks down leading to kidney damage.

5. ACE Inhibitors

These medications are used to prevent kidney damage in diabetics and to treat heart failure. Pomegranate juice may have some of the same effects as these drugs and could make them too strong, and so you may experience side effects such as dizziness or headaches.

But there are some medications that don't interact with pomegranate, including metformin, which is a common drug given to control diabetes, says the expert. Piracetam, a drug to improve mental performance and cognitive function, and theophylline, meant to treat asthma, can be safely consumed without worrying about interactions with pomegranate.

Pomegranate may have health benefits, but mixing it with certain fruits or medications may harm your body.