How Does This Ayurvedic Food Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

A sip of pomegranate on a hot day slices through muggy heat like jumping into a cool mountain stream. A bright combination of sweet, sour and astringent, pomegranate juice bursts with flavor. Its light yet rich sweetness simmers down the most heated temper, while a layer of astringency leaves you feeling refreshed, new, bright, and clean. Pomegranate stimulates the salivary glands relieving thirst on a hot summer's night. This sophisticated fruit juice makes a perfect addition to cocktails at parties, as it's liver nourishing qualities reduce hangovers and neutralizes alcohol's toxicity. Make pomegranate a nice addition to your barbeque, picnic, or even happy hours.

Cleanse the Stickiness out of Summer

Humidity can leave you feeling sticky, sweaty, and just plain down-and-out. Pomegranate's astringency can help dispel this stickiness and restore your elegance and equanimity. It's sour taste increases the flow of bile which removes sticky oils from the blood, making you feel refreshingly light. After a glass of this sour spritzer, you'll find immediate relief and begin to feel restored, clean, energetic, and bright.

Soothe Burning & Irritation

When heartburn, gas, & bloating leave irritation and burning in its wake, pomegranate juice is a tried-and-true remedy. The sour taste in both pomegranate reduces production of irritating stomach acids, while astringency cools down inflammation.

Pomegranate is excellent for all heat conditions of the digestive tract, including nausea. If you get nausea on an empty stomach or even morning sickness, it may be due to hyperacidity in the stomach.

Blood Tonic Beverage

If you are anemic or just feeling a little run-down and depleted, you may have a mild case of blood deficiency. Pull down your bottom eyelid and look in the mirror. If you see that the capillary bed looks pale, this is a great drink for you. The red color of pomegranate is an indicator that it has blood tonifying properties. Pomegranate helps in the production of red blood cells as it rebuilds fluids. It's sweetness, anti-oxidants and sour taste nourish the liver and restore blood chemistry. Together, these qualities make Pomegranate a great blood tonic. It builds the blood without building heat, which is why Pomegranate is an ideal fix for problems of the blood.

Alkaline Pomegranate

There is a lot of talk about alkaline foods. In Ayurveda, we translate that to mean foods that cool the blood. The next time you feel overheated, sip some pomegranate and check in to how your body feels about ten minutes later. Chances are, you feel relaxation around the eyes where you once felt tension. Your mind softens and your emotions cool down. You have just been "alkalized!!"

Glowing Skin Tonic

Skin disorders start in the liver. When the liver is taxed and overheated in summer, the skin comes to rescue by helping the liver detoxify the blood. The result is ruddy, acne ridden complexion as blood toxins come to the surface and irritate your skin. When this happens your skin will look inflamed, hot, and puffy. The liver cleansing & nourishing qualities of pomegranate restores strength to the liver and thus beauty to the skin. You'll feel your skin relax after drinking Pomegranate.

Digestive Aid

Pomegranate is strongly sour, thus encouraging secretions in the digestive tract and salivary glands. These secretions improve taste, digestion, and regular elimination (functioning as a mild laxative and reducing gas). Their watery nature alleviates dryness, hydrating both the skin and internal membranes such as the colon.

Although many sours are irritating topically, pomegranate is a rare gem because it is a soothing exception to the rule. This makes pomegranate a very useful digestive aid to those suffering from high Pitta in the digestive tract. If a pomegranate mocktail is too cold for you, and suppresses your natural appetite, add pinch of ginger powder to warm it up a touch and pacify frazzled Vata. To counteract dryness in Vata pushing Pitta type digestive tract, add lime and a pinch of salt. Pomegranate is also used as a rejuvenator. Our friend and Ayurvedic practitioner, Aubrey Bamdad, suggests adding the bitterness of aloe vera to this recipe. We agree and love this delicious, cooling variation!

Muscle strength

Pomegranate was used in ancient times for heart and muscle strenth, perhaps due to pomegranates sourness which dilates blood vessels and improves circulation. In modern times, pomegranate is used to improve muscle strength and reduce soreness after exercising.

High blood pressure (hypertension)

Pomegranates cooling, pitta pacifying qualities, ability to improve blood vessel function, and its ability to calm pitta in the mind make it useful for high blood pressure.

Buying & Preparation

Select pomegranates that are heavy for their size, as these are the juiciest. A deeper darker pomegranate will have a sweeter less tart aste. They are best stores in the refrigerator, where they will last 3-4 weeks. To easily harvest the seeds from the peel and membrane, cut in half and score the skin of each half 4-6 times. Tap the back with a spoon. Any additional separation should be done in a bowl full of water as the seeds sink and the pulp floats. Pomegranates red color stains anything it touches, so be careful when opening.