JAMES MESCHINO, DC, MS, ND
Although drinking fruit juices can have the undesirable effect of spiking blood sugar and adding unwanted calories to the diet, the one juice that may be worth considering is Pomegranate Juice.
Over the years Pomegranate Juice has shown impressive anti-cancer properties in experimental studies. In recent years these properties have also emerged in some small human studies.
Prostate Cancer: Pure Pomegranate juice has shown the ability to slow the increase of PSA, a blood protein that is a marker of the progression of prostate cancer as well as an indicator of response to treatment.
One study evaluated the effect of pomegranate juice on PSA levels in men after they had been treated for prostate cancer. All patients had rising levels of PSA prior to intervention, an indication that their cancer was very likely progressing. But following supplementation with pomegranate, the rate of PSA increase was slower.
This suggests that pomegranate slowed cancer growth. A subsequent study confirmed the finding that pomegranate extract slowed the rate at which PSA levels increased.
Pomegranate and Breast Cancer: Animal studies using pomegranate have demonstrated that pomegranate can prevent breast cancer cell growth, induce cancer cell death, block inflammation, and reduce the potential for breast cancer cells to spread. Pomegranate may also prevent the initial formation of breast cancer. In one study, researchers administered a cancer-causing toxin to rats to induce breast cancer. They found that supplementation with pomegranate blocked many of the harmful effects of the toxin.
An extract of pomegranate was also found to prevent the migration of breast cancer cells and to induce cancer cell death. You may want to consider drinking 4-6 ounces per day of pure pomegranate juice, as one more lifelong wellness strategy
Reference
Urology of Virginia: https://www.urologyofva.net/articles/category/longevity/3108752/04/18/2019/effect-of-pomegranate-on-cancer-formation-and-growth
