Could Pomegranate Juice Be the Answer?

May 25, 2016

Painful joints and degraded bones are familiar to anyone aging with osteoarthritis. Tariq M. Haqqi, Ph.D., a researcher and professor of anatomy and neurobiology at NEOMED, believes that pomegranate juice could offer a solution and eventually, perhaps an alternative to surgical joint replacement. He has identified natural products in pomegranate juice that have a protective effect of suppressing an inflammatory response in cartilage.

The takeaway from Dr. Haqqi?

Drinking pomegranate juice early in life, while you’re participating in sports and other activities, may protect against later inflammation, which degrades cartilage. The key is to start drinking the juice early and regularly, before pain begins. For those people whose osteoarthritis has progressed to the stage where cartilage is already extensively damaged, antioxidants can’t reverse the condition – but there’s still an upside. Drinking pomegranate juice along with the drugs that your physician prescribes can help minimize the gastrointestinal discomfort that is often a side effect of the medicine.

Drink up: your gut will thank you.

Republished from Ignite, Vol. 17.1, Spring 2016.