Pomegranate Compounds Promote Good GI Bacteria

Belgian researchers report that pomegranate peel extracts, abundant in polyphenol antioxidant compounds, may exert prebiotic effects – providing a beneficial physiological effect by stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut.  Audrey Neyrinck, from the Universite catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and colleagues stay lab animal model and fed them a high-fat diet, with or without a pomegranate peel extract at a daily dose of 6 mg, for four weeks. Among the mice receiving the pomegranate extract, the team observed a significant increase in Bifidobacteria levels. As well, cholesterol levels improved, which the researchers posit resulted from a counter-action of high-fat expression of inflammatory markers in the colon and visceral adipose tissue. The study authors submit that: “these findings support that pomegranate constitutes a promising food in the control of atherogenic and inflammatory disorders associated with diet-induced obesity.”