Pomegranate Seed Oil is an oil extract from Pomegranate Seed and it’s benefits includes treating acne, boosting immune function, helps optimize cholesterol level, help manage diabetes and helps enhance the skin. Other benefits includes promoting weight loss, preventing cancer, relieving symptoms of arthritis, reducing severity of menopause symptoms, improving cognitive function, treating hair loss, promoting digestive health, lowering blood pressure, improving dental health and improving fertility in men and women.
What is Pomegranate Seed Oil?
Pomegranates have recently earned their place as one of the world’s premier superfoods, with the fleshy parts attached to their multiple tiny seeds responsible for many of their health effects. But what about the actual seeds? Like many other fruits, people just tend to toss out the seeds, even though time and time again, the seeds typically possess a wealth of nutrients that the fruit pulp does not.
Known scientifically as Punica granatum, the Pomegranate is believed to have originated in the regions of Persia and South Asia, though today it is grown widely in many tropical countries.
Luckily, pomegranate seed oil can be extracted, being convenient to use and best of all allowing you to experience benefits you would otherwise toss. Let’s check out what pomegranate seed oil can do for you:
17 Impressive Benefits & Uses of Pomegranate Seed Oil
1. Helps Treat Acne
Pomegranate seed oil possesses both anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to clear up symptoms of acne, such as pimples and associated redness. By exerting its effects on bacterial growth, pimples often are unable to form in the first instance, so outbreaks of pimples are less frequent.
2. Boosts Immune Function
Pomegranate seed oil is rich in the immune boosting vitamin C, which helps to stimulate your body’s defenses against foreign invaders. This is especially useful in helping prevent seasonal colds and flus which are transmitted easily between persons in close proximity to each other.
3. Helps Optimize Cholesterol Levels
Pomegranate oil is rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are known to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, improve HDL and also help reduce triglyceride levels to an extent. Controlling cholesterol levels is important to reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases, as well as keeping blood vessel walls clean from plaque deposits.
4. Can Help Manage Diabetes
Pomegranate seed oil has been shown to help reduce insulin resistance, which pans out to better blood sugar glucose. Diabetics typically suffer from reduced insulin sensitivity, which makes blood glucose control very difficult. Pomegranate seed oil is also virtually sugar free, which makes it suitable for regular use by diabetics.
5. Useful For Skin Health
Pomegranate oil is rich in anti-oxidants, and is an excellent moisturizing agent, making it ideal for application to the skin. It helps to neutralize free radical damage from the sun, can promote collagen synthesis, and reduce the signs of aging and wrinkles.
6. May Help With Weight Loss
Pomegranate seed oil may improve metabolic rate, increasing fat metabolism, and preventing storage of new fat. While it is not a stimulant by any means, its fat content also helps reduce inflammation associated with rapid oxidation of fat, keeping the circulatory system health at the same time.
7. Helps Prevent Cancer
A compound found in pomegranate seed oil known as Punicic acid, has shown great potential in stopping the growth of cancer cells or cells with pre-cancerous potential. It is believed that pomegranate seed oil disrupts energy production in the mitochondria of these cancerous cells, killing them in the process.
8. Help Relieve Symptoms Of Arthritis
Arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition that usually gets progressively worse as the joint damage continues, but luckily we can do things to reduce the pain and inflammation associated with it. Consumption of pomegranate seed oil helps to relieve inflammation and associated pain, and can also be applied topically to the affected joint for local pain relief.
9. Reduce Severity Of Menopause Symptoms
Pomegranate seed oil, similar to the pomegranate fruit, is a phytoestrogen with SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator) properties, meaning that is provides the benefits associated with estrogen, but without the negatives it is known for. Take for example the fact that artificially elevating estrogen levels postmenopausally increases risk of hormone dependent cancers, but pomegranate’s selective estrogen properties can block actions at the breast, but still allow for benefits on bone, the heart, and even the reproductive tract. Pomegranates are an excellent supplemental form of estrogen when all things are considered.
10. Improve Testosterone Levels
There is also research that proves that men interested in optimizing their testosterone levels can benefit from supplementation of pomegranate seed oil as well. The oil possesses anti-aromatase properties, which inhibit the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Men need just a small amount of estrogen for essential health, but typically way too much testosterone is converted into estrogen and adverse effects abound. This property of pomegranate seed oil makes it especially attractive for bodybuilders and men who wish to raise their libido or sexual function.
11. May Improve Cognitive Function
Regular use of pomegranate seed oil can improve memory and improve overall cognitive function. It may even help to prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties.
12. Can Help Treat Hair Loss
Pomegranate seed oil can help to slow down hair loss is action is taken early, as the oil helps improve circulation, helping to promote nutrient delivery to the follicles. It also helps to protect hair from excessive damage, and help hair regain its youthful self.
13. Help Promote Digestive Health
While most foods/ supplements that promote digestive health contain high amounts of fiber, pomegranate seed oil does so by helping to nurture cultures of good bacteria, the probiotic bacteria in the gut. Pomegranate seed oil helps to combat levels of pathogenic bacteria, allowing the good bacteria that participates in digestion a chance to multiply and colonize the gut.
14. Can Lower Blood Pressure
Pomegranate seed oil is known for its ability to reduce atherosclerotic plaque deposits on blood vessel walls, but also shows great promise in reducing blood pressure. Pomegranate seed extract is sometime included in male enhancement products for its ability to improve blood flow and stimulate erections, and shows the same ability in reducing blood pressure. Daily supplementation of the oil can translate to great improvement s in blood pressure over the long term.
15. Can Be Applied To Open Wounds
Pomegranate seed oil has anti-bacterial properties that can be used in more ways than just ingested. Applying to an open found not only prevent bacterial infection, but can also speed up healing of the skin thanks to its collagen stimulating property. Apply twice daily to affected areas for best results.
16. Improves Fertility In Men And Women
Regular use of pomegranate seed oil helps reverse the effects of oxidative stress on sperm, and can alleviate dysmenorrhea in women which can inhibit normal egg release. Its wide spectrum of nutrients also ensure that sperm quality is superior as well.
17. Can Be Used To Improve Dental Health
Oil pulling is a new technique that is growing in popularity thanks to its benefits on oral health, especially in reversing signs of dental decay and significantly reducing bacterial colonization in the mouth. Oil pulling with pomegranate oil is said to form a protective coat on teeth that also helps to restore the enamel and is regarded as superior to mouthwashes.
Conclusion
Pomegranate has much more going on for it than eating the meaty arils, as the seeds have much more benefits than meets the eye. Try to get your hands on a quality pomegranate oil supplement as soon as you can, and enjoy some of its unique benefits.
