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For millennia, people have enjoyed the juicy tartness of the famous pomegranate, believing it to bode well for life and prosperity. Nowadays, researchers are unearthing more of the science behind the health benefits of pomegranates.
In the last couple of decades, evidence of the fruit’s antioxidant, antifungal, antidepressive and cancer-fighting properties has been mounting.1,2 Some researchers have learned of its power to boost memory,3 while others have reported on the relief it may provide to those who deal with arthritis and joint disorders.4
Pomegranate also offers new hope in the fight against COVID-19, as a team of Italian researchers have pointed to the role of pomegranates in calming the cytokine storm associated with severe forms of COVID-19 — highlighting its anti-inflammatory defenses that may also double as potent protection for your heart.5
Pomegranates, lemongrass and turmeric are often used by those who are looking for natural solutions to inflammation.6 They work through the mechanisms of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, or PPAR-γ, which “… is an intra-cellular molecule that … modulates vascular and immune processes …”7
For that reason, the question has arisen as to whether it can help to calm the infamous cytokine storm associated with COVID-19. According to a group of Italian researchers, focusing on ways to reduce the immune response may allow the body to heal itself more quickly, particularly with the novel coronavirus:8
“The cytokine storm is an abnormal production of inflammatory cytokines, due to the over-activation of the innate immune response … an immunomodulatory approach targeting the over-production of cytokines could be proposed for viral aggressive pulmonary disease treatment.
In this regard, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ, a member of the PPAR transcription factor family, could represent a potential target.”
The pomegranate-PPAR-γ connection is related to the punicic acid in the oils of its seeds, which lower the level of expression of the cytokines that cause inflammation.9 It’s the work of PPAR-γ that keeps the immune response at bay, and the transcription factor is said to work in a number of systems, including the nervous system, circulatory system, digestive system and immune system.
As one of the commonly available foods that offer this level of protection and defense, the role of the pomegranate in a healthy diet is becoming increasingly clear:
“Moreover, nutritional ligands able to activate PPAR-γ have been identified in a wide range of natural products, including sea food and fish oil, pomegranate, and herbs and spices (curcuma, thyme, oregano, hot pepper, rosemary, sage, lemongrass), commonly used in cooking. These nutritional PPAR-γ agonists exert inhibitory effects on pro-inflammatory cytokines and promote immune cell differentiation into anti-inflammatory phenotypes.
These foods could represent a natural anti-inflammatory defense useful to strengthen individual health. The promotion of a more conscious lifestyle characterized by a diet rich in foods, herbs, and spices capable of activating PPAR-γ could be a valid option to strengthen the immune system via natural methods in order to prevent cytokine storm occurrence in the case of infections due to coronavirus.”10
The four-person research team from Orsola-Malpighi Hospital and the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy, suggested that a two-pronged approach involving medications and diet may be the route to efficiently treating those with the virus.
In 2013, a team from Haifa, Israel, wrote an article on the use of pomegranates in improving heart health, due to their impressive multiple mechanisms of action. In an extensive review of the literature, the scientists described how the fruit has long been used as traditional medicine.
Its juice is full of antioxidants with high bioavailability, each of which directly impact cardiovascular health.11 Multiple studies were cited in reference to the fruit’s ability to address atherosclerosis,12 blood pressure13 and cholesterol.14
What’s especially interesting about this fruit is that the antioxidants for which it’s known are bound to its sugars. Some researchers are impressed with its three-tiered punch against diabetes: It is low in carbohydrates, has a low glycemic load and helps with insulin sensitivity. For those with diabetes, this is good news.15 While the juice of the pomegranate was discussed most often, all parts of the fruit offer a nutritional windfall:16
“The preferred pomegranate product in terms of biological potency and consequent health benefits is [pomegranate juice] from the whole fruit (including the peel).
Since the combination of antioxidants that exists in [pomegranate juice] can provide a wider range of free radical scavenging capacities than an individual antioxidant, clinical and nutritional studies in humans should be directed towards the use of combinations of several types of dietary antioxidants, as well as combinations of flavonoids together with other nutritional antioxidants, such as vitamin E or carotenoids.”
Antioxidants are nature's way of providing your cells with adequate defense against attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS). As we learn more and more about the role of antioxidants in almost every system of our body, it’s being discovered that pomegranates are one of the few foods that contain three types of antioxidant polyphenols, including tannins, anthocyanins and ellagic acid, in significant amounts. According to the authors:17
“An overall antioxidant potency composite index was calculated by assigning each test equal weight. [Pomegranate juice] had the greatest antioxidant potency composite index among the beverages tested and was at least 20% greater than any of the other beverages tested.”
The authors of a 2016 study conducted at Texas A&M University noted that pomegranate’s anti-inflammatory tannins have been evaluated for helping prevent colon cancer. In an investigation involving mice, the team compared mangoes to pomegranates in terms of reducing inflammation in the stomach and found both to be beneficial. Both gallotannins in mangos and ellagitannins in the pomegranate were noted as being protective against ulcerative colitis.18
More recently, a study from Catania, Italy, gained attention for its discussion of pomegranate extract (PE) in relation to weight control. Specifically, “… a synergistic effect of probiotics and polyphenols contained in PE may affect in vitro adipogenesis and may contribute in development of new nutraceutical/probiotic-based remedies to prevent and to treat obesity,” researchers wrote.19
The team, led by Valeria Sorrenti of Università di Catania, took powdered pomegranate extract and mixed it with distilled water to study its polyphenol content and the effects it may have on the body.
Plant-based foods contain polyphenols, which are micronutrients known to aid in weight loss, digestion and even diabetes. Other foods, such as certain vegetables, beans and nuts, contain these, but pomegranate is of interest because of the amount that it contains as well as its overall nutritional profile.20
The Catania researchers also spoke of the role of PPARγ, explaining that it helps regulate the expression of genes related to fat as well as the body’s propensity to accumulate it. Pomegranates, along with a number of herbs, spices and types of seafood, have been shown to work by way of the PPARγ in activating glucose and lipid metabolism.21
In the same study, the team investigated a probiotic strain, LGG (L. rhamnosus GG ATCC 53103 strain), and noted that pomegranate extract, in combination with LGG, significantly lowered the amount of intracellular fat that accumulated. Many of their results were in line with those of previous researchers, which, when taken together, point to the promise of pomegranate-based solutions to modern health issues.
The popularity of pomegranates has grown as more and more is learned about the health benefits that may be realized from indulging in them. In India, where Ayurveda is practiced, all parts of the fruit — including the root and bark — have medicinal purpose.22
John Cardellina II, Ph.D., of the Reeves Group in Virginia Beach, Virginia, writes that the phenolic compounds gallotannins, ellagitannins, lignans, benzoic acid and anthocyanins are the main sources of pomegranate’s strength. Yet with all this, there is still much to be revealed, as the skin of the fruit is now being studied for 79 phenolic compounds that have been identified in the last several years.23
Pomegranate seed oil has its own special place in the fruit’s list of benefits, as it’s full of phytosterols and fatty acids. The U.S. FDA endorses the consumption of phytosterols, stating in a 2019 revision to the Code of Federal Regulations, “Scientific evidence demonstrates that diets that include plant sterol/stanol esters may reduce the risk of [coronary heart disease].”24
While there’s a regular stream of new evidence for the consumption of whole foods like pomegranates and perhaps pomegranate extract and peel in improving your health, it’s important to keep the fundamentals in mind: No one food is sufficient to meet all your nutritional needs, and too much of a good thing may introduce its own set of problems.
Also, with the growing interest in nonpharmaceutical remedies for common health ailments, unfortunately, some manufacturers have taken pomegranate extract and added a number of adulterants to it, thereby reducing its nutritional punch. In this way, you may be better off eating a whole piece of the fruit itself.25
Certain juices, meanwhile, may contain traces of pomegranate extract, but they can be loaded with artificial sugars and other additives that are not so helpful. It’s best to check the list of ingredients and opt for the brands that use organic, non-GMO ingredients and that also keep out the unwanted extras. If you choose to drink pomegranate juice, do so in moderation due to the sugar content.
Keep in mind, also, that pomegranate peel contains more than twice the amount of antioxidants than the pulp,26,27 but consuming the whole fruit in moderation will provide added fiber (which is found in the edible seeds).
If you've never eaten a pomegranate before you may be curious what part is actually edible, and what's not. If you cut one in half, you'll find that it's filled with juice-filled seed sacs called arils (about 600 of them in an average pomegranate), separated by thin white (and bitter) membranes.
Arils are the "jewels" of the pomegranate, and they're the part you'll want to enjoy. Many people enjoy pomegranates alone as a snack, but you can also sprinkle the arils over salads or cooked dishes. Inside each aril is a crunchy, fiber-rich seed. While some people spit them out, you can eat them whole, seed and all.
You might even consider growing pomegranates yourself, and then experimenting with the number of ways the seeds, skin and flesh may be used in a healthy diet. Just like when you’re shopping for the best, most natural products, you’ll want to do the same thing when choosing from among the many merchants that sell fruit and nut trees.
Several reputable businesses specialize in non-GMO options,28 and many are also just as committed to wholly organic practices.29 When it’s time to dive in and enjoy this refreshing treat, consider my recipe for a Fall Mediterranean Chopped Salad or Healthy Beef Stroganoff.
I’ve written several articles reviewing Bill Gates’ control of global health, technology and food policy agendas. Financial influence is, of course, at the heart of this power and not-entirely-obscure influence.
By injecting millions of dollars into various industries, companies and organizations, many of which further strengthen the connections by interlinking and doing business with each other, Gates has risen to become one of the most influential individuals in the world.
While he has faced public backlash a number of times in his career, especially when he was CEO of Microsoft in the ‘90s, he’s become increasingly insulated from negative reviews, thanks to the fact that he also funds journalism and major media corporations.
In an August 21, 2020, article1 in Columbia Journalism Review, Tim Schwab highlights the connections between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a number of newsrooms, including NPR.
In August 2019, NPR reported2 how Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights program had successfully helped low-income families obtain housing in wealthier “high-opportunity” areas identified by economist Raj Chetty, who heads the program, thereby allowing the children an opportunity to achieve greater success in life.
“According to researchers cited in the article, these children could see $183,000 greater earnings over their lifetimes — a striking forecast for a housing program still in its experimental stage,” Schwab writes.3
However, “If you squint as you read the story, you’ll notice that every quoted expert is connected to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which helps fund the project. And if you’re really paying attention, you’ll also see the editor’s note at the end of the story, which reveals that NPR itself receives funding from Gates.”
NPR denies that funding had anything to do with its decision to write the story, or its slant. Still, as Schwab notes, the article is just one of hundreds NPR has reported that is highly favorable to the Gates Foundation and the work it funds.
As such, it’s part of a much larger trend, he says, “with billionaire philanthropists bankrolling the news.” Naturally, when you hold the purse strings, you end up with a fair level of influence as to what gets run.
This is precisely why I decided against allowing advertisers on my website, opting to sell carefully vetted products instead. I never wanted to end up in a situation where an advertiser might try to influence my reporting by threatening to withdraw advertising. As noted by Schwab:4
“As philanthropists increasingly fill in the funding gaps at news organizations … an underexamined worry is how this will affect the ways newsrooms report on their benefactors. Nowhere does this concern loom larger than with the Gates Foundation, a leading donor to newsrooms and a frequent subject of favorable news coverage.”
Schwab reports he examined the recipients of nearly 20,000 Gates Foundation grants, finding more than $250 million had been given to major media companies, including BBC, NBC, Al Jazeera, ProPublica, National Journal, The Guardian, Univision, Medium, the Financial Times, The Atlantic, the Texas Tribune, Gannett, Washington Monthly, Le Monde, PBS NewsHour and the Center for Investigative Reporting. (The timeframe of those grants is unfortunately unclear.)
The Gates Foundation has also given grants to charitable organizations that in turn are affiliated with news outlets, such as BBC Media Action and The New York Times’ Neediest Cases Fund.
Journalistic organizations such as the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the National Press Foundation, the International Center for Journalists, the Solutions Journalism Network and The Poynter Institute have also received grants from the Gates Foundation.
Ironically, “The foundation even helped fund a 2016 report5 from the American Press Institute that was used to develop guidelines6 on how newsrooms can maintain editorial independence from philanthropic funders,” Schwab writes.
The Gates Foundation has also participated in dozens of media conferences, including the Perugia Journalism Festival, the Global Editors Network and the World Conference of Science Journalism, and has an unknown number of undisclosed contracts with media companies to produce sponsored content.
According to Schwab, the only contract that has been publicly disclosed is one with Vox. An example of the advertising content produced through this kind of contractual agreement is the 2018 Vox article,7 “Human Capital and the Benefits, Explained,” which explains how changing world demographics are changing the perception of humans’ value.
Upon scrutiny, it becomes abundantly obvious that when Gates hands out grants to journalism, it’s not an unconditional handout that these companies can do whatever they see fit with. It comes with significant strings, and really amounts to little more than the purchasing of stealth self-promotions that are essentially undisclosed ads. Schwab writes:8
“When Gates gives money to newsrooms, it restricts how the money is used — often for topics, like global health and education, on which the foundation works — which can help elevate its agenda in the news media.
For example, in 2015 Gates gave $383,000 to the Poynter Institute, a widely-cited authority on journalism ethics … earmarking the funds ‘to improve the accuracy in worldwide media of claims related to global health and development.’ Poynter senior vice president Kelly McBride said Gates’s money was passed on to media fact-checking sites ...
Since 2000, the Gates Foundation has given NPR $17.5 million through 10 charitable grants — all of them earmarked for coverage of global health and education, specific issues on which Gates works …
Even when NPR publishes critical reporting on Gates, it can feel scripted. In February 2018, NPR ran a story headlined ‘Bill Gates Addresses ‘Tough Questions’ on Poverty and Power.’ The ‘tough questions’ NPR posed in this Q&A were mostly based on a list curated by Gates himself, which he previously answered in a letter posted to his foundation’s website.”
Schwab also recounts the experiences of freelance journalists looking into the “inadvertent consequences of the Gates Foundation’s relentless efforts to eradicate polio,” who found their efforts undermined when the Foundation “went over their heads to seek an audience with their editors” rather than answer the questions posed.
In 2016, one of those journalists, Robert Fortner, published an article in which he examined the trend of news articles failing to report financial ties to Gates. Among them were 59 news stories by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
Another recipient of grants from the Gates Foundation is the Leo Burnett Company, an advertising agency that creates news content and works with journalists. The Leo Burnett Company, in turn, is owned by Publicis,9 the world's oldest and third largest advertising agency.
Publicis also funds NewsGuard.10 On top of that, NewsGuard and Microsoft — the tech company founded by Gates — are also partners.11 Other connections between Gates and NewsGuard include the following:
• The John S. & James L. Knight Foundation Inc., a venture capital fund and another of NewsGuard’s investors,12 has partnered with the Gates Foundation on other media-related projects.
In 2013, they launched the Media Impact Project, housed at the Norman Lear Center, which is part of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The mission of this project was to “advance a better understanding of audience engagement and media impact” by “measuring how media influences the ways people think and act.”13
• NewsGuard investor, the Blue Haven Initiative,14 joined the Gates Foundation’s Global Health Investment Fund in 201315 — an investment fund that targets “high-impact technologies with public health applications in both developed and emerging markets.”
Through these few examples alone, you can see just how interconnected the tech industry, media and health organizations are, and how through interweaving connections they all stand to benefit from their financial support of the self-proclaimed arbiter of truth, NewsGuard, and its recently launched “tool against online health care hoaxes,” HealthGuard,16 which was launched June 2, 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But there’s more. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also has an agreement with Elsevier,17 enacted in 2015, which requires authors to adhere to the Gates Foundation’s open access policy when publishing their research in any of Elsevier’s 1,700 journals. (A list of Elsevier journals and publications can be found on Elsevier’s website.18)
Any research “supported in whole, or in part, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation” must be published “gold open access.”19 This means all of the Gates Foundation’s sponsored research is free for anyone to read and cannot be placed behind a paywall — thus maximizing the exposure of those studies.
While ostensibly this would appear beneficial, these studies are typically highly conflicted and promoting one of Gates’ many investments either directly or indirectly.
As noted by Schwab, Gates’ injection of cash into the media landscape has undoubtedly “helped foster an increasingly friendly media environment” for his various projects.
This friendly media environment includes the widespread portrayal of Gates himself as a health expert, despite the fact that he has no medical background and is not a public official of any kind:
“PolitiFact and USA Today (run by the Poynter Institute and Gannett, respectively) — both of which have received funds from the Gates Foundation — have even used their fact-checking platforms to defend Gates from ‘false conspiracy theories’ and ‘misinformation,’ like the idea that the foundation has financial investments in companies developing COVID vaccines and therapies.
In fact, the foundation’s website and most recent tax forms clearly show investments in such companies, including Gilead and CureVac … News about Gates these days is often filtered through the perspectives of the many academics, nonprofits, and think tanks that Gates funds. Sometimes it is delivered to readers by newsrooms with financial ties to the foundation.”
I believe that Schwab is correct when he states that most journalists tend to “cover the Gates Foundation as a dispassionate charity instead of a structure of power.” This is problematic, as it hides and discourages investigation into any number of possible ulterior motives behind the Foundation’s generosity.
In 2011, the Seattle Times raised concerns about the Gates Foundation’s growing media influence, stating:20
“To garner attention for the issues it cares about, the foundation has invested millions in training programs for journalists. It funds research on the most effective ways to craft media messages. Gates-backed think tanks turn out media fact sheets and newspaper opinion pieces.
Magazines and scientific journals get Gates money to publish research and articles. Experts coached in Gates-funded programs write columns that appear in media outlets from The New York Times to The Huffington Post, while digital portals blur the line between journalism and spin.”
“Insofar as journalists are supposed to scrutinize wealth and power, Gates should probably be one of the most investigated people on earth — not the most admired,” Schwab writes.
Indeed. Many books could be written about Gates’ global spider web of connections that tightly integrate health, technology, finance and media for his personal agenda. To be frank, they seem to form the very framework for a global totalitarian regime. These connections are also the foundation of his ever-increasing wealth.
As discussed in “How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health” and “Bill Gates — Most Dangerous Philanthropist in Modern History?” Gates doesn’t merely hand out money from his foundation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, a separate entity that manages the assets of the Foundation, invests in the very companies that are given these grants.
In other words, in many cases, the grants handed out by the foundation end up directly increasing the value of the assets held by the trust. He even “donates” money to corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, IBM, Vodafone, Scholastic Inc. and NBC Universal Media.21,22
If donating to for-profit companies sounds oddly illegal to you, you’d be right. Gates is a tax evader for doing so — he’s simply getting away with it. The nonprofit foundation is a disguise to avoid taxes while funding the research arms of for-profit organizations that his foundation is invested in.
Using nonprofit money to advance research for companies you’re invested in is also illegal. If you are as repulsed by the fact that Gates is getting away with this illegal behavior as much as I am, then I encourage you to contact the IRS Whistleblower Office and ask them to investigate Gates’ tax evasion. You can also file a consumer complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s office.
Far from being a force for good, Gates appears to have chosen to use his wealth and intellect to further a distasteful social control plan to benefit his own nefarious agendas. Fortunately, people all over the world are finally starting to see his true colors. And this despite the fact that he can afford to buy good publicity, and has been doing so for years.
1 Which of the following organizations conducted a highly successful campaign promoting skim milk over whole milk in the mid-1990s to reduce healthy saturated fat intake, resulting in the doubling of skim milk sales?
In 1995, the Center for Science in the Public Interest launched a highly successful campaign urging people to switch from whole and 2% milk to skim milk, which resulted in the doubling of skim milk sales. Research, however, shows full-fat dairy actually lowers your risk of death from diabetes and cardiovascular causes such as stroke. Learn more.
2 Who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)?
Dr. Anthony Fauci has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984. Learn more.
3 Which of the following is extremely toxic and should never be used as a home remedy against COVID-19 or any other condition?
The American Botanical Council has issued an advisory, warning consumers against producing oleander-based home-remedies for COVID-19 due to the plant's extreme toxicity. All parts of the oleander plant are poisonous. Oleandrin causes arrhythmia by interfering with the sodium-potassium pump of your heart. Learn more.
4 Research suggests N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may be useful against COVID-19 because it:
By raising glutathione, NAC combats oxidative stress, which is a main cause of the cytokine storm associated with COVID-19. NAC also inhibits hypercoagulation and breaks up blood clots, which is another complication seen in some COVID-19 cases. Learn more.
5 Evidence suggests segments of which of the following viruses has been inserted into a SARS-like coronavirus as part of the creation of SARS-CoV-2?
There's evidence suggesting segments of the HIV virus haves been inserted into a SARS-like coronavirus as part of the creation of SARS-CoV-2. Learn more.
6 Based on deaths per capita, the current worldwide average death rate for COVID-19 is:
Based on deaths per capita, the global average death rate for COVID-19 is 0.009%. The average person's chance of surviving this disease is 99.991%. Learn more.
7 Which of the following is the most effective way to improve your body's natural antioxidant capacity?
Nutritional ketosis is the most effective way to improve your body's natural antioxidant capacity. Learn more.
