By GreenMedInfo Research Group

Pomegranate extract provides a natural way to boost athletic performance—increasing the time to exhaustion by more than 1.5 minutes among a group of amateur cyclists. Could it give you a similar athletic improvement?

Pomegranate, the “jewel of winter,” is one fruit you should have on your radar if you’re interested in boosting your physical performance. This applies not only to athletes but also to anyone who regularly exercises (or wishes they did). By enjoying it, it’s possible that you could gain more stamina for your weekend jog or morning aerobics session, leading to body-wide benefits.

While pomegranate is perhaps most well-known for its antioxidant properties, impressive as they are, this leathery-skinned berry is also a rich source of dietary nitrates—and therein lies its performance-enhancing potential.

Pomegranate Extract Increases Time to Exhaustion, Heavy Breathing

As noted in the journal Nutrients,¹ researchers conducted a study involving 26 amateur cyclists, who received either pomegranate extract or a placebo daily for 14 days.

They then engaged in an exercise session similar to a long-distance cycling race, such that they cycled for 90 minutes at moderate intensity, followed by a more intense stint, in which they increased their intensity every three minutes to the point of exhaustion, as you would in the final leg of a race.

After a five-minute recovery period, they then performed six sets of barbell step-ups (stepping up and down on a bench) to induce muscle damage, markers of which were subsequently measured, as was their eventual recovery.

For the next phase of the study 15 days later, the cyclists repeated the test but swapped the pomegranate extract for placebo, and vice versa, so that each participant carried out the exercise tests while taking pomegranate extract and again while taking a placebo.² The results?

It significantly increased the cyclists’ time to exhaustion by an average of 94 seconds. It also led to improvements in what’s known as the second ventilatory threshold, or VT2, putting it off by an average of 55 seconds.

Your VT2 is the point during exercise when lactate has accumulated in your blood, you need to breathe heavily, and you can no longer carry out a conversation. By staving off these two markers, pomegranate extract could easily mean the difference between winning or losing a race—or in the case of your personal exercising, help you work out a little bit longer and faster.

The study also found that pomegranate extract could help to restore force in damaged muscles, bolstering a number of studies that have hinted at it’s benefits for muscle recovery.³

Pomegranate Power

In terms of exercise alone, consuming pomegranate makes sense and can:

• Decrease oxidative damage caused by exercise⁴
• Accelerate healing of exercise-related muscle damage and muscle soreness⁵
• Improve whole-body strength and feelings of vitality⁶
• Enhance blood flow, increasing the delivery of oxygen and thereby likely boosting performance⁷

One of the reasons why they are so great for performance is due to their nitrate content, which plays a role in the formation of nitric oxide during exercise. Nitric oxide helps blood vessels to relax, increasing blood flow to muscles.

As noted by the featured study, “PE’s [pomegranate extract’s] contribution to nitric oxide pathways could be due to its polyphenol content, which may protect the already produced nitric oxide against oxidative destruction, therefore enhancing its biological actions.”⁸

Pomegranate Ranks High in Therapeutic Substances

Pomegranate has been prized since ancient times as both a symbol of love and a powerful medicinal tonic, traditionally used for treating everything from parasites and snake bites to bronchitis and diabetes. If you’re willing to put in the effort to remove the arils—the juicy casings that enclose the seeds—you’ll be rewarded with multiple health benefits, not to mention a tasty treat.

For those looking to boost athletic performance, the featured study suggests supplementing with pomegranate extract for two weeks before a competition, but for overall health gains, you can also make a point to eat them as a regular snack.

Pomegranate may favorably influence hundreds of diseases, particularly oxidative stress, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and prostate cancer. It may offset oxidative stress by enhancing your body’s antioxidant responses—another way it’s useful for athletic performance.

Supplementing with pomegranate, for instance, may reduce oxidative stress that occurs after an intense weightlifting session, helping to improve recovery between workouts.⁹ Its role in warding off inflammation is also well established, and this, along with its antioxidant properties, is another reason why it enhances recovery following exercise-induced muscle damage.¹⁰

If you’re looking for an easy way to enjoy this powerhouse fruit, wash it well and slice it horizontally. While holding it firmly over a bowl (cut side down), simply hit the back with a wooden spoon until the arils fall out.

If you don’t plan to eat them all right away, pomegranate arils can be refrigerated in an airtight container or frozen for several months. They make a great addition to smoothies and salads or eat them plain as a healthy snack.

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This article was adapted by Well Being Journal from the previously published original article at greenmedinfo.com titled “Pomegranate’s Performance-Boosting Potential Confirmed,” published December 2019.

References

1. “Pomegranate Extract Improves Maximal Performance of Trained Cyclists after an Exhausting Endurance Trial: A Randomised Controlled Trial.” Nutrients. 2019 Mar 28 ;11(4). Epub 2019 Mar 28. PMID: 30925733
2. Hamilton, A. “Pomegranate Power: Myth or Reality for Athletes?” Sports Performance Bulletin. https://www.sportsperformancebulletin.com/nutrition-for-endurance-athletes/supplements/pomegranate-power-myth-reality-athletes/
3. PLoS One. 2016 ;11(10):e0160305. Epub 2016 Aug 20. PMID: 27764091
4. “Effects of Pomegranate Juice in Circulating Parameters, Cytokines, and Oxidative Stress Markers in Endurance-based Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Nutrition. 2016 May;32(5):539-45. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2015.11.002. Epub 2015 Dec 7.
5. “Pomegranate Supplementation Accelerates Recovery of Muscle Damage and Soreness and Inflammatory Markers after a Weightlifting Training Session.” PLoS One. 2016 ;11(10):e0160305. Epub 2016 Aug 20. PMID: 27764091
6. “Effect of Pomegranate Fruit Supplementation on Performance and Various Markers in Athletes and Active Subjects: a Systematic Review.” Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2019 Sep 12:1-15. Epub 2019 Sep 12. PMID: 31512981
7. “Effects of Pomegranate Extract on Blood Flow and Vessel Diameter after High-intensity Exercise in Young, Healthy Adults.” Eur J Sport Sci. 2017 Apr ;17(3):317-325. Epub 2016 Sep 20. PMID: 27644475
8. “Pomegranate Extract Improves Maximal Performance of Trained Cyclists after an Exhausting Endurance Trial: A Randomised Controlled Trial.” Nutrients. 2019 Mar 28 ;11(4). Epub 2019 Mar 28. PMID: 30925733
9. “Effects of Pomegranate Juice Supplementation on Oxidative Stress Biomarkers Following Weightlifting Exercise.” Nutrients. 2017 Aug; 9(8): 819. Published online 2017 Jul 29. doi: 10.3390/nu9080819
10. “Fruit-Derived Polyphenol Supplementation for Athlete Recovery and Performance.” Sports Med. 2019; 49(Suppl 1): 3–23. Published online 2019 Jan 22. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0998-x