What Happens to Your Body When You Take Pomegranate Supplements

Pomegranate supplements come in many forms, including capsules, gummies, powder, and juice that contain pomegranate extract sourced from the seed, juice, peel, leaf, and flower. They are abundant in polyphenols, compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and may help treat risk factors for many diseases. 

How Pomegranate Supplements Support Health

Pomegranate supplements show promise in offering health benefits, including:

• Improving inflammation: Pomegranates contain flavonoids (plant compounds) that have antioxidant properties. These compounds help indirectly inhibit inflammatory markers.
• Decreasing blood pressure: Pomegranate juice is said to inhibit the angiotensin-converting enzyme activity (an enzyme that helps regulate blood pressure), which may help lower systolic blood pressure.
• Supporting healthy cholesterol levels: The antioxidants in pomegranate juice may help keep cholesterol in a less damaging form and may also reduce plaque build-up in vessels.
• Enhancing blood flow: Pomegranates contain dietary nitrate, molecules that convert to nitric oxide, a gas that can help widen the blood vessels, enhance blood flow, and improve blood pressure.

The benefits of pomegranate supplements are supported by limited research. Most studies are done in animals, and the results may differ in humans.

Are There Side Effects?

In general, pomegranate supplementation doesn’t appear to have any adverse side effects, but some individuals may have gastrointestinal sensitivities that may lead to diarrhea. 

Overall, pomegranate juice and pomegranate extract are considered safe. However, when ingested in large portions, pomegranate root, stem, and leaf may not be safe. 

There is little evidence on whether drinking pomegranate juice or ingesting pomegranate extract is harmful during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Check with your healthcare provider before starting any pomegranate supplement to ensure that it’s safe for you to use.

How Much to Take

While pomegranate in its natural state is a good source of vitamins C and K as well as potassium and punicalagins (antioxidant phytochemicals), pomegranate supplements contain other ingredients that vary from brand to brand.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends the following daily values of each vitamin: 

• Vitamin C: 90 mg
• Vitamin K: 120 mcg 
• Potassium: 4700 mcg 

You may need to consume more or less of a certain food, beverage, or supplement to meet the recommended daily values.

How to Choose a Supplement

When examining supplement labels, you may see that one type of pomegranate supplement may include a certain percentage of the extract along with a blend of the flower, seed oil, and a percentage of punicic acid.

Other ingredients in a gel tablet or capsule may include sunflower oil, glycerin, gelatin, beeswax, and sunflower lecithin. Some brands may have added blueberry and cranberry extracts, as well as ellagic acid (another antioxidant phytochemical found in pomegranates and other fruits and vegetables). 

Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a dietary ingredient is defined as a vitamin, mineral, herb, or other botanical, or amino acid dietary substance to supplement your diet by increasing the total dietary intake. But unlike drugs, supplements are not intended to treat, prevent, or cure diseases.

Pomegranate Supplements May Interact With Some Medications

While some juices, like grapefruit juice, can interact with drugs such as those prescribed to treat cholesterol, it’s unclear what the risks are with pomegranate and certain medications.

In a study of liver cells, pomegranate juice hindered cytochrome P450 3A, an enzyme key to drug metabolism. Further, the American Heart Association warns that statin-based cholesterol medications and pomegranate can be a dangerous mix.

If you’re concerned about any prescription medication that may interact with a pomegranate supplement or juice, it’s best to ask your healthcare provider whether you may have to eliminate it.