 diabetes is an inflammatory condition. What are the real benefits of pomegranate? When is the best time to eat pomegranates? Hello everyone, this is Dr. Ahmed Ergin and today we are talking about pomegranate. I will talk about the benefits of pomegranates and how it affects your blood sugar and best time to eat pomegranates. Yes, you heard me right, that is actually the best time to eat pomegranates. Even the side effects of eating too much of it will be in this video. So, did you know that people with diabetes who actually drank pomegranate juice for three months had a lower risk of atherosclerosis, which is hardening of your arteries or artery stiffening according to a recent study. So, pomegranate juice actually appeared to reduce the harmful LDL cholesterol levels. As you know, the LDL cholesterol is known as the bad cholesterol. But wait a minute, isn't that the pomegranate full of sugar? I bet some people told you that you cannot eat pomegranate because it does sugar. Oh poor thing, don't watch, I'm eating pomegranate. You're diabetic, I'm so sorry. Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. For those of you who do not know, diabetes is an inflammatory condition in which the pancreas is unable to excrete enough insulin or your pancreas is unable to use the insulin correctly due to insulin resistance. And in most cases actually you have both, causing the blood sugar levels to be higher than you want to see. Well, this causes unmanageable levels of glucose levels or sugars in your bloodstream, which affects the diabetic person's energy levels, their metabolism and inflammation levels as well. Now, chronic inflammation is a huge factor in variety of serious illnesses including diabetes, right? In reality, elevated glucose levels and diabetes is a result of chronic inflammation, not the other way around. So on the other hand though, the high blood sugars definitely worsen that inflammation. So it's like a chicken and egg story, but I'll explain to you more. The trick is to eat the pomegranate or drink the juice, but not let the blood sugars go super high. We'll talk more about that in a second. By the way, if you are enjoying this video so far, please smash that like and subscribe button. And if you have something to say, please write a comment. The only rule is to be nice and gentle. So what are the real benefits of pomegranate? Pomegranates include flavonoid antioxidants, which have potent anti-inflammatory properties, reducing the consequences of high blood sugar, such as muscle soreness, exhaustion and everything else you may be experiencing. Also, there are substances in pomegranate that reduces the resistant hormone levels. So the higher resistant hormone levels, the higher the insulin resistance, unfortunately, which causes the problem in the glucose uptake in your body. And that results in glucose accumulation in your blood. And there you go, you have diabetes. Now, as fat cells store more and more fat molecules, they release several products that can modify the body's sensitivity to insulin that includes the free fatty acids, the tumor necrosis factor, and also a hormone called resistant, which is recently found to cause insulin resistance. The good news is that especially there is a substance in pomegranate, it's called allergic acid, especially in the juice that has been linked to reduce production of the resistant hormone, which is a hormone that increases insulin resistance. So the lower the resistant, the better the insulin resistance. So in addition to that, having one glass of pomegranate juice every day has been shown in numerous scientific studies to drastically lower the harmful LDL cholesterol levels in diabetic individuals. Well, this greatly reduces the risk of heart disease, especially if you cannot take cholesterol medications and your cholesterol remains high, because heart disease is the most commonly seen problem in type 2 diabetic patients. And that's what we have to avoid. Let's get to the nitty gritty part of eating pomegranates, guys. So the pomegranates actually are 14 grams of sugar per 100 grams. So don't let that deter you though, but pomegranates provide still 7 grams of fiber and 30% of daily vitamin C requirement in that 100 grams. There you go. The vitamin C you need to protect you from COVID as well. Well, masks first. Also, the glycemic index of pomegranate is 53. This puts the pomegranate juice in the low glycemic index category, which means that it is slowly ingested and digested. Let's remember that glycemic index quickly, by the way, because some of you may not be familiar with it. It's a number that indicates how much of a particular item raises your blood sugar levels. So foods are rated on a scale of 0 to 100 and classified as low, medium, or high glycemic index foods. So the lower the GI index, the less effect it will have on your blood sugar levels provided that you stick with a small portion because then glycemic load can be too high even the glycemic index is okay. Now, the low is less than 55. The medium is anywhere from 56 to 69 and 70 and higher is considered high glycemic index. Although pomegranate juice has carbohydrates, it also has phenolic chemicals and it helps with the actually weight loss and the fiber in it helps control your hunger and appetite. So what other benefits do we get from pomegranates? Well, there are numerous health benefits that, for example, has been shown to reduce the arthritis pain. It lowers your blood pressure, preventing heart disease, as we discussed, fighting the bacterial and fungal infections, and improving cognition. So we have vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K. They're all immune boosting elements. They're all found in pomegranates. Pomegranates are high in, like we said, vitamin C, the dietary fiber, folate, and potassium, which makes them one of the finest foods for your heart and, of course, the blood sugar control. It's not going to lower your blood sugar, but it's going to help you prevent the complications from diabetes. As a result of that, diabetic patients should have the pomegranate or pomegranate juice in moderation. But I say moderation. I would say a one medium size pomegranate or a cup of pomegranate juice will definitely be helpful. Keep in mind that depending on your blood sugar levels and the severity of your disease, you should still talk to your doctor and an nutritionist on a regular basis to get advice on how to effectively incorporate these wonderful fruits into your diabetic diet instead of avoiding altogether. Because everybody is different and some of you may perfectly tolerate up to two large pomegranates maybe. However, some of you may have a significant blood sugar spike even after a small pomegranate or a cup of pomegranate juice. If your blood sugar really spikes significantly after a small fruit like this, I would advise you. Talking to your doctor, maybe consider using a medication or a supplement to help control these blood sugar spikes instead of avoiding all the healthy foods that are out there that can potentially give you a little blood sugar rise. Instead of avoid pasta guy is the bread, the potatoes, the rice that you really actually eat and never tell me about it. Instead of avoiding pomegranates, avoid rice. I promise you that your blood sugar levels will be much better off if you avoid rice and eat or drink your pomegranate juice. You will get a lot more benefits from eating that pomegranate rather than your rice. When is the best time to eat pomegranates? I promise you about this and I'll tell you right now. I would say eat pomegranate on an empty stomach first thing in the morning for the best results. You may have it as a pre or post-workout snack if you're not a morning person or if you're not working out in the morning because it actually lowers the melatonin levels so the nighttime consumption may not be the best time for it. Pomegranate overconsumption has some risks too. There are actually no studies that show that eating too many pomegranate is going to kill you or is going to be too bad for you unless you're diabetic and then you drink the whole gallon then you will be in serious trouble with your blood sugars. On the other hand, the only problem that you may experience with eating too much pomegranate is severe constipation and some intestinal blockages have been reported as well. So calm down, so just eat one pomegranate or drink one cup of pomegranate juice and call it a day. And I'm calling this the end of this video so guys remember to like, share and subscribe and write something in the comment section for us to know what you think. See you guys all later.