Can pomegranates protect the brain from dementia?

This research from 2008 alone should have immediately got your doctor into gear and put pomegranate into your diet. But I bet absolutely nothing on that occurred. Incompetence run amok in our stroke medical world once again.

Pomegranate juice consumption for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduces common carotid intima-media thickness, blood pressure and LDL oxidation  Aug. 2008

 And this one from 2006:
Regular pomegranate juice administered to hypertensive patients causeda significant drop in blood pressure [26], a reduction in carotid plaque development [27]  Aug. 2006
Why would you think this latest research will change anything at all? You will need to experiment on yourself, but you didn't hear that from me, I have no medical background. I however am drinking cran-pomegranate juice in the morning instead of OJ. This is only in mice so don't do this. You'll be able to help your pet mice though.

Can pomegranates protect the brain from dementia?

A diet rich in pomegranates had significant positive impacts for the brain health of mice with Alzheimer's disease, an international research team led by the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW found.

The innovative study, published in the journal Oncotarget, demonstrated that dietary supplementation of 4% pomegranate extract to a standard diet over a 15-month period resulted in a range of neuroprotective effects in mice.
Bred to provide a model of Alzheimer's disease, the mice demonstrate progressive age-related brain decline linked to the build-up of amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein in the brain. Aβ is the main component of the brain plaques found in patients with Alzheimer's disease and is widely targeted in research seeking to prevent, slow and treat the disease.
Lead author of the study, CHeBA's Dr Nady Braidy, says the findings are an exciting advance into the role of diet in tackling dementia.
"Something as simple as the introduction of pomegranate into the diet of these mice resulted in a range of important health impacts. We observed decreased oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, a reduction in the production of Aβ, and improved synaptic plasticity in the brains of the transgenic mice fed with pomegranate extract compared with the control group," Dr Braidy said.

Pomegranates contain high concentrations of antioxidant compounds which play an important role in preventing neurodegenerative disease. Credit: Shutterstock Lead author of the study, CHeBA’s Dr Nady Braidy.

Pomegranates contain high concentrations of polyphenols compared to other fruits and vegetables. Naturally occurring in food, polyphenols are compounds with antioxidant properties, which current evidence suggests play an important role in preventing neurodegenerative disease.
The health benefits of pomegranates for treating degenerative diseases are widely recognised in Unani, Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. However previous Western clinical trials have focussed on giving patients polyphenols in isolation and at higher doses, often with unintended side effects.
"Therapeutic strategies for the treatment of AD are currently limited. Our findings support the growing body of research which suggests that the synergistic effect of polyphenols together with the compounds they naturally co-occur with may provide a more beneficial approach," Dr Braidy said.
The researchers note that further testing will be needed to determine whether the results translate in the human population.

Explore further: A high-fat diet could promote the development of Alzheimer's

Journal reference: Oncotarget
Provided by: University of New South Wales