Grenade-an effective weapon against arteriosclerosis

Prof. Michael Aviram, director of the Heritage Institute for Medical Research at Rambam, was the first to show the anti-oxidant and atherosclerosis-inhibiting properties in humans, as well as the mechanisms of action of the antioxidant polyphenols unique to pomegranate, vine (red wine), olive, fig, and Tamar

Progress brings with it new problems and diseases, but in many cases it turns out that the solution is ancient. After decades of research on the properties of the pomegranate as an anti-arteriosclerosis, recently the mechanism of action of the biblical fruit has been cracked... and, you won't believe what carob and myrtle can do

In the western world, the number 1 cause of death is vascular and heart diseases, which are mainly caused by cholesterol problems. Certain processes cause cholesterol to sink into the artery walls and block them. In addition, due to the modern lifestyle that exposes us to radiation, chemicals, smoke, viruses and more, cholesterol is oxidized and sinks faster in the blood vessels, a process that accelerates the clogging of the arteries. Today it is known that not only the level of cholesterol in the blood is important, but also its quality. Our body produces about 70% of the cholesterol in the blood, but the rest comes from the food we eat and therefore nutrition plays a very important role in determining the quantity and quality of cholesterol in the blood.

For many years, Prof. Michael Aviram, director of the lipid research laboratory at the Technion Faculty of Medicine and the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, has been researching the mechanisms of the development of atherosclerosis and its consequences (heart attack and stroke). Prof. Aviram's research focused mainly on Mediterranean foods, which were discovered to have properties that prevent cholesterol oxidation and inhibit atherosclerosis. As part of his work, Prof. Aviram discovered that the pomegranate fruit contains a high amount of antioxidant polyphenols, which are effective both as cholesterol oxidation inhibitors and oxidized cholesterol breakers, but only recently was he able to crack the way the mechanism works on our bodies.

For more than a decade, Prof. Aviram and his research group examined the effect of pomegranate on cholesterol in the body. It was found that our blood contains an enzyme called paraoxonase, which is related to the "good cholesterol"
(HDL), whose role is to remove excess cholesterol from the arteries to the liver and out of the body. The enzyme paraoxonase breaks down oxidized cholesterol. As mentioned, nutrition plays an important role in this process and Prof. Aviram found that the antioxidant polyphenols unique to the pomegranate are an auxiliary force for the action of the paraoxonase enzyme. Pomegranate affects the acceleration of enzyme activity through three actions: it helps to reduce the oxidation of cholesterol and accelerate the removal of cholesterol from the artery wall, it helps to bind the paraoxonase enzyme to the good cholesterol (and therefore increases its activity), and it activates the gene that produces the paraoxonase enzyme, thus increasing its quantity and its health effect in the body

Prof. Michael Aviram, director of the Heritage Institute for Medical Research at Rambam, was the first to show the antioxidant and atherosclerosis-inhibiting properties in humans, as well as the mechanisms of action of the antioxidant polyphenols unique to the fruits of the seven species: pomegranate, vine (red wine), Olive, fig, and date.
Recently, Prof. Aviram found additional Mediterranean fruits containing unique polyphenol type antioxidants: carob honey was found to contain a very high amount of antioxidants and an impressive ability to inhibit oxidative stress in general and against cholesterol oxidation in particular. Similar findings were also found in the juice of the myrtle bush, one of the four species of Sukkot. In doing so, these two fruits joined the list of Mediterranean foods that contribute to a decrease in the accumulation of cholesterol in the artery wall, and consequently to a decrease in the development of arteriosclerosis and its manifestation: heart attack and stroke.