Caren Jablonsky Loves Pomegranates!

I've often considered myself intuitive as an adult; perhaps, though, I was intuitive as a child as well. Case in point, pomegranates. One of my favorite activities throughout autumn was to go across the street to an alleyway where there was a pomegranate tree with abundant fruit.  A group of us kids would take a break from kickball to retrieve some of the red, cylindrical orbs which hung like Christmas ornaments.  We would sit in a circle, patiently peeling away the outer skin, to get to the inner skin, which engulfed the arils.  Arils are the juice filled sacs which encase the seeds.

Sometimes I would eat one section at a time; other times I would practice delayed gratification and collect all of the arils in a bowl to be eaten at once, after the whole dissection process had been completed. This was quite a fulfilling accomplishment!  As it turns out, pomegranates are one of the healthiest fruits out there.  According to the USDA: Nutrition Information for Raw Pomegranates, one serving (1/2 cup) of arils has only 70 calories and 3.5 grams of fiber (that's 14% of the RDA).  In addition, pomegranates are high in Vitamin C and potassium.  This fruit is also known for its high content of antioxidant polyphenols-tannins, anthocyanins and ellagic acid.  

As you may have noticed in stores, not only can you buy the whole fruits; now pomegranate juice has become quite popular as well.  I believe Pom was the first company to jump on the bandwagon to better health courtesy of the pomegranate. Many people are now drinking the concentrated form of this antioxidant powerhouse in order to help in lowering blood pressure. In fact, the results can be so remarkable, that care needs to be taken if a blood pressure lowering medication is also being used.

Now's the time to enjoy this wholesome fruit!  Happy Autumn and, happy peeling!