At the 44th American Kidney Week, Dr. Batya?Kristal of the Department of Nephrology at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, Israel, presented a report stating that hemodialysis patients who consumed a moderate amount of pomegranate juice for one year continuously suffered a sustained, cumulative, and beneficial effect on their lipids, blood pressure, and the number of blood pressure-lowering medications they needed to take.
In addition to water, sugar and pectin, pomegranates contain the antioxidants ascorbic acid and polyphenolic flavonoids.
Hemodialysis patients were randomized to receive either 100 mL of pomegranate juice (n=66) or a comparable-tasting placebo (n=35) three times a week for ***12 months. Recorded experimental data were tallied as lipid profiles, including triglycerides (TGs), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and number of antihypertensive medications needed.At 12 months, all data on lipid profiles improved in the pomegranate juice group and did not improve in the placebo group. In the pomegranate juice group, there was a statistically significant decrease in TGs levels from baseline to 12 months (p=0.01), especially in patients with baseline TG levels of at least 200 mg/dL (p<0.001). HDL was significantly higher in the pomegranate juice group over the same time period (p=0.005). No significant changes were seen in any of the parameters in the placebo group. Overall systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the pomegranate juice group during the study period (p?<? .006), especially in patients with a baseline systolic blood pressure of at least 140?mm?Hg (P?<? .005), and no such changes were seen in the placebo group.At 12 months, patients in the pomegranate juice group had significantly less antihypertensive drug use than those in the placebo group (P?<? .05). Antihypertensive medication use decreased in 22% of subjects in the pomegranate juice group and increased in 12.2%. In the placebo group 7.7% of subjects had a decrease in antihypertensive medication and 34.6% had an increase in medication.
Dr. Kristal speculated that consumption of pomegranate juice may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients. He recommended adding pomegranate juice to the diet to improve cardiometabolic risk.
However, there is a safety issue; pomegranate juice is high in potassium, and there is a risk of potassium overload, especially in patients with chronic kidney disease and dietary potassium restriction.Dr. Kristal recommends that dietitians and nephrologists monitor this group of patients. In addition, pomegranate juice ingestion may affect the metabolism of certain medications, increasing their concentration in the blood. However, no adverse effects were found in the pomegranate juice consumption group.
Dr. Katherine?Tuttle (executive director of research at Providence Scaled Heart Medical Center and professor of internal medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane), who was not involved in the study, said, "This is a very interesting preliminary study. I think we need larger studies before we can conclude that patients should be given pomegranate juice. At the same time, we shouldn't just see these risk factors that they measured."
Given the high potassium content of pomegranate juice, Dr. Tuttle advised, "If patients decide to consume it, they should inform their physicians."
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