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Dr. Andrew Weil's

Pomegranate Juice Fights Prostate Cancer

Pomegranate juice seems to be appearing on more and more store shelves these days, and it is a fortuitous trend. The delicious, deep-red juice is high in health-protective antioxidants and ellagic acid, a potent anti-carcinogen. Good news on the pomegranate front can be found in a UCLA study published in the July 1, 2006, issue of Clinical Cancer Research. The three-year clinical trial concluded that drinking an eight-ounce glass of the juice daily quadrupuled the period in which prostate-specific antigens (PSA) levels in men treated for prostate cancer remained stable.

The study involved 50 men who had undergone surgery or radiation but who quickly exhibited increases in PSA, a sign that their cancers were progressing again. The UCLA team saw positive changes in the average doubling time (increasing from 15 to 54 months) in the men who drank juice.

This makes perfect sense to me. The healing power of deep-colored fruits and vegetables is being confirmed in laboratories around the world. Black raspberries are being shown to have similar action against some cancers; read about it here. Foods that inhibit or in some cases even heal tumors in cancer patients offer lowered risk of cancer for the rest of us, and everyone should eat - or drink - them regularly.