Red – Vibrant & Beautiful – Pomegranates

The Colors of FALL and our Autumn Season are inspiring to witness and experience as nature transforms around us.  A fun time to take some of our favorites and enjoy mixing ingredients together and creating some new flavor experiences and recipes for friends and family to enjoy.  Have fun creating some wonderful recipes for your next Fall and Winter Celebrations!

Thank You Espana En El Corazon for your beautiful picture and information: “POMEGRANATE, fruit, history and benefits it brings to our health although they begin to appear in the markets in mid-September, is entered the autumn when the striking granada offers us their grains in all its fullness (its in the northern hemisphere growing season is from September to January, while in the southern hemisphere the pomegranate season is from March to may).

It is the fruit of a tree called cream, of the family Myrtaceae ramoso, about four meters in height, reddish-brown bark, and lanceolate leaves, with large, red and white flowers. Requires little attention and is very decorative, so it is sometimes used in gardening.

The fruit is a Berry large, leathery and Wattled, containing numerous seeds with very tasty ring of bright red violet. His skin is shiny and thick. It is so attractive that the proverb says that granada mature, safe temptation. That color so beautiful that it possesses, maintains a relationship with the very particular Sun, since exposed to it, have white beads, while the fruits placed in the shade have very red beads. This has nothing to do with maturity.

Originally from Asia, its history dates back to several centuries before Christ. It was traditionally seen as a symbol of love and fertility. The Arabs were those who introduced it in Spain, citing the already in the 13th century Gonzalo de Berceo in one of his poems, calling it milgrana (thousand grains) due to the abundance of this seed. Then it was carried by the Spaniards to America, where it now occupies large areas, especially in the coastal areas of the Pacific ranging from California to Chile.

Some of the most representative of our production varieties, are called grain of elche, Mollar de Valencia and Játiva Mollar.

The quality of the product is given by its external appearance, brightness, colour, fat of the skin, consistency in size and maturity. One of the biggest problems that presents when consumed is the removal of beads wrapped inside. The best way to do this is to cut a portion of about six inches in diameter on the side of the flower. Then becomes the granada down and tapping him on the plate, for example with the handle of a knife, until all the beads have been shed. In addition to its fresh consumption, increasingly have more applications in the kitchen in salads, meat and fish, fittings confitures, jams, juices… According to experts the pomegranate syrup is perfect for the barbecue sauce.

THE benefits of the POMEGRANATE for health researchers are discovering the truth more than the myths that surround the powers of pomegranate, which shows why this exotic fruit has claimed a mythical place in the cultures over the centuries. It is very digestive, and for its many healing applications Muslims considered her medicinal fruit, scientists from around the world that carry out research on the benefits of the grenades have made some surprising findings: nutritional value of Pomegranate: composition (per 100 g.) • calories 31.8.
• Carbohydrate 7.5 g. • fiber 0.2 g. • vitamin C 5.7 mg. • provitamin A 3.5 mcg.
• Potassium 275 mg • mg 3 mg. • calcium 8 mg.

It is also rich in pectin, tannin, antioxidants, flavones, folic acid, fiber, vitamins E, B1, B2, B3, B9, phosphorus, copper, iron and zinc. It is not only rich in nutrients and antioxidants, but it also has the ability to affect the cells and molecular structure and the potential of being beneficial to health in general.

Pomegranates are packed with antioxidants grenades is estimated to have from three to seven times the antioxidant value than green tea. Antioxidants cushioning the effects of free radicals to the cell damage caused by oxidation. The research also shows that the consumption of seeds of Pomegranate and drinking Pomegranate juice may increase the levels of oxygen to the heart. Other studies show that, over time, the grenades could help to combat erectile dysfunction.
The granada promotes cardiovascular health research clinics show that grenades, when they form part of a healthy diet, may help prevent heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. These are vitamins and enzymes known to keep lipoproteins of low density (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol from rusting and causing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The pomegranate seeds act very similar to aspirin, have the potential to dilute the blood, increasing the flow of blood to the heart, reduces blood pressure.
A new preliminary study shows that diabetics who drank Pomegranate juice for three months had a lower risk of atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries.
Diabetics are at increased risk for atherosclerosis, which contributes to the disease of the coronary artery, heart attacks, accidents, strokes and other circulatory problems.

Pomegranates prevent breast cancer have been found up to ten natural pomegranate compounds capable of blocking aromatase (an enzyme that converts androgen to estrogen), which plays a very important role in this type of tumor.
Benefits of pomegranates in prostate cancer drinking a daily glass of Pomegranate juice may slow prostate cancer growth. In a small study done in a small group of men who drank this drink took more duplication of PSA levels in the blood. PSA is a protein that indicates the presence of prostate cancer.

It prevents skin cancer grenades are a source of polyphenols. All share that these antioxidants but do not block UV radiation, yes interfere in the cascade of chemical signals that cause procancerosos changes in the cells.”(Translated by Bing)