There’s nothing shabby about this superfood.
A silent but deadly epidemic is sweeping the country, with the number of Americans suffering from heart failure expected to nearly double from 6.7 million in 2024 to 11.4 million by 2050.
Although widely known for its antioxidant properties, a popular fruit might also hold the key to improving a particular type of heart failure that millions of people live with.
Called a “mitochondria makeover pill” because of its ability to rejuvenate people, urolithin A is a hot commodity for healthy aging, but only about 40 percent of people can produce it effectively.
Postbiotic (what’s left after gut bacteria digests food) is made after eating foods like nuts, berries, and pomegranates, a famous superfood and the most well-known ancient fruit originating from Iran.
The fruit’s anti-aging effects prompted researchers at King’s College London to further investigate the role urolithin A might play in heart health.
In particular, they studied the possibility of treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, in which the heart continues to pump blood but has difficulty relaxing and filling properly.
In animals and in engineered human heart tissue, the compound significantly improved relaxation while reducing scarring and limiting harmful enlargement of the heart.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is often difficult to treat due to several contributing factors, including aging, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Researchers have found that urolithin A activates a protein called PKGlα, which promotes relaxation of blood vessels and heart muscle.
In animal models, urolithin A treatment improved measures of cardiac function by up to 80%.
The compound also significantly improved heart function in human heart tissue made from stem cells, suggesting that the effects on animal hearts could carry over to humans.
Although further research is needed to determine the full effects, the results suggest a promising solution from a naturally occurring compound already known to have a favorable safety profile in humans.
The research findings also pave the way for new treatments for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
This increasingly difficult-to-treat disease affects approximately 3 million people in the United States and 32 million worldwide.
“Despite its increasing burden, treatment options remain limited because the disease is complex and varies widely among patients,” said Dr. Joseph Burgoyne, lead author of the study, in a press release.
And because the heart still pumps blood as it should, traditional treatments for heart failure are ineffective, prompting doctors to focus instead on managing underlying conditions or lifestyle changes, such as weight loss.
While there isn’t enough evidence that consuming pomegranates alone cures heart failure, Burgoyne suggests the findings “raise the possibility that dietary approaches that enhance urolithin A production may help alleviate this disease.”
Further clinical trials in humans will be needed to test whether the approach is effective, while a healthy, balanced diet remains one of the best ways to have a healthy heart.
Gn Health
