Spinach Salad recipe & Pomegranate info

I love when pomegranates are in season (which is now!) and I had some spinach & pine nuts left over from making the salmon Florentine & quinoa so this is the "round two recipe" I made.


Spinach Salad
baby spinach leaves
pomegranate seeds
toasted pine nuts
cut up bits of ripe pear
thin slices of red onion
(I didn't have any feta but if we did I would have added that too)
Ken's Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette (or any other light or citrusy vinaigrette would be good too! Find a couple more dressing ideas here)


For those of you not too familiar with pomegranates or have used pomegranates only to get the [horribly staining] juice everywhere I thought I'd share a trick I've learned for getting the seeds out with ease! 1st - cut the pomegranate in half on a paper towel, the towel will absorb the juice that comes out. 2nd - fill a medium sized bowl with water. 3rd - put the pomegranate completely underwater and begin to break about the seeds from the membrane. That way all the excess juice stays in the water instead of spraying on your clothes/kitchen/dog/etc and it also makes it easier to get the seeds away from the membrane. Another good thing is that any stray bits of membrane that come off will float to the top of the water making it easy to strain from the water before you drain the pomegranate seeds.

Superfruits: A Look at the Facts

www.rd411.com

The term “superfruit” refers to a category of natural plants that are believed to provide great health benefits because of their nutrient and antioxidant levels. The six superfruits are açaí, goji, mangosteen, noni, pomegranate, and seaberry. Blueberries, cranberries, and red grapes are seen as more common “superfruits.”

The more exotic superfruits are mainly available in juice form. Many are available at your local grocery store, and literally hundreds of Web sites sell these fruits in either juice or supplement form.

The main thing to keep in mind is that these fruits do not have scientific validation, sufficient clinical trial evidence, or regulatory approval for their health claim statements. However, they are recognized as exceptional antioxidant sources, and current research is looking at possible antidisease properties. Information specific to each of these fruits follows.

Açaí
This fruit is an exceptional source of polyunsaturated fats and dietary fiber. Açaí also contains high levels of vitamin E, calcium, copper, potassium, magnesium, and niacin, when compared to other plant foods. Studies have looked at açaí for its vasodilator effect in animals. Açaí probably has the least scientific evidence of all of the superfruits. However, a study from the University of Florida found that compounds in açaí berries could reduce the growth of certain leukemia cells in the lab. This is not yet confirmed through human studies.

Goji
This fruit offers high amounts of protein, vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, and zinc. Goji also provides high levels of many antioxidants, but especially beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. Research has looked at goji for a wide range of purported health benefits, including immune function, metabolic syndrome, and neurological disorders. In rabbits, goji berry has lowered blood glucose, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, in addition to improving insulin resistance in diabetic rats. However, none of this research is validated through expert-reviewed clinical trials, and all research was completed on either laboratory animals or in vitro work.

Goji is related to the tomato, potato, and eggplant, and offers many of the same antioxidants. If you take warfarin, talk to your doctor before consuming any products containing goji, because this may cause an interaction.

Mangosteen
This white fruit does not provide an exceptional amount of nutrients. Medical research on mangosteen is lacking and has included antioxidant properties in vitro, anti-inflammatory effects in vitro, and numerous chemical identity studies. Early animal studies showed a possible reduction in plasma lipid levels.

The American Cancer Society’s Web site states that mangosteen is a source of antioxidants, but that no reliable evidence exists on its use as a cancer treatment. The US Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to manufacturers who state that mangosteen is usable to treat illness.

Noni
This very pale-colored fruit does not provide many antioxidants and is also low in most vitamins and minerals, with the exception of moderate amounts of vitamin C and potassium. Noni has reports of vague health properties via either animal or in vitro research.

Noni fruits have shown antitumor properties in rats and mice, but clinical evidence is lacking. However, studies of heavy smokers who drank noni juice have shown a reduction in free radicals in the blood, lower levels of total cholesterol, and reduced triglycerides. Other animal studies have shown that noni may combat fatigue and offer some liver protection.

Seaberry
Seaberry is probably one of the plant world’s most nutritious foods. Seaberry contains one of the highest contents of vitamin C and E, compared to other plants. It also contains many healthful fatty acids, carotenoids, and phenolics. Seaberry is the second most studied superfruit, after pomegranate. However, no expert-reviewed clinical trials are published.

Pomegranate
Surprisingly, pomegranate has a relatively low nutrient content. However, it provides a moderate amount of antioxidants. Pomegranate is by far the most studied superfruit, with clinical trials and scientific reports completed on several types of cancer, blood cholesterol, infection, obesity, and inflammation, as well as several other topics of research. Several peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that the antioxidants in pomegranate juice reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation in mice and blood pressure in hypertensive humans.

A 2004 study, which appear in Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that daily consumption of pomegranate juice for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduced the thickening of their arteries. Talk to your doctor if you take any drugs on a regular basis, as pomegranate juice seems to interfere with the metabolism of many medications.

The bottom line
Many other forms of produce not classified as superfruits also contain exceptional levels of antioxidants and nutrients. Most of the studies on superfruits are small and short-term, are conducted on animals, lack adequate control groups, or are funded by industry. These products also are usually very expensive when compared to other fruits, with some juices costing nearly $100 a bottle.

It is important to remember that many of these manufacturers pay a doctor to attest to the fruits’ beneficial properties, claims that are usually not credible. You should also ignore testimonials by “everyday” people who claim that a juice or supplement has cured them of a disease or changed their life. The journal Clinical Cancer Research released the following statement: “Don’t count on açaí or goji berry juice to boost your health, and research on pomegranate and blueberries is still preliminary.”

Many manufacturers claim that these superfruits provide more antioxidants than other fruits, but this often refers to the whole fruit, rather than the juice that is extracted from the fruit. In fact, one study showed that you would need to drink 150 milliliters (mL) of a popular noni juice to match the antioxidant content of a navel orange, 90 mL of a popular mangosteen juice to match the antioxidant content of 1 cup of strawberries, and 300 mL of a well-known goji juice to match the antioxidant content of a Red Delicious apple.

Different labs performing tests to calculate the antioxidant content of the same fruit can garner highly variable results, depending on how much water the fruit contains, how it is harvested and handled, and how much time has passed since harvest. Furthermore, even if fruit A has more antioxidants than fruit B in a test tube, the antioxidants in fruit B sometimes are more easily absorbed in the human body.

References and recommended readings
ACAI Health and Nutrition Resource Center. Pomegranate & cardiovascular. Available at: http://www.best-acai.org/pomegranate-cardiovascular.php. Accessed April 20, 2009.

Australia.TO. Superfruit juices. Available at: http://www.australia.to/afoodguide/0,25197,23040467-202,00,00.html. Accessed April 20, 2009.

Mitchell S. Superfruits: are they worth the money? Available at: http://www.susanmitchell.org/articles/super-fruits.htm. Accessed April 20, 2009.

Searby L. The high-flying fruit. Available at: http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/fimag/articleDisplay.asp?strArticleId=748&strSite=FFNSite. Accessed April 20, 2009.

Sohn E. Superfruits, super powers? Available at: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-hew-superfruit,0,2602519,print.story. Accessed April 20, 2009.