Pomegranate and hemoglobin

Andy,

Indian naturopathic doctors often suggest that eating pomegranate increases the hemoglobin.  I have heard that pomegranates are high in antioxidants, which is good for thalassemia.  Do you know if they play a role in increasing hemoglobin, and if so if they would be good for thalassemia? 

Thanks,

Sharmin

I wonder pomegranates are recommended for anemia because of their high iron and vitamin C content.
The antioxidants and benefits to the cardiovascular system should make them good for thalassemia though... 

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0002914905010271

Sharmin

Hi Sharmin

All my life i know that this fruit is so rich with iron and recommende for iron deficiency anemia, but at the same time you can have the benefits for the cardiovascular system from the red grapes (resveratrol). It is known that French people have 30% less risk factor of cardio problems as a result of their high consumption of red grapes through red wine with meals.

So red grapes (resveratrol) can do the job in addition to many other functions.

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=589.0;highlight=resveratrol

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1649.0;highlight=resveratrol

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1761.0;highlight=resveratrol

Manal

Manal,

Thank you kindly for this information    I will make sure that Little A gets resveratrol.  I actually followed the threads that you have mentioned with the red grapes.  How is Ahmad doing with that? 

Do you think that transfused thals should avoid pomegranate?  I am wondering because I know that it has very strong antioxidant properties.  And since it is a non heme iron source (as Andy mentioned in an earlier post) perhaps that amount of iron one would absorb from the fruit is not great, but the benefits in terms of antioxidants and cardiovascular health may be great.  What do you think Manal?  Andy?

Thanks,

Sharmin

Pomegranate is not high in iron, with only .3 mg per 100 grams of pomegranate. There is no reason to not eat it.

Oh my God, many fruits are mistaken for high iron. I guess i should check the amounts first, sorry Sharmin and thanks Andy. The link below has all the details, it is so rich in potasium

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl

manal

Don't be sorry Manal - I didn't have a clue myself - I also mistakenly thought that pomegranates were high in iron - this is how we learn
Thank you for the website Sharmin 

Thanks for the information Andy. 

Same is the prejudice with apples,i've literally seen many parents stopping their thal kids from eating apples,On my daughter's last transfusion Novartis people came in the hospital to give a presentation about Asunra,when the doctor was telling that you can mix Asunra with apple juice,one of the moms was like "are you crazy? Apple contains so much iron"and when i told her that 100 gram apple contain only 0.12 mg of iron ,she was looking at me like i was really nuts  .
I don't know how it got started but we as kids were also told that apple contains high amount of iron,and same went for bananas,both fruits are good source of calcium,magnesium and potassium,along with phosphorus.They don't contain that much iron,infact apples and bananas must  be good for thals.

Zaini.