UCLA Study Says Pomegranate Healthiest Juice

UCLA scientists have developed additional information about what we already knew: dark-colored fruit juices, such as grape, blueberry, black cherry and cranberry are healthiest. They discovered also that the dark-colored fruit enjoyed by ancient Greeks, including Spartans, is the healthiest of all. Pomegranate juice was found by the researchers to be the number-one healthiest fruit juice. The main reason dark fruits are healthier, according to the study, is their high antioxidant levels. In our view, however, there are three things wrong with the study, or at least how it's being reported in the mainstream press:

1. As is often the case, foods are discussed as "drugs" that help fight various diseases and other health problems. In fact, it's not natural, ancient foods that cure or prevent diseases, but the absence of those foods that cause disease and other health problems. Our bodies expect and need them in order to function properly.

2. Why juice? The Spartan Diet calls for drinking only water, and not drinking juice. The healthiest and best and most Spartan way to consume pomegranates (as well as grapes, cherries, blueberries and cranberries) is to eat them whole and raw. Organic is best. What's funny is that the researchers arbitrarily focused on juice -- a product made from the fruit rather than the fruit itself -- then warned people not to drink too much juice because of its concentrated amounts of sugar and high calories. And they don't warn againt "dead foods" (fruit or juice in cans or bottles) or praise "live" foods, such as fresh fruits. Spartans: Ignore the juice bit and just eat pomegranates as one of the many whole raw fruits you eat every day -- no warnings necessary.

3. They focus on the anti-oxidant part of the fruit, and ignore the many other qualities, including vitamins, fiber and the rest. Again, it's not a drug. It's a food, which should be eaten for all its health benefits, not just the ones scientists have decided are the important ones.