Drink your anti-oxidants in a pomegranate cocktail

by Sarah J. Gim (Subscribe to Sarah J. Gim's posts)
Posted Jun 19th 2006 7:00PM
Filed under: Juice, Vodka, West Coast, Restaurants, Vegetarian, Vegan, Recipes, Fruit, Newspapers, America, Health & Medical

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We certainly don't need anymore news extolling the virtues of pomegranates. The seedy fruit fights free radicals and can help fight certain cancers and heart disease.

The San Francisco Chronicle covers a few restaurants and bars in the Bay Area that are now serving up the very poopular fruit in cocktails, with everything from pomegranate infused vodkas (the health benefits about which I am skeptical) to pomegranate juice concentrates. If you don't live in the Bay Area, not to worry, as the article has recipes fr you to play mixologist at home. My favorite? The Regina Viola, made like a mojito, but with the addition of lemon balm leaves, limoncello, Citron vodka, and regular vodka.

Tags: bay area, cocktails, drink, drinking, drinks, food and drink, pomegranate, san francisco, SF

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-19-2006 @ 9:09PM

Bonnie said...

OK, so this isn't nearly as hip and trendy, but my recent favorite "cocktail" is a pomegranate spritzer: 1/2 pomegrate juice and 1/2 perrier with a slice of lime. Mmmm. (Oh, and you can buy a big half gallon bottle of pomegranate juice at Costco for about $8)

6-19-2006 @ 9:28PM

Franz Hemingbeck said...

This year it's pomegranites. Next year it will be cat brains. The whole healthy food thing is a royal scam.

6-20-2006 @ 3:42AM

Berkana said...

@Franz Hemingbeck:

You are mistaken. This is not a scam; the health benefits of pomegranites are well studied, and the mechanism by which they work is known.

The thing that makes pomegranites (and red wine, and blueberries) such potent anti-oxidants is the pre-cursor to the pigments. They are known as OPCs, or "oligomeric proanthrocyanidins".

Oxidation, whether by UV light, or by chemical means, tends to attack double bonds. (See my lengthy explanation of this in the comments on the posting on avocados turning brown.) OPCs are like a grounding plug for free-radicals: they can take many free-radical "hits" without themselves becoming free radicals. (Both oxidizers and free radicals tend to attack neighboring molecules with double bonds, and when those bonds are broken, they continue the destruction on their neighbors. OPCs can take the attack and mop up free radicals without themselves becoming oxidative.)

Prior to this, it was known that red wine (wich is also rich in pigment pre-cursor OPCs) had beneficial effects, but until recently, the mechanism was unknown. Now that the mechanism is know, you'd do well to pay attention and take it seriously rather than dismissing it as a scam.

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