In case you’re like me and enjoy eating a fresh pomegranate without ruining your shirt, then this post is for you! I recently stumbled upon Glow With Ella’s Instagram post on how to do this and have been using the “Water Method” ever since. I feel like it’s a kitchen secret or something (because I’m 31 years old and just learned it) but I’m here to break the silence because we do not gatekeep in the wellness world! So here it is- if you want some yummy pomegranate seeds without all the red juice splattered everywhere, my instructions are below. I also loveee talking about the health benefits of what we consume, so listed at the very bottom of this post are five pomegranate health benefits!
How to De-Seed Using the “Water Method”
Essentially- all you need is a large bowl- filled about halfway through with water, and a knife. First cut the pomegranate in half, and then score each half into 4 sections. You want to have 4 parts of the pomegranate that you can bend backward to pick out the seeds. So when scoring your pomegranate, don’t completely cut through the middle. See image above for an example.
Next (and for best results), place your half of the pomegranate into the water with the seeds facing down and the skin facing up. Using your hand, carefully pull apart the pomegranate seeds, off of the flesh and into the water. You can turn the pomegranate over to see what you’re doing, but try to keep it under the water to prevent juice spraying everywhere. The white pith of the pomegranate will float to the top which you can discard (either by scooping it out with your hand or using a metal loose leaf tea strainer), and then scoop the seeds out of the water, pat dry with a paper towel, and store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
5 Health Benefits of Pomegranates
- Pomegranates have one of the largest and most powerful antioxidants known: Punicalagin which is a type of Ellagitannin.
- Ellagitannins (bioactive polyphenols) convert into Urolithins (a microflora metabolite) in your intestines. Urolithin A stimulates something called Mitophagy, a sort of waste removal process which recycles damaged mitochondria. We need healthy mitochondria in our body to convert our food into usable energy. Mitochondria also play a role in disease prevention, cellular health, organ and tissue function, and much more! The healthier our mitochondria function, the better we feel.
- Urolithin A has also been shown in studies to reduce gut permeability (helping to seal up tight junctions in our stomach lining to prevent inflammation making pomegranates gut-healthy).
- Urolithin A also reduces systemic inflammation in the heart, stomach and brain (inflammation can be caused by diet, lifestyle, lack of exercise, stress, etc. and is essentially when the body damages its own tissues due to external threats)- so pomegranates are very anti-inflammatory!
- Lastly- pomegranates support a healthy gut by promoting beneficial bacterial growth, helping the body to maintain a healthy microbiome and fight against things like Inflammatory Bowel Disease. There are so many more health benefits than this but these are my fave and are encouraging to remind us the WHY behind eating foods that are good for you.
Sources
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/health-benefits-of-pomegranates-extend-throughout-the-body
https://www.tinyhealth.com/blog/urolithin-a-benefits-and-the-role-of-your-gut-microbiome