A compound found in pomegranates, transformed by gut bacteria, can shrink artery plaques and drive down heart disease risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For about $1.50 at an average grocery store, you could buy a pomegranate and give your gut bacteria the raw material they need to produce a natural compound that, according to new research, shrinks artery plaque and calms inflammation.<\/p>\n
Pomegranates contain high levels of the heart-healthy polyphenol punicalagin, but the body barely absorbs it. Instead, gut bacteria break it down into urolithins, smaller molecules that circulate in the blood and affect tissues throughout the body.<\/p>\n
When researchers tested punicalagin, ellagic acid, and several other urolithins on human cells, urolithin A (UA) stood out as the most effective weapon against atherosclerosis, the dangerous plaque buildup<\/a> that affects more than 18 million Americans and heart disease, afflicting 126 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n UA reduced oxidative stress, lowered inflammatory gene activity, limited immune cell movement and decreased cholesterol uptake by macrophages, all central processes in the formation of dangerous artery plaques<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cardiff University researchers tested UA in mice genetically prone to plaque buildup. After 12 weeks on a high-fat diet, the mice that got UA had fewer and smaller plaques, less inflammation, and more stable plaque structure than untreated mice.<\/p>\n While not tested in humans, the UK team’s findings suggest that this pomegranate-derived, gut-activated molecule could become a future tool for heart disease prevention by targeting inflammation and plaque stability in ways statins do not.<\/p>\n For now, eating pomegranates and other ellagitannin-rich foods is a low-risk way to support the gut’s production of UA.<\/p>\n Pomegranates contain heart-healthy punicalagin, but the body barely absorbs it. Gut bacteria break it into smaller molecules that circulate in the blood and reach other tissues (stock)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Pomegranates](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/04\/29\/00\/108227483-15773063-Pomegranates_contain_heart_healthy_punicalagin_but_the_body_bare-a-1_1777420708101.jpg\")
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