Pomegranate: Benefits, Uses & Dosage

Most fruits come with a catch in Ayurveda: the sour ones heat you up, the sweet ones weigh you down. Pomegranate is the classic exception. Classical texts single it out as one of the rare fruits that settles all three doshas (Tridoshahara), and as a fruit good for the heart (Hridya).

Known in Sanskrit as Dadima and in Hindi as Anar, pomegranate is the fruit of Punica granatum, a small tree or shrub cultivated throughout India. The Bhavaprakasha describes three varieties: sweet (Madhura), sour (Amla) and sweet-sour (Madhura-Amla). The sweet variety is considered the best medicine.

What makes pomegranate distinctive is that each part of the plant does a different job. The juicy fruit supports the heart, digestion and the building of blood. The dried rind is strongly astringent and is one of the classical go-to remedies for diarrhea. The root bark is used against intestinal worms, and the flower buds are used in bleeding disorders. It is also one of the few fruits recommended even during illness.

Digestion and Loose Stools

The dried fruit rind is the part to know for the gut. Its astringent taste (Kashaya Rasa) gives it an absorbent, binding action (Grahi), which is why the Bhavaprakasha calls the rind (Dadimavalkala) one of the best drugs for diarrhea.

Ayurvedic practitioners use it for diarrhea, dysentery and colitis. The Sharangadhara Samhita records that pomegranate juice prepared by the roasting method (Putapaka) and combined with honey relieves all types of diarrhea (Atisara).

The fruit itself works more gently. The Bhavaprakasha lists it as an appetiser (Deepana), and the Ashtanga Hridaya says all varieties are easy to digest and stimulate appetite and digestion.

Heart and Blood

Pomegranate is named as heart-friendly (Hridya) in multiple classical texts, and it is linked with heart conditions. The sweet juice is traditionally used to help build blood and is good for anemia (Pandu).

The Charaka Samhita, in its chapter on anemia (Chikitsa Sthana 16), names pomegranate juice as one of the drinks to take after the prescribed medicine.

Cooling Excess Pitta

Sour foods usually aggravate Pitta, the dosha of heat and metabolism. The Ashtanga Hridaya makes a specific exception for pomegranate and Amla, and says pomegranate mitigates greatly increased Pitta in particular.

This is why it shows up for heat-type complaints: heartburn and acid reflux, rashes and hives, nosebleed and fever. The Sushruta Samhita recommends a soup of pomegranate, Amla and green gram in fever of the Vata-Pitta type.

Nausea, Thirst and Recovery

Pomegranate juice is a traditional home remedy for nausea and vomiting, morning sickness and dehydration. The Charaka Samhita also uses it in a topical head paste for thirst disorders (Chikitsa Sthana 22).

Worms and Parasites

The root bark contains the alkaloid pelletierine and is a classical remedy for intestinal worms, particularly tapeworm. It is taken as a decoction with a little clove and followed by a purgative every second or third day, sometimes for ten days or more.

Throat, Eyes and Mind

Ayurvedic practitioners also use pomegranate for sore throat, cough, ulcers and conjunctivitis. The Sushruta Samhita includes pomegranate acid in its treatment of blood-type conjunctivitis.

The Bhavaprakasha also lists it as a brain tonic (Medhya), which links it to brain fog and memory.

Which part you use depends on what you want. The juice and fruit are food and tonic. The dried rind is medicine for loose stools. The root bark is for worms and is best left to a practitioner.

Simple Juice Combinations

• Nausea and vomiting: 1/2 cup juice with 1 teaspoon rock candy powder or natural sugar and 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, once or twice a day.
• Blood and mucus in stools: 1/2 cup juice with a pinch of clove powder and 2 pinches of ginger powder, 2 or 3 times a day.
• Rash, hives and hot flashes: 1 cup juice with 1 teaspoon rock candy powder and 5 to 10 drops of lime juice, 2 or 3 times a day.
• Dehydration: 1 cup juice with 1/2 cup grape juice, 1 teaspoon rock candy powder and a pinch of ginger powder.

What to Take It With

The vehicle you take a herb with (Anupana) steers its action. Classically, pomegranate juice with honey is used for diarrhea, and ginger is a common partner for nausea and stomach complaints.

One rule from Ayurvedic food combining: do not drink pomegranate juice with meat, milk or yogurt.

Pomegranate fruit and juice are everyday foods and are generally very safe. The cautions apply mostly to the medicinal parts of the plant.

• Constipation: The rind is strongly binding, so avoid medicinal pomegranate if you are constipated.
• Pregnancy: Avoid the rind in pregnancy. The fruit and juice are a different matter and are traditionally used for morning sickness.
• Root bark: Used for tapeworm alongside a purgative. This is a practitioner-guided treatment, not a home remedy.
• Vata: Some Ayurvedic sources note that pomegranate can increase Vata, the dosha of air and movement. If you run dry or constipated, use it in moderation.
• Sour variety: The sour variety may aggravate Pitta, so the sweet variety is preferred for heat conditions.
• Food combining: Do not drink pomegranate juice with meat, milk or yogurt.

If you take prescription medication, check with your doctor or pharmacist before using concentrated pomegranate products regularly.

Pomegranate is often grouped with other sour or astringent fruits in Ayurveda. Here is how it compares with the ones classical texts mention alongside it.

Pregnancy & Nursing

Avoid the rind in pregnancy. The fresh juice, sipped with a teaspoon of rock candy or natural sugar, is a traditional home remedy for morning sickness. There is no specific guidance in our sources for nursing, so check with your practitioner before using anything beyond the fruit as food.

Children

A traditional remedy for cough in children is 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice with a pinch of ginger powder and a pinch of pippali (long pepper) powder. Keep medicinal rind and root bark preparations for children under a practitioner's guidance.

Elderly

The fruit is light and easy to digest, and it is one of the few fruits recommended even during illness, which makes it a useful food in recovery. Because the rind is binding, older adults prone to constipation should avoid rind preparations.

Athletes

Our sources do not address athletic use specifically. The traditional use of pomegranate juice for dehydration and thirst, and for building blood, are the uses most relevant to active people.

Pomegranates are sweet, sour, astringent and heating with a pungent vipak. They increase vata, and decrease pitta and kapha. They promote the production of red blood cells and are good for anemia, fever and heart conditions. Do not drink pomegranate juice with meat, milk or yogurt.

• Cough (children): Give 1/2 cup of pomegranate juice with a pinch of ginger powder and a pinch of pippali powder.
• Nausea and vomiting: Mix 1/2 cup pomegranate juice, 1 teaspoon rock candy powder or natural sugar and 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, once or twice a day.
• Blood and mucus in stools: Drink 1/2 cup pomegranate juice with a pinch of clove powder and 2 pinches of ginger powder, 2 or 3 times a day.
• Nosebleed: Put 2 drops of fresh pomegranate juice in each nostril.
• Rash, hives and hot flashes: Drink 1 cup of pomegranate juice with 1 teaspoon of rock candy powder or organic sugar and 5 to 10 drops of lime juice, 2 or 3 times per day.
• Morning sickness: Sip pomegranate juice mixed with 1 teaspoon of rock candy or organic sugar.
• Dehydration: Mix 1 cup of pomegranate juice with 1/2 cup of grape juice, 1 teaspoon of rock candy powder (or organic sugar) and a pinch of ginger powder.
• Burning eyes: Put 1 drop of pomegranate juice in each eye at night.