Add this to your list of delicious and nutritious! According to two recent studies, pomegranate juice helps manage blood pressure; a better choice in comparison to the potentially harmful supplements many kidney disease patients take that the US National Kidney Foundation says may be harmful to their health.

Lilach Shema, PhD and colleagues investigated the long-term effects of drinking pomegranate juice on heart disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure in kidney disease patients. Pomegranate juice is rich in antioxidants and has been pushed as having a variety of health benefits.

Researchers randomized 101 dialysis patients to receive about three-and-a-half ounces of pomegranate juice or placebo, three times a week. After one year, the number of blood pressure drugs patients took decreased in patients drinking pomegranate juice compared to the placebo group. Patients who drank pomegranate juice also had healthier blood pressure and cholesterol levels and less plaque buildup in their arteries. These results suggest that drinking pomegranate juice might decrease the high rates of illness and death among kidney disease patients.

SOURCE: The American Society of Nephrology, November 2011