Pomegranate seeds
the fresh fruit's arils. Vegetables & fruit.
- Verdict
- UnclearThere isn't enough human evidence to say either way.
- How sure
- Rung 1 · UnprovenLab or animal data only, or never directly tested in people.
The rung shows how sure the science is, not how big the effect is. How to read these ratings
Cancers affected
None shown in people
What the evidence shows
Eating pomegranate seeds has never been tested for cancer in people. Memorial Sloan Kettering notes that most cancer claims for pomegranate come from lab and animal studies. Pomegranate extract, tested in a large trial in men whose PSA was rising after prostate cancer treatment, didn't slow the rise (rated separately as pomegranate juice). Memorial Sloan Kettering lists no human cancer studies of pomegranate seed oil either.
What to do
Enjoy them as fruit, which counts toward your fruit and vegetables, but not as a cancer treatment. Don't eat the peel, stem or root.
Sources
Spotted an error? Tell us and we’ll check it against the sources.
Related
Every food we rated, or follow one cancer step by step: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer.