Does pomegranate lower blood pressure?

Modestly, and the trials behind that answer are uneven. A 2024 meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials of pomegranate in any form, juice and extracts pooled together, found systolic pressure 7.87 mm Hg lower (95% CI 5.39 to 10.34) and diastolic 3.23 mm Hg lower (95% CI 1.09 to 5.37) in adults. The trials disagreed strongly with each other, with I2 at 90.0% and 91.8%. Its own authors write that higher quality studies are still needed to show a clinical effect.

Unsettled. The direction is consistent across the two largest reviews. The size is not settled. The 22-trial analysis mixed juice, extracts and other forms, and its results varied so much from trial to trial that the pooled 7.87 mm Hg is a rough middle. A 2025 analysis of 53 trials in 2306 people also found a fall, and reported it only in standardized units, so it cannot be turned into mm Hg from the abstract. Two broader reviews of fruit and polyphenol foods did not single pomegranate out. No trial has counted strokes, heart attacks or deaths.

What the trials found

The pooled reviews

The 2025 meta-analysis of 53 randomized trials in 2306 people found pomegranate supplements lowered systolic pressure by a standardized mean difference of 0.49 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.68) and diastolic by 0.39 (95% CI 0.18 to 0.59). A standardized difference of that size is usually read as small to moderate. The abstract labels these numbers mm Hg, which they are not, and we could not get the full text with the real sizes.

Two wider reviews pull the other way. A meta-analysis of 128 randomized trials of polyphenol-rich foods named berries and red grapes or wine as the foods that significantly lowered blood pressure. Pomegranate was among the foods studied and was not named in that finding. A meta-analysis of 45 fruit trials concluded that cranberry or cherry juice might help blood pressure, and pomegranate juice was not part of that conclusion. Both pooled fewer pomegranate trials than the 2024 review.

In children, a 2025 systematic review of 31 studies on metabolic syndrome found pomegranate juice gave no significant improvement. Blood pressure is one part of that outcome, and not every included study was randomized.

Extracts, peel and seed oil

Most of what is sold for blood pressure is a capsule, and these trials tested capsules or oils made for the study. None of them is the fruit.

In an 8-week crossover trial in 84 middle-aged adults, a daily capsule of 195 mg punicalagin from pomegranate with 9.9 mg hydroxytyrosol from olive lowered systolic pressure by 15.75 mm Hg against 2.67 with placebo. That was a subgroup with high or borderline high pressure, and the olive compound means the effect is not pomegranate alone.

In 76 adults with fatty liver who were all on a 500 calories deficit diet, 1500 mg of pomegranate peel extract a day for 8 weeks lowered systolic pressure by 0.25 in (0.63 cm) Hg and diastolic by 0.15 in (0.39 cm) Hg more than placebo, roughly 6 and 4 mm Hg. The extract group also lost more weight, and weight loss lowers blood pressure by itself.

In 33 people on hemodialysis, 1000 mg of pomegranate extract a day for 6 months lowered systolic pressure by 24 mm Hg within the extract group. The extract group started higher, and once the analysis allowed for starting pressure the difference was no longer significant.

Two single-meal trials looked at the rise in pressure after a high-fat meal. In 19 young healthy men, an extract drink kept systolic pressure from rising as much as it did without it, with no effect on diastolic. In 16 postmenopausal women, a meal made with pomegranate seed oil was followed by lower systolic pressure than the same meal without it, and the abstract gives no size. One meal says nothing about everyday blood pressure.

In 199 men with prostate cancer, average age 74, a 6-month capsule of pomegranate, green tea, broccoli and turmeric did not change blood pressure compared with placebo. How much of the capsule was pomegranate is not known.

Who should be careful

The trials were quiet on harm. The 6-month four-food capsule trial in 199 men found no difference in adverse events against placebo, and trials this small are not built to find rare problems.

The form matters. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says pomegranate root, stem and peel may not be safe in large amounts, while the juice is believed safe and extracts may be. That is relevant to peel extract capsules like the one in the fatty liver trial. It gives no amount. In pregnancy and breastfeeding the same agency says juice may be safe and that little is known about other forms such as extracts.

Not for everyone. If you take blood pressure medicine, we found no trial of pomegranate in any form on top of an ACE inhibitor or any other blood pressure drug, so nobody has measured whether the two add together. A capsule is not a replacement for a prescribed drug. The interaction data that exist are narrow. In human volunteers, neither the juice nor a 1 g extract capsule changed how fast the body cleared a drug handled by the CYP2C9 enzyme, which also clears losartan and warfarin. In 14 healthy volunteers, 17 fl oz (500 mL) of juice did not change blood levels of cyclosporine. Calcium channel blockers used for blood pressure were not tested. Case reports on pomegranate juice with warfarin are left out of this page and covered on the pomegranate juice pages, so if you take warfarin, do not read the CYP2C9 result as a clearance.

What expert bodies say

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says pomegranate juice or extract may be helpful in reducing blood pressure and that more research is needed to confirm it. We found no Cochrane review on pomegranate and blood pressure, and no position from the American Heart Association, the European Society of Cardiology or NICE that names pomegranate.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A meta-analysis that separates juice, extract, peel and seed oil. Right now the biggest number on this page pools them, and the products on the shelf are mostly capsules.
• A randomized trial longer than 6 months. We found none for the whole fruit or any extract.
• A trial in people already taking blood pressure medicine. Whether pomegranate adds to a drug is untested.
• Any trial that counts strokes, heart attacks or deaths. A few mm Hg is a marker, and the health outcome behind it has not been measured.

More on the fruit and the drink: pomegranate and pomegranate juice.

Sources

1. ev-pombp-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs, searched to January 2024 · n = 22 RCTs
   Our meta-analysis of the pooled findings showed that pomegranate consumption significantly reduced SBP (WMD: -7.87 mmHg; 95% CI: -10.34 to -5.39; p < 0.001) and DBP (WMD: -3.23 mmHg; 95% CI: -5.37 to -1.09; p = 0.003).
   
   Who: adults who consumed pomegranate in different forms as part of the study intervention
   Effect: SBP WMD -7.87 mm Hg (95% CI -10.34 to -5.39); DBP WMD -3.23 mm Hg (95% CI -5.37 to -1.09); I2 90.0% and 91.8%
   Certainty: Best all-forms synthesis; very high heterogeneity, so the pooled size is shaky; juice, extracts and other forms mixed. Full text not in PMC.
   Phytotherapy Research, 2024 (pomegranate consumption and blood pressure in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-pombp-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 22 RCTs
   Although our results suggest that pomegranate juice may be effective in reducing blood pressure in the pooled data, further high-quality studies are needed to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of pomegranate consumption.
   
   Who: adults who consumed pomegranate in different forms
   Effect: clinical efficacy not established; heterogeneity I2 about 90%
   Certainty: The open question: small, short, mixed-form trials; no trial on hard outcomes such as stroke or heart attack.
   Phytotherapy Research, 2024 (pomegranate consumption and blood pressure in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-pombp-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of RCTs, random effects · n = 53 RCTs, 2306 participants
   The findings revealed that PO supplementation substantially reduced body weight (standardized mean difference (SMD): -0.14 kg, 95 % CI: -0.25, -0.03; P = 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (SMD: -0.39 mmHg, 95 % CI: -0.59, -0.18; P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (SMD: -0.17 kg/m2, 95 % CI: -0.30, -0.04; P = 0.01), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (SMD: -0.49 mmHg, 95 % CI: -0.68, -0.31; P < 0.001), serum fasting blood glucose (FBG) (SMD: -0.15 mg/dL, 95 % CI: -0.26, -0.04; P = 0.01), and total cholesterol (TC) (SMD: -0.12 mg/dL, 95 % CI: -0.24, -0.00; P = 0.04) while elevating high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (SMD: 0.27 mg/dL, 95 % CI: 0.08, 0.47; P < 0.001) compared to control groups.
   
   Who: participants in RCTs of pomegranate supplementation, published until January 2024
   Effect: SBP SMD -0.49 (95% CI -0.68 to -0.31); DBP SMD -0.39 (95% CI -0.59 to -0.18)
   Certainty: Largest synthesis; standardized mean differences only in the abstract (the abstract labels them mm Hg, which they are not), so no mm Hg size. Outcome set is all cardiometabolic markers.
   Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-pombp-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials grouped by food source · n = 128 RCTs
   Blood pressure was significantly reduced by the two main sources of anthocyanins, berries and red grapes/wine, whereas waist circumference, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose were most significantly lowered by the ellagitannin-products, particularly nuts.
   
   Who: participants in RCTs of berries, red grapes/wine, nuts and pomegranate
   Effect: BP significantly reduced by berries and red grapes/wine; pomegranate not reported as lowering BP
   Certainty: Counterweight to 38410857: pomegranate pooled with fewer trials here and the abstract gives no pomegranate BP number.
   Int J Mol Sci, 2018 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-pombp-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs, subgroup by fruit · n = 45 RCTs
   CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that supplementing cranberry or cherry juice might contribute to an improvement in blood pressure.
   
   Who: participants in chronic (1 week or longer) RCTs of berries, citrus and cherries
   Effect: berry group incl. pomegranate juice: SBP -3.68 mm Hg (95% CI -6.79 to -0.58); in subgroups only cranberry and cherry juice significant
   Certainty: Pomegranate juice sat in the berry group; in the subgroup it did not reach significance. Fewer pomegranate trials than 38410857.
   Eur J Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-pombp-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review of interventional studies, searched to April 2025 · n = 31 articles
   Natural products such as fermented camel milk, grape juice, and pomegranate juice did not show any significant improvement in pediatric MetS.
   
   Who: children and adolescents with metabolic syndrome in interventional studies
   Effect: pomegranate juice: no significant improvement in pediatric metabolic syndrome
   Certainty: Not all included studies are RCTs; blood pressure is one part of the metabolic syndrome outcome. Only evidence in children found.
   BMC Pediatr, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-pombp-07 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial, 9.9 mg hydroxytyrosol + 195 mg punicalagin daily, 8-week periods · n = 84 (41 + 43 per sequence)
   Moreover, the systolic prehypertension and hypertension subgroups presented significant differences in systolic blood pressure compared to the placebo (-15.75 ± 9.9 vs. -2.67 ± 12.0 mmHg, p < 0.05).
   
   Who: middle-aged, seemingly healthy adults; prehypertension and hypertension subgroups
   Effect: (pre)hypertensive subgroup: SBP -15.75 +/- 9.9 mm Hg vs -2.67 +/- 12.0 with placebo; DBP -6.36 +/- 8.7 mm Hg
   Certainty: Subgroup result; the supplement also contains olive hydroxytyrosol, so the effect is not pomegranate alone.
   Nutrients, 2019 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-pombp-08 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, 1500 mg peel extract + 500 calories deficit diet, 8 weeks · n = 76 (39 extract, 37 placebo)
   Following the intervention, the mean body weight (mean changes: -5.10 ± 2.30 kg), waist circumference (-7.57 ± 2.97 cm), body mass index (-1.82 ± 0.85 kg/m2), body fat index (-1.49 ± 0.86), and trunk fat (- 3.93 ± 3.07%), systolic (-0.63 ± 0.29 cmHg) and diastolic (-0.39 ± 0.19 cmHg) blood pressure, total cholesterol (-10.51 ± 0.77 mg/dl), triglyceride (-16.02 ± 1.7 mg/dl), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-9.33 ± 6.66 mg/dl; all P < 0.001), fat free mass (- 0.92 ± 0.90 kg; P < 0.003), and fasting blood sugar (-5.28 ± 1.36 mg/dl; P = 0.02) decreased significantly in PP in contrast to the placebo group in the raw model and when adjusted for confounders.
   
   Who: patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, mean age 43.1 years, 51.3% female
   Effect: SBP -0.63 +/- 0.29 cmHg (about 6 mm Hg), DBP -0.39 +/- 0.19 cmHg (about 4 mm Hg), P < 0.001 vs placebo
   Certainty: Both arms dieted; extract arm also lost more weight, which itself lowers BP. Peel is a different product from fruit or juice.
   Nutr J, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-pombp-09 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized placebo-controlled trial, 1000 mg purified polyphenol extract daily for 6 months · n = 33
   However, the BP differences in POM were no longer significant after controlling for baseline BP.
   
   Who: hemodialysis patients
   Effect: SBP -24 +/- 13.7 and DBP -10 +/- 5.3 mm Hg within the extract group; not significant after adjusting for baseline BP
   Certainty: Small; the large raw fall reflects higher baseline pressure in the extract arm.
   J Med Food, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
10. ev-pombp-10 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled crossover trial, single extract drink with or before a high-fat meal · n = 19
    Systolic blood pressure (SBP) increased in the ET-PRE and ET-DUR groups to a lesser extent than the CONTROL group (treatment effect P = 0.041).
    
    Who: young, healthy men
    Effect: smaller postprandial SBP rise vs control (treatment effect P = 0.041); no effect on DBP
    Certainty: One meal, few people; says nothing about daily blood pressure.
    Plant Foods Hum Nutr, 2012 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
11. ev-pombp-11 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · single-blind randomized controlled postprandial crossover trial · n = 16
    The AUC and incremental AUC (iAUC) for the postprandial acetylcholine (endothelium-dependent vasodilation) induced reactivity response were greater (P ≤ 0.04), and systolic BP lower after the PSO-rich meal than the control meal.
    
    Who: postmenopausal women aged 65 years or younger
    Effect: systolic BP lower after the seed-oil meal than the control meal over 8 hours; size not given in abstract
    Certainty: Acute, single meal, small; seed oil is a fat rich in punicic acid, a different product from the fruit.
    J Nutr, 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
12. ev-pombp-12 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial (2:1), 6 months · n = 199
    There were no differences in cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, C-reactive protein or adverse events.
    
    Who: men with localized prostate cancer, average age 74 years
    Effect: no difference in cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, CRP or adverse events
    Certainty: Four-food blend, pomegranate share unknown; BP was a secondary measure.
    Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis, 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
13. ev-pombp-13 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · in vitro inhibition plus controlled human pharmacokinetic study with a low-polyphenol placebo beverage · n = —
    Despite inhibition of CYP2C9 in vitro, pomegranate juice and extract had no effect on CYP2C9 activity in human subjects, and can be consumed by patients taking CYP2C9 substrate drugs with negligible risk of a pharmacokinetic interaction.
    
    Who: healthy adult volunteers
    Effect: flurbiprofen pharmacokinetics unchanged by juice or extract; fluconazole control did reduce clearance
    Certainty: Probe drug, not every medicine; CYP2C9 also clears losartan and warfarin. n not in abstract.
    Clin Pharmacol Ther, 2012 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
14. ev-pombp-14 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · open-label randomized single-dose crossover pharmacokinetic study, 2-week washout · n = 14
    CONCLUSION: Single dose administration of pomegranate juice with cyclosporine did not significantly affect the oral bioavailability of cyclosporine.
    
    Who: healthy Thai volunteers
    Effect: 90% CI of test/control ratio AUC0-t 91.6-105.6, Cmax 82.3-102.5, within bioequivalence range; no difference in adverse events
    Certainty: Single dose; CYP3A4 drugs include some calcium-channel blockers used for blood pressure, but those were not tested.
    Curr Clin Pharmacol, 2020 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
15. ev-pombp-15 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Pomegranate juice or extract may be helpful in reducing blood pressure, but additional research is needed to confirm this effect.
    
    Who: general public
    Effect: possible benefit, unconfirmed
    Certainty: Agency position without own analysis; matches the heterogeneous meta-analyses.
    NIH NCCIH, Pomegranate (fact sheet, last updated April 2025) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
16. ev-pombp-16 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Pomegranate root, stem, and peel may not be safe when consumed in large amounts because they contain substances that can have harmful effects.
    
    Who: general public
    Effect: root, stem and peel: possibly unsafe in large amounts
    Certainty: Relevant to peel-extract products such as the one in ev-pombp-08; no amount given.
    NIH NCCIH, Pomegranate (fact sheet, last updated April 2025) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
17. ev-pombp-17 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Little is known about whether it’s safe to use other forms of pomegranate or other parts of the plant during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
    
    Who: general public
    Effect: juice may be safe; other forms unknown in pregnancy and breastfeeding
    Certainty: Matters because blood pressure products are mostly extracts and capsules.
    NIH NCCIH, Pomegranate (fact sheet, last updated April 2025) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section