Eating pomegranates gives everyone the same urolithin A benefits
FalseThe Claim
Pomegranates, walnuts and berries are said to supply urolithin A, so anyone eating them is assumed to get its benefits.
Origin
Popular articles present urolithin A as a component of pomegranate, overlooking that it is made by gut bacteria.
What Science Says
Urolithins are produced by gut microbiota from ellagitannins, and people fall into distinct urolithin metabotypes (UM-A, UM-B, UM-0), including non-producers. In a randomized crossover trial in 49 overweight or obese adults, pomegranate extract lowered total cholesterol (about −15.5%) and LDL (about −14.9%) only in UM-B individuals, showing that responses to ellagitannin-rich foods vary widely between people.
Verdict
False
Sources
- PMID:35118817 Urolithins: a Comprehensive Update on their Metabolism, Bioactivity, and Associated Gut Microbiota.
- PMID:27879044 Clustering according to urolithin metabotype explains the interindividual variability in the improvement of cardiovascular risk biomarkers in overweight-obese individuals consuming pomegranate: A randomized clinical trial.