What’s So Great About Ellagic Acid

Do you have age spots? I don’t because I’m 23. I may have recently implied that I am 27 but that’s just because sometimes I like to give myself a little more authority and “gravitas” by adding a few years to my age. And the reason I know so much about the 1980’s is…wait, what’s that shiny thing over there?

 
According to www.cancer.org, “ellagic acid is “a phytochemical…found in plant foods”. Like so much promising research, “more study is needed” but early tests show ellagic acid may slow the growth of certain tumours, cause cell death in some cancers and have other anti-cancer properties such as “helping the liver to break down or remove some cancer-causing substances from the blood.” And for the non-life threatening but pesky age spots, ellagic acid has been shown to have the potential to “hinder abnormal changes in skin color brought on by long-term sun exposure”.

Well, that all sounds good but this is often the part of the story where I break the news to you that in order to get these benefits you will need to add more seaweed to your diet, or bark, or, God help you, figure out a way to get the kids to eat more greens. Ready? Pomegranates, raspberries and strawberries. I know…yuck! Wait, what? Those are yummy and soon will be in season and once again taste like they’re supposed to! And they’re not green so there is a fighting chance with the kids. Huzzah!