A couple weeks ago I started thinking about the heart show and was a bit perplexed as to what my subject should be. A couple days later, I was sharing a pomegranate with a friend. This was my first time eating a pomegranate. While I was taking the fruit apart it suddenly dawned on me that the inside of a pomegranate looks A LOT like heart tissue under the microscope. As a doctor, I decided to venture out into an entire new realm of art where I marry my two loves medicine (pathology) and art. In this piece the cut section of the pomegranate shows the microscopic view of heart tissue. (YES! This is what a piece of your heart looks like under the microscope!!!)

The central white areas with little circles inside are actually the arteries in your heart and the little red and dark brown circles inside are your red blood cells (and other cells).

The red individual parts surrounding the arteries are actual heart muscle. The blue threadlike parts represent the connective tissue in the heart. I have included an actual microscopic slide (in the last pic) for you to have a reference as to what it actually looks like.

According to the ancients in Babylonia, pomegranate was considered an agent of resurrection! Here’s the best part! Scientist have proven that pomegranate juice fights against the effects of heart disease. In a paper published in the American Journal of Cardiology – patients with heart disease who drank pomegranate juice had a 17% improvement in defects caused by decreased blood flow to the heart muscle, whereas patients who had a placebo had 18% worsening! So drink up guys – seems like the Babylonians were right pomegranate is the fruit of resurrection!!!!

So I figured what a perfect combination – a fruit that helps the heart and actually looks like heart tissue on cut section. I hope you guys enjoyed the little trip down medicine lane and that you have gained some insight into the benefits of drinking pomegranate juice. p.s One of the heart muscle parts actually looks like a heart - see if you can find it!!!