You're Probably Eating Pomegranate Seeds Wrong

Most likely, you've eaten them sprinkled over a salad. Or you might have sipped on a fruity blend of them. Sure, you may love the taste of pomegranates — but have you ever tried tackling one to get those juicy seeds out? More than likely, you're probably eating pomegranate seeds wrong.

When it comes to superstar fruit, one of the real MVPs is the pomegranate. For starters, pomegranates have a ton of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber (via Medical News Today). It's low in calories, too (an entire pomegranate boasts just 234 calories), and it contains about half of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C.

And that's not all of its health benefits. Pomegranate seeds are also rich in antioxidants, and have been known to reduce inflammation, too (via Healthline).

So now that you know it's good for you, how do you actually eat it? Well, every person has their own style, but you can just pop it open to gain access to those simultaneously sweet and tart, juicy, red jewels, which, by the way, are called arils (via Pomegranates.org).

But here's where you are probably eating pomegranate seeds wrong. Inside each aril is a small, white, crunchy seed. But if you're choosing to suck the juice from each seed — and then spit out the white part — you might not be reaping all of the health benefits of this miracle fruit. After all, it's within the aril (and specifically, the white seed), which offers all of that fantastic fiber (via Livestrong). So by chewing on the aril only, you might not be getting the entire health benefit that the pomegranate offers.

Now, you might not like chewing on the white seeds inside the arils. After all, they tend to be a little tough, which is why most people spit them out anyway. But once you consider how nutritious they are, it might make you reconsider tossing them in the trash and opt to eat them instead. 

To make sure that your pomegranate packs the biggest nutritional punch, be sure to eat the entire aril. You can always eat the seeds whole (like mixed in with yogurt), or blended into a fruit juice. And that way, it'll be worth all the work it takes to get the arils out in the first place.