Pomegranate and weight loss: the arils, measured

55 kcal in half a cup of arils, about 100 g.
1.3 g protein per serving, from IFCT 2017.
Whole fruit on a plate built to lose fat and keep muscle.

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Pomegranate fits a weight-loss plan as a fruit you eat, not drink. Half a cup of arils (100 g) gives 55 kcal, 11.6 g of carbohydrate and 2.8 g of fibre. Sprinkled on salads, raita or chaat it adds colour and sweetness for modest calories.

Medical review by a registered doctor on our panel is pending. Every number is from IFCT 2017, the Indian Food Composition Tables published by ICMR's National Institute of Nutrition.

Published 18 October 2026 · Last updated 18 October 2026

Pomegranate nutrition, per serving and per 100 g

Pomegranate: IFCT 2017 figures
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	55 kcal	55 kcal
Protein	1.3 g	1.3 g
Carbohydrate (available)	11.6 g	11.6 g
Dietary fibre	2.8 g	2.8 g
Fat	0.1 g	0.1 g

Serving: half a cup of arils, about 100 g. IFCT 2017 food code E055, "Pomegranate, maroon seeds (Punica granatum)", the mean of 6 regions sampled. IFCT does not report glycaemic index, so this page prints none.

The verdict on pomegranate

Whole fruit

One counted fruit in place of a sweet or a packet snack.

2.4 g of protein for every 100 kcal.
One serving gives 1.3 g of the roughly 58 g of protein a day ICMR-NIN's RDA sets for a 70 kg adult.
2.8 g of fibre in a serving.

How pomegranate fits a plan that loses fat and keeps muscle

IFCT 2017 lists maroon-seeded pomegranate at 55 kcal and 2.8 g of fibre per 100 g. The seeds carry the fibre; juice strips it and concentrates the sugar.

Use pomegranate as a topping that makes healthy food more appealing: on sprouts, kachumber, curd or a chana salad. That is where it earns its place on a fat-loss plan.

Pomegranate in an Indian kitchen

Score the skin into quarters, break it open over a bowl of water, and the arils sink while the pith floats, which makes peeling quick and clean. A bowl of arils keeps three or four days in the fridge. Sprinkle them over a raita, a chana chaat, a salad or a bowl of curd for colour and crunch. Anardana, dried pomegranate seeds, is a souring spice. Packaged pomegranate juice often has added sugar and no fibre.

Pair it, or swap it

Pomegranate raita, or a sprouts chaat with pomegranate and lemon, gives a sweet, protein-rich snack.

Worth knowing

Packaged pomegranate juice often has added sugar. If you have diabetes, ask your doctor how fruit fits your plan.

Pomegranate against similar foods

Per 100 g, IFCT 2017
Food	Energy	Protein	Fibre
Pomegranate	55 kcal	1.3 g	2.8 g
Litchi	54 kcal	1 g	1.3 g
Grapes, green seedless	54 kcal	0.6 g	1.3 g
Apple	62 kcal	0.3 g	2.6 g

Pomegranate: questions people ask

Is pomegranate good for diabetes?

Many people with diabetes eat it in small portions, as seeds rather than juice. Half a cup holds 11.6 g of carbohydrate per IFCT 2017. Ask your doctor how fruit fits your plan.

Is pomegranate good for weight loss?

As a measured fruit or a topping, yes. Avoid relying on juice, which loses the fibre.

How many calories are in a pomegranate?

IFCT 2017 gives the arils 55 kcal per 100 g.

Sources

[1] Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017
National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Hyderabad, 2017. Table 1, Proximate Principles and Dietary Fibre: energy, protein, fat, available carbohydrate and dietary fibre per 100 g edible portion, the mean of the regions sampled. Every figure on this page comes from it.
Read the source
[2] ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians
ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad, 2024. Recommends combining cereals with pulses in a 3:1 ratio for protein quality, meeting vegetarian protein needs from pulses, beans and milk, keeping added sugar under 5% of energy and salt to 5 g a day, and slow, steady weight reduction.
Read the source
[3] ICMR-NIN Expert Group on Nutrient Requirements for Indians. Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average Requirements
ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad (brief note), 2020. Sets the protein RDA for healthy Indian adults at 0.83 g per kg of body weight a day, and 1 g per kg for people on a cereal-based diet with lower-quality protein.
Read the source
[4] Wycherley TP, et al. Effects of energy-restricted high-protein, low-fat compared with standard-protein, low-fat diets: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2012. In energy-restricted trials, higher-protein diets produced slightly greater fat loss and better preservation of fat-free mass than standard-protein diets.
Read the source
[5] Shukla AP, et al. Food Order Has a Significant Impact on Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels
Diabetes Care, 2015. Eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrate in the same meal produced lower post-meal glucose and insulin than the reverse order, in a small crossover study.
Read the source

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