"It's not clear that these levels could be achieved in animals or in humans because the ellagitannins are not well absorbed into blood when provided in the diet."

Dr Laura Bell, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, agreed, saying: "It's too big a leap to conclude from this early-stage research that eating pomegranates could help prevent hormone-dependent breast cancer as the study was done using large amounts of purified chemicals on cells grown in the lab.

"In terms of cancer prevention, most foods contain many natural chemicals and we need to understand the combined effect of these when processed in the body to guess what influence, if any, a specific food may have on your chance of developing cancer."

Dr Bell continued: "We know from large scientific studies that by eating a healthy balanced diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in red and processed meat, saturated fat and salt, you can help to reduce your risk of several different types of cancer." 

Source: Cancer Research UK