|
What are the health benefits of drinking cranberry juice?
© TheDeliciousLife
Do you have a burning sensation you should be drinking cranberry juice? :-)
It’s an old wives tale — drink cranberry juice to cure a urinary infection. But is it actually true?
Well, sales are on the up and up. Seems the humble cranberry is in fashion at the moment and new products are appearing all the time…
Apart from rocketing sales of cranberry juice, we now have cranberry wine, sauces, stuffing… even soap.
Some of the top producers of cranberries in the U.S. actually give tours around the flooded bogs during the harvest in October would you believe? They teach people all about the native North American cranberry :-)
I wonder… Is the recent press blitz on cranberries just drawing on seasonal interest? What’s going on? There’s no big excitement that I’m aware of really. Seems like a big storm in a tea cup.
There is however quite a bit of research going on at the moment, into the effect of cranberries, on all sorts of illnesses including heart disease, cancer, strokes and of course — urinary infections.
Infection fighting
Huge amounts of money are spent on treating urinary tract infections ($1.6 bn in the U.S. alone) so a natural remedy would not only be kinder to our bodies [1] but save a load of money into the bargain. Also of course, the cranberries probably have other stuff in them that’s good for us too :-)
In 2001, Finnish researchers did a study on 150 volunteers. All had a history of urinary tract infections. What they found is, that recurrence of infections in the group drinking cranberry juice (with loganberry), was less than half that of the control groups. The researchers said…
“Our study confirms the common belief that symptomatic recurrences of urinary tract infection can be prevented with cranberry juice.”
Current research seems to be supporting the earlier finding. And even suggesting that cranberries may be good for our cholesterol levels, slow the growth of tumors, or even prevent them from starting.
This remains to be seen. As Junk Science reporter Steven Milloy points out, some of the excitement comes from laboratory studies, and there would need to be a lot of further “real world” studies on real humans before we could actually confirm these health benefits from cranberries.
What’s so special about cranberries?
Well, the most common urinary tract infection is E.coli. It’s thought that certain chemicals [2] in the cranberry juice stop this bacteria from actually sticking to our cells, and so stops infection. The very same chemicals are thought by researcher Anne Howell [3] to stop plaque from sticking to teeth. Presumably for the same reason.
Cranberries are like other berries, in that they’ve got excellent anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants prevent “free radicals” from damaging our cells. Care must be taken though, the juice is known to interact with several drugs. Increasing the potency of some, and decreasing the potency of others.
Warfarin warning
Heart patients taking the anti-clotting drug warfarin should be very careful about cranberry juice. It’s thought that flavonoids in the juice slow the body’s breaking down of the drug, and so make it more potent.
In 2003, the Committee on the Safety of Medicines said:
“Until this possible interaction between cranberry juice and warfarin has been investigated further, it would be prudent for patients taking warfarin to be advised to limit or avoid drinking it.”
Waiting for science? — a mini rant
It’s the same old story with science really — it must continue to grind out its theories in the slow methodical way. Ever suspicious of new ideas.
People have problems now, and our short little lives may well be over before science eventually announces its hard-fought truths. There are many health conditions for which science and the medics have little to offer.
I’m not knocking science. This is, in part, the way it should be and many wonderful achievements have come through science. But beware, the medics have a vested interest in the medical model and the “pill for an ill” mentality.
This may seem like an outrageous claim but I believe strongly that if people took health into their own hands, by means of natural methods of healing, diet, exercise and so on, that medicine would be largely reduced to dealing with trauma.
Which they are amazing at, by the way. But I would love to see the focus of science move onto health creation, and studies into natural diets and methods. But who would fund it? There’s no money to be made using natural methods.
Science has, and will, continue to link all manner of fruits and vegetables to health benefits. No need to wait… You can have those benefits straight away.
If you have at least one piece of fruit, a green leafy side salad and a vegetable with every meal, you’ll be able to look at your plate and have a warm glow of smug satisfaction :-)
It’ll be a good start and you’ll exceed the 5-a-day recommendations. If you’re ill, or want to do the very best for yourself, you may need to go further…
I’ve ranted long enough :-) I say listen to the old wives about the benefits of cranberry juice, can’t really do any harm… unless you take warfarin!
And as mentioned above, please don’t focus just on cranberry juice. Get as many fruits and vegetables into your diet as you can, and gain all the associated benefits. The Habit Guide diet has the feel good, convenience and taste factors that will make it work in your real life.
[1] Some types of antibiotics are known to wipe out the “good” bacteria in our intestines and this can trigger all sorts of nasty health problems… Candida overgrowth etc. Thankfully the widespread practice of dosing the population routinely with antibiotics has now stopped.
[2] Proanthocyanidins — a form of tannin.
[3] Rutgers University.
All the best,
Mike Kinnaird
Habit Guide: How to be Happy & Healthy
Leave a comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below...
