Health-related Cranberry Claims
Pass the cranberries
Cranberry related claims from the laboratories are going every which way, from breast cancer to gum disease and even stomach ulcers. For the latter two conditions, the findings are not surprising as gum disease and stomach ulcers both have an infectious origin and cranberries are a well-known antibacterial.
Of course, you should proceed with caution and not blindly accept what these studies are claiming as the gospel truth. Most of them were sponsored by the Cranberry Institute.
Cranberries are a glut on the market these days and that stimulates an attempt to find new markets. What better place to look than where so many have been successful before-the medical field?
Even so, cranberries certainly won’t hurt you, and if there’s any truth to the various claims being made in their favor, it would be well worth adding them into your diet.
Cranberries are very sour even though they contain natural fructose sugar. Stay away from the junk cranberry juice in the grocery store-it has sugar added to it to make it sweet.
But if you try to find pure, unsweetened cranberry juice, even in your local health food store, you will probably be disappointed. So, I suggest you buy the whole berries and make your own juice with your juicer.
If you can drink the stuff straight, more power to you. But I usually mix mine into a fruit smoothie -real heavy cream, melon, mango, and cranberry juice (which adds a great tartness) is one of my favorite combinations.
And while you’re whipping up your smoothie, throw some blueberries into the blender too. They’re good for your brain (in case the psychiatrists don’t come up with some brain-boosting power of cranberries).
Shakin’ up the mainstream,
Dr. William Campbell Douglass II, MD
