Finding cranberry’s benefits—like falling off a bog
by KC Jones, ne news editor

    Many people reserve special foods for the holiday meals.

    Among the tastes and colors of the holidays, cranberries have been proved to aid in the prevention of cancer, gum disease and urinary tract infections.

    Native to North America, cranberries grow wild in bogs from Nova Scotia to North Carolina and on the west coasts of Washington and Oregon.

    During the growth of a cranberry, the bud hooks downward resembling a crane’s head, so early settlers called them crane-berries.

    Later, the name was shortened to cranberry.

    It is likely that cranberries were served at the first Thanksgiving.

    U.S.D.A. scientists have used cranberries as a prime target of research into natural cancer fighters.

    They found a substance called resveratrol slowed the sprouting of the extra blood vessels that help tumors grow and allow cancer cells to spread.

    Cranberry skins contain most of the resveratrol, so be sure to choose the whole berry type of cranberry sauce.

    Another study reported at the Experimental Biology meeting in April 2000 found that cranberry-supplemented mice, having received injections of human breast cancer cells, resisted the cancer up to 57 percent longer and had half as many tumors spread to lungs and lymph nodes.

    A more common folk remedy uses cranberries to prevent urinary tract infections (U.I.T.).

    Researchers say daily consumption of cranberry juice reduces the recurrence of U.T.I. by about half and recommend it as a self-administered preventative measure.

    Tero Kontiokari, researcher with the department of pediatrics at the University of Oulu, agrees that cranberries can be healthful.

    “Cranberry juice consumption could reduce the need for antimicrobial drugs. It’s a natural way to keep on track with urinary health,” he said.

    Infection is the most common problem facing the urinary system. The pathway that urine uses to reach the outside world, the urethra, ends up as a gateway for bacteria to enter the bladder.

    Originating in the bowels, E. coli causes most bladder infections. The sexually transmitted disease, chlamydia, is another increasing source of bladder infection.

    Early signs of infection are cloudy urine, a burning sensation when urinating and a heavy feeling or pain in the bladder, especially when it is just emptied.

    While several herbs work well to prevent bladder infection, the most popular is the cranberry.

    Cranberry juice creates an inhospitable environment for the alkaline-loving bacteria by making urine more acidic. Israeli researchers at the Weizman Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University have discovered that cranberries do much more than acidify urine.

    “Cranberries prevent bacteria from attaching to the bladder’s wall so infection can’t take hold,” they said.

    It is better to prevent U.T.I. than to take antibiotics because bacteria can develop resistance due to the overuse of antibiotics. Antibiotics are not harmless compounds.

    They have side effects, such as diarrhea and the killing off of friendly bacteria that often results in an overgrowth of harmful organisms such as candida.

    Many women experience vaginal candida infection caused by antibiotic use.

    The use of a potent cranberry extract has no side effects while producing multiple benefits.

    A Lawson Health Research Institute study determined the effectiveness of cranberries in treating U.T.I.

    “Cranberry juice consumption was successfully used to combat organized microbes that can be nearly impossible to eradicate with conventional antibiotics,” it reported.

    Cranberries are also useful in preventing kidney stones.

    They reduce the excessive amounts of calcium, uric acid or the enzyme urease typically found in the urinary tracts of people with kidney stones.

    Avoiding foods rich in oxalic acid, such as black tea, chocolate, spinach, beet greens, rhubarb and sorrel is also important.

    Science has confirmed that dark-colored berries are a treasure trove of health-giving and possibly even life-extending phenolic compounds and tannins.

    The plant pigment’s compounds are often referred to as polyphenols or flavonoids.

    Known primarily as potent antioxidants, they have antibacterial and antiviral actions and are anticarcinogenic, antiangiogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic. They can also chelate metals.

    Other benefits of polyphenols include fewer cavities due to anticaries action, improved kidney function, younger looking skin and the promotion of hair growth.

    Polyphenols boost the activity of vitamin C, which increases the levels of vitamin E contributing to cranberries’ considerable cardiovascular and anti-cancer benefits.

    Commercially prepared cranberries usually have sugar added. Too much sugar can suppress the immune system and worsen the infection.

    Unsweetened concentrate or cranberry capsules found at natural food stores are suggested. The recommended daily dose of pure cranberry juice to treat or prevent bladder infection is about six ounces a day.

    Though most commercial cranberry growers use irrigation systems to apply fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides, a small number of organic cranberry farmers exist.

    Cranberry solids were even more protective than juice in studies, so choose whole-berry relish or fresh cranberries.

    Select berries that are bright red, hard and plump. Avoid soft, dull or shriveled berries. Cranberries will keep up to two months refrigerated.