Health Blog

When we think of cranberries we usually conjure up the holiday season. Thanksgiving feasts would not be complete with out cranberry. But as well as its delicious taste, is the cranberry probiotic?

Nutritionally the cranberry is a food that is very nutrient dense, particularly it is very rich in important antioxidants, which help reduce the number of free radicals in the body.

Health specialists and Nutritionists often advocate the importance of having 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day, and cranberries are a great way to squeeze in one of your 5 servings a day, even into the busiest life style.

One of the main reasons that fruits like the cranberry are more beneficial to the human body over say, taking packaged vitamins, is that there are additional beneficial nutrients in the cranberry, including phytonutrients, which have been proven in studies to help raise a persons level of health and fitness.

As well as its ability to help with all round general health and fitness, cranberries and cranberry juice has been shown to reduce the occurrence of urinary tract problems and infections. This benefit has been linked to a chemical in the cranberry called proanthocyanidins (PACs)

PAC’s have also been shown to prevent some types of bacteria, including the dreaded E. coli, from sticking to walls of the urinary tract. This is where the cranberry probiotic link comes from.

The PACs, in addition to helping to maintain the health of the urinary tract, are thought to help in the prevention of gum disease and reduce the occurrence stomach ulcers with the same process of preventing bacteria from sticking to the tissues.

As if these health benefits weren’t enough, there is also a growing body of evidence that the antioxidants and phytonutrients in fruits in general, and particularly in cranberries, may help to protect the body against many environmental diseases, and poor health. There has been information to suggest that they can even help with serious illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

The antioxidants in cranberries, and other fruits are beneficial as they fight the detrimental impacts that are left in the wake of free radicals in the body.

The formation of free radicals is normal, and part of normal cell function, but they can be damaging to the body if they build up and are left unchecked. Antioxidants reduce the damage caused by the free radicals, and so, they are considered useful weapons against a number of degenerative diseases, and even to go some way of reducing the effects of getting older.

Thankfully, if you want to increase the levels of antioxidants in the body, then cranberries are a good solution. They are readily available from most grocery stores, inexpensive and available all year around.

If they are not available then there is the option of frozen or canned cranberries, which although are not as beneficial, they are still a rich source of antioxidants. Alternatively, find a juice that has been made from pressed cranberries, rather than from concentrate.

Read below to find out more about natural health remedies and cures that are simple to use, by signing up for our free newsletter.

It is easy to add the cranberry into just about any meal plan, to boost your levels of antioxidants. Also, as we have discussed, there is a cranberry probiotic link, so it will also keep those nasty bacteria at bay.

Sign up here for the FREE Discover Natural Health newsletter, packed full of essential natural health information, and you will also get get your own copy of the new “Natural Cures The Pharmaceutical Companies Don’t Want You To Know About” report and “ABC’s Of Superfoods: Unlock Natures pharmacy” Book (Valued at $27.77), Or read more about natural ways to live a health life in our natural health blog