Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are a native North American fruit. Tart and citric-tasting, cranberries are rich in vitamins and antioxidants, and may be useful in preventing urinary tract infections. Commercially available cranberry juice conveys some of the positive nutrition of fresh cranberries, but may be overly diluted and frequently contains excessive amounts of unnecessary sweeteners. Homemade cranberry juice provides all the flavorful, nutritional health benefits of cranberries but lets you control the ingredients.
Vitamins and Nutrients
Cranberries are high in manganese, fiber, and vitamins C and K. These nutrients are at their peak in fresh cranberries. Homemade cranberry juice from freshly harvested cranberries can be frozen to preserve the health benefits of cranberries for use throughout the year.
You can make homemade cranberry juice by running cranberries, water, and sugar to taste through a blender, then straining, suggests Alexandria, Virginia, bartender Todd Thrasher in the Washington Post. This captures the health benefits of fresh cranberries without losing any nutrients to the heating process used in commercial juice production.
Urinary Tract Health
Cranberries are acidic and contain proanthocyanadins, naturally-occurring substances which help preclude E. coli--the bacteria which most commonly causes urinary tract infections--from adhering to the urinary tract walls. Cranberry's infection-fighting properties may also stave off gum disease and stomach ulcers, according to the National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. You can experience the infection-fighting health benefits of cranberry juice most effectively by drinking several large glasses of high-quality cranberry juice each day, a New Mexico State University article recommends.
Lower Calories
While fresh cranberries provide the highest levels of nutritional and antioxidant benefits, commercial bottled cranberry juice with high levels of sweeteners, or with chemical artificial sweeteners, provide the least benefits of any cranberry products, according to the World's Healthiest Foods. Cranberry juice is usually sold as a cocktail containing a small amount of the healthful berry juice, significantly diluted with water and then containing a high number of calories from high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners. Light versions are similarly diluted and then sweetened with chemical artificial sweeteners. Homemade cranberry juice can be left tart and unsweetened (and mixed with unsweetened apple or orange juice for a healthful beverage), or sweetened to taste with real cane sugar, honey, or agave nectar, resulting in a lower-calorie, more healthful beverage than those purchased in the supermarket.
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