Cranberry Juice & Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases your risk for chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease and kidney disease. Cranberry juice can be part of a healthy diet to maintain your blood pressure if it is within the normal range, or to lower your blood pressure if you already have hypertension. Many factors affect your blood pressure, and your doctor may recommend further treatment if diet modifications are not effective for you.

A variety of nutrients are essential for a healthy blood pressure, and you can get them from following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet. This eating pattern includes fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and healthy fats, and may lower high blood pressure, according to the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010." A 2,000-calorie DASH diet includes four to five servings of fruit per day, and each half-cup of cranberry juice counts as a serving.

Vitamin C

Unsweetened cranberry juice provides 24 mg vitamin C per cup, or about 40 percent of the daily value. A high intake of vitamin C may lower blood pressure in individuals with hypertension, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, and may lower your risk for stroke, heart disease and cataracts. Other good sources are citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, tomatoes, red bell peppers and potatoes.

Sodium

Cranberry juice can be good for your blood pressure because it only has 5 mg sodium per cup. A high-sodium diet can cause hypertension, and healthy individuals should not consume more than 2,300 mg per day. Too much sodium in your diet can prevent you from lowering your high blood pressure, and individuals with hypertension should take in no more than 1,500 mg per day.

Other Information

A high-potassium diet can lower your blood pressure, and cranberry juice has 195 mg potassium per cup. The recommended dietary allowance for healthy adults for potassium is to get at least 4,700 mg per day. Monitor your intake of cranberry juice to avoid gaining unwanted weight, because each cup provides 116 calories. Also, consider having fresh fruit instead of juice, since a high-fiber diet can help you control your blood pressure, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Cranberry juice has almost no fiber, while a cup of whole cranberries has 4.6 g dietary fiber and 46 calories. Cranberries are naturally tart, but you can cook them and add a small amount of a low-calorie sweetener, such as sucralose.