5 Things You Need to Know About the Health Benefits of Cranberry Juice

1. Natural Remedy for Bladder Infections

Does drinking cranberry juice really prevent or treat urinary tract and bladder infections? This is one food source that has a history of use as a natural remedy as well as traditional scientific research to back up the claim. In studies, people who drank cranberry juice on a consistent basis had fewer urinary-tract infections than those who did not. The effect was greatest in people who experience recurring urinary-tract infections. The way cranberry juice works probably has to do with compounds called proanthocyanidins. These compounds inhibit bacteria from attaching to the walls of the urinary tract, and thus prevent the infection from developing.

2. Daily Dose?

While some might start gulping cranberry juice at the first symptom of a bladder infection, study subjects generally drank cranberry juice every day and before symptoms occured. The dose was often 10 ounces or more per day. And it wasn't cranberry juice cocktail, the pleasant sweetened drink you find in the supermarket. Straight cranberry juice with no added sugar or lightly sweetened versions were used, both of which have much higher concentrations of the active compounds.

3. Are the Antioxidants Helpful?

Among fruits, cranberries top the charts of antioxidant content. Pure cranberry juice retains the high concentration of antioxidants, but as you add more sugar, as in cranberry juice cocktail, fewer of the antioxidant compounds remain. What does this mean for health? In a recent study, volunteers who drank 25 ounces of cranberry juice daily showed no higher antioxidant potential in the blood after four weeks than those who drank a placebo. Although plenty of research in vitro and using cell cultures shows an effect of antioxidants in reducing oxidative damage, the actual benefit of consuming high levels of antioxidants from food is not proven.

4. Cranberry Juice and Cancer

There are no large population studies to link drinking cranberry juice to cancer prevention. But compounds in cranberry juice have promising results when studied using in vitro laboratory test. It's important to realize that many of compounds found in cranberry juice are sprinkled throughout the fruits and vegetables we eat every day. If they do indeed have a role in cancer prevention, getting them from a variety of food sources is the best approach.

5. Watch the Sugar

As you try to obtain health benefits from drinking cranberry juice, remember to watch added sugars. The majority of cranberry drinks in the supermarket are in the form of cranberry juice cocktail, which is largely added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. That's because the cranberry is naturally lower in sugar than many other fruits and berries. Plain cranberry juice ends up being quite tart. It might be tough to find straight cranberry juice in your supermarket, but it's worth finding. It is much richer in compounds thought to provide benefits. Because it is so tart, one healthy approach is to buy straight cranberry juice and mix it with other juices or add it to smoothies.