Research has proved that drinking a lot of cranberries juice can reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections in susceptible people. It also appears to shorten the duration of symptoms but, if you already have an infection, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice. In this instance, cranberry is best used to bolster prescribed medication rather than as a cure.
Blood benefits
Research has shown that cranberry juice can increase the levels of ’good’ (HDL) cholesterol and blood antioxidants. Cranberry juice could thus help to prevent heart disease, but the amounts needed to show a beneficial effect in this study were quite large – 3 glasses of full strength juice a day for three months. Doctors also think that cranberries mat help both to reduce the severity of strokes and aid recovery from them.
How much, how often?
Most scientific studies looking at the prevention of urinary tract infections use 800mg cranberry extract a day. This is equivalent to drinking 500ml (18fl oz) undiluted cranberry juice twice a day. The juice sold in supermarkets is really too dilute to be effective. You can make your own using a juicer or buy full-strength juice from a health-food shop. If you find the juice too sour when undiluted, try mixing it in equal parts with pure bilberry juice, which has similar beneficial ingredients. Or mix the day’s allocation of cranberry juice with an equal amount of apple juice, which is naturally sweet.
Cranberries, even in large amounts, are usually very safe. But unfortunately, blood clot patients on warfarin must not take cranberry, either in drink, concentrate or capsule form, as cranberry can increase warfarin’s anticoagulant effect, causing severe bleeding. Also check with your doctor if you have prostate problems or severe kidney disease before taking cranberry juice. Drinking more than a liter a day for prolonged periods may also increase your risk of kidney stones because cranberries contain oxalates.
Cautions and Side Effects
Do not take if on blood thinning drugs.