Cranberry: properties and benefits of the most virtuous of red fruits!
Native Americans used it for decades for its nutritional and medical properties as well as for its taste: blueberry is a real panacea in relieving the annoyances of urinary tract infections, it is useful for when you have respiratory problems, it is even anticarcinogenic.
Cranberry is also incredibly versatile in cooking and there are many ways to include it in your diet.
Here's how you can easily and tastefully introduce it into your diet:
- Drink 100% pure cranberry juice
- Take cranberry extract or cranberry supplements
- Eat dried blueberries as a midday snack or on the go
- Add a handful of frozen blueberries to your smoothie
- Add it to your breakfast cereals
- Blueberries sound great paired with turkey, but also with chicken and pork
- Make blueberry muffins or blueberry oatmeal cookies
See also
In short, you are spoiled for choice on how to use blueberry in the kitchen!
But now let's see the 10 benefits right away, which will convince you to eat plenty of them!
We'll give you a great benefit right away: blueberry is a perfect antioxidant! But here are other antioxidant foods to include in your daily diet!
1. Cranberry for cystitis
Do you experience pain or even mild discomfort when urinating? It is possible that it is a urinary tract infection.
Such infections occur when the existence of certain microorganisms in the urinary tract exceeds the normal amount for our body.
Escherichia Coli causes 80% of urine infections; Cranberry is a valid help to prevent and relieve: it contains proanthocyanidins, which inhibit the ability of the bacterium to take root on the bladder. Drinking cranberry juice can help slow bacterial reproduction.
Furthermore, blueberry makes urine more acidic, thus creating an environment more unsuitable for bacterial life.
To counteract this annoying disorder, therefore, cranberry is a precious ally: you can also find the extract in the form of supplements designed specifically to treat this condition.
2. Cranberry in pregnancy
Yes, blueberry is also a friend of pregnant women.
Taking vitamin C along with vitamin E can help prevent pre-eclampsia, a condition which, associated with high blood pressure and increased protein in the urine of a pregnant woman, can cause premature birth.
However, always ask your doctor for advice before taking any substance during pregnancy.
3. Cranberry: therapeutic properties for the circulatory system
The flavonoids in blueberries can help reduce the risk of heart problems by improving heart health; they can decrease the chances of developing atherosclerosis, which is a condition that limits arterial flow with the accumulation of plaques: the lack of oxygen in the arteries can cause heart attack and stroke.
And finally, cranberry juice strengthens good cholesterol by up to 121%.
4. Cranberry: Does it make you lose weight?
Compared to other fruit juices, the blueberry juice is less sweet and is easier to find in the supermarket as a 100% pure juice with no added sugars even for dietary purposes.
Drinking a glass of cranberry juice for breakfast is an excellent way to start the day - it's a real antioxidant boost with very little sugar!
5. Cranberry as an aid to cancer prevention
Cranberry is a superpower in cancer prevention.
The proanthocyanidins contained in cranberry juice inhibit the growth of various cancer cells. Studies have also shown that flavonoids also reduce the risk of cancer, including breast cancer.
6. Helps digestion
Blueberries are high in fiber, which aids digestion and makes your stomach and intestines happier. For blueberries to be really effective in this, however, you need to eat the whole berry or make a nice blueberry smoothie and other fruit.
We recommend a nice blueberry and apple juice flavored with ginger as an excellent and very tasty digestive. Stomach and intestines will thank you and smile!
7. Cranberry strengthens the immune system
Those who drink a glass of cranberry juice a day are less likely to get colds and flu.
All thanks to polyphenols. These antioxidants protect our body against free radicals.
Blueberries are known to have a higher concentration of antioxidants than other fruits.
8. Cranberry contains Vitamin C
Vitamin C, as we know, is a powerful antioxidant, neutralizes free radicals, strengthens the immune system, contributes to the production of collagen ...and so on and so forth! Blueberry contains it in large quantities!
9. Cranberry: therapeutic properties for teeth
Although cranberry juice is acidic, and therefore, like many fruit juices, not really healthy for tooth enamel, it is also a great ally for oral health.
Proanthocyanidins, we said, help prevent urinary tract infections by inhibiting the growth of bacteria: they can also have a beneficial effect on the teeth by preventing cavities.
As with any fruit and fruit juice, it is always good to look at the amount of sugar first: it is therefore advisable to buy a juice that is as pure as possible and free of additives and added sugars.
10. It is versatile
Cranberry juice doesn't just lend itself to being drunk on its own: it can be used in many creative ways, to flavor a cocktail, to make a smoothie, to prepare a homemade cranberry sauce with which to flavor Christmas turkey!
