Cranberries: Powerful Antioxidant Support

In 2004, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the results of a U.S. Department of Agriculture study that measured the antioxidant capacity of 100 common foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, dried fruits, spices, cereals and others (52:4026-37). The research showed cranberry to have the highest total antioxidant capacity per gram of all the foods tested.

The findings supported earlier research at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, which compared cranberries with 19 of the most commonly consumed fruits in North America (J Agric Food Chem, 49:5315-21, 2001). The study found that gram-for-gram, cranberries have the highest phenol content, more than double the next nearest fruit—red grapes—and five times more than broccoli. Phenols are an antioxidant thought to be most active in fighting chronic diseases like cancer, strokes and heart disease, where they prevent the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) that contribute to cardiovascular problems.

Further research presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Annual Congress Meeting in 2004 indicated drinking a daily glass of light cranberry juice could improve circulation by increasing the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol, in the bloodstream by 6.4 percent. This has a corresponding beneficial impact on the risk of heart disease, one of the major causes of death in North America and Europe.

Historically, the anti-adhesion properties of the cranberry are perhaps best known for helping to maintain urinary tract health. Cranberries contain particular antioxidants called proanthocyanidins (PACs), or common tannins, which disable E. coli bacteria—the cause of 80 percent to 90 percent of urinary tract infections—and prevent them from "sticking" to the walls of the urinary tract (J Urol, 131:1013-16, 1984). Unable to stick, the organisms are harmlessly flushed from the body. More recent studies have found cranberries actually have a higher PAC content than any other common fruit (J Nutr, 134:613-17, 2004). The beneficial impact of cranberries on urinary tract health was confirmed in 2004 when the French government’s food safety authority officially approved the health claim that North American cranberries "help reduce the adhesion of certain E. coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls."