By 𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭: Complete Post through this link…

Cranberries may help prevent bladder and urinary tract infections and, importantly, reduce the need for working people to take time for medical appointments.

ranberries are a superfood. They are extremely high in antioxidants and may help prevent heart disease and cancers. Their health benefits were well known to the First Peoples of North America, who consumed cranberries for an assortment of medicinal purposes: as ‘blood purifiers’, as a laxative, for treating fever, stomach cramps, a slew of childbirth-related injuries, and bladder problems. Eventually, even non-native people came to view cranberries as helping to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in susceptible women. But is this idea merely wishful thinking, or is it really true?

What is the secret of cranberries’ anti-UTI magic?

In the 1980s and 1990s (i. e.; ref & ref), scientists began to explore what makes cranberries so beneficial. They discovered that cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon, a native fruit of North America, have high concentrations of proanthocyanidins (ref). Proanthocyanidins are a class of polyphenols that are natural pigments, providing red, blue or purple colors to the fruit or flowers of many plants. Cranberries rely on proanthocyanidins to protect the plant and its fruits from attack by microbes. In people, proanthocyanidins appear to also have anti-microbial properties: they prevent the most common UTI-causing bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall and causing infection.