Cranberry Berry

Vaccinium macrocarpon

In traditional North American herbalism, cranberry has been used to prevent kidney stones and "bladder gravel" as well as to remove toxins from the blood.

URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Cranberry prevents E. coli, the most common bacterial cause of UTIs, from adhering to the cells lining the wall of the bladder. This anti-adherence action is thought to reduce the ability of the bacteria to cause a UTI. A small double-blind trial with younger women ages 18-45 years with a history of recurrent urinary tracts infections, found that daily treatment with an encapsulated cranberry concentrate (400 mg twice per day) for three months significantly reduced the recurrence of urinary tract infections compared to women taking a placebo.
KIDNEY STONES - Cranberry has been shown to reduce the amount of ionised calcium in the urine by more than 50% in patients with kidney stones.
ANTIOXIDANT - Cranberries are rich in potent antioxidant compounds including anthocyanidins, quercetin, and chlorogenic acid. Cranberry has been found to be one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds demonstrating anti-proliferative effects in human cancer cells.

Dosage

One to three capsules daily, or as recommended. Up to 800mg daily over 3 months has been found to be effective in reducing the recurrence of UTIs.

Potential applications

Urinary tract infections, cellular protection, cataracts - anthocyanosides may protect both the lens and retina from oxidative damage, chronic venous insufficiency, prostatitis, kidney stones (calcium oxalate).

Known contraindications

Cranberry concentrate has no known side effects and has no known contraindications to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Interactions

Proton pump drugs that block stomach acid production can inhibit vitamin B12 uptake and absorption. Taking cranberry juice may help increase the local acidity in the stomach and improve uptake.

Use in conjunction with

Urinary tract infection - oregon grape root, garlic, probiotics, beta-carotene

Note

Many cranberry juice products on the market are known to contain sugar. Since sugar has a detrimental effect on the immune system, the use of sweetened cranberry juice cannot be recommended.

REFERENCES

Joseph E. Pizzorno Jr & Michael T. Murray. Textbook of Natural Medicine. Vol. 1. 2nd Edition. 1999
Melvyn R. Werbach & Michael T. Murray. Botanical Influences on Illness. A source book of clinical research. 1994
Zheng W, Wang SY. Oxygen radical absorbing capacity of phenolics in blueberries, cranberries, chokeberries, and lingonberries. J Agric Food Chem 2003 Jan 15;51(2):502-9
Sun J, Chu YF, Wu X, Liu RH. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common fruits. J Agric Food Chem 2002 Dec 4;50(25):7449-54
Saltzman JR, Kemp JA, Golner BB, et al. Effect of hypochlorhydria due to omeprazole treatment or atrophic gastritis on protein-bound vitamin B12 absorption. J Am Coll Nutr 1994;13:584-91.

Like this page? Please link to us and let the world know!

^ back to top