How healthy are cranberries?

Resumen detallado

Cranberries deserve a year-round place in your diet, not only because they pack a tart punch but because they have considerable health ...

Cranberries deserve a year-round place in your diet, not only because they pack a tart punch but because they have considerable health benefits.

Here’s what nutrition experts have to say about cranberries, along with some new ways to prepare them from The New York Times Cooking.

Cranberries’ deep red colour comes from flavonoids, a group of chemical compounds that plants produce to protect themselves from the elements. These pigments are also heart-healthy. For one, they help maintain the function of endothelial tissue, which lines blood vessels and the inside of the heart, said Debbie Fetter, an associate professor of teaching in the nutrition programme at the University of California, Davis. Healthy endothelial tissue helps the cardiovascular system circulate blood more easily and lowers the risk of blood clots.

Flavonoids also increase the blood levels of nitric oxide, a gas that relaxes blood vessels. “What we see is that the better the blood flow, the lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” Dr Fetter said.

Cranberries can’t cure urinary tract infections, but there’s good evidence that they can prevent an infection from taking hold in the first place, especially in people who frequently experience UTIs, said Sarah Ball, the director of dietetic training in nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

That’s because cranberries are rich in A-type proanthocyanidins, a type of flavonoid that prevents bacteria from sticking to the body’s tissues. “You don’t find this compound in a lot of foods,” Ball said. Avocados, peanuts and cinnamon are among the other few that contain it, but in lower amounts.

A 2023 review of studies investigating cranberries as a preventive treatment for UTIs found that regularly consuming cranberry juice, tablets, or capsules reduced the risk of a UTI by 26 per cent in women with recurrent infections and by 54 per cent in children.

There is some evidence that cranberries can help fight harmful bacteria…

T…

Inicio del artículo, extracto de Oman Observer. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.