CRANBERRY
Botanical: Vaccinium macrocarpon Family: Ericaceae (berry) Other common names: Crane Berries, Marshwort, Fenne Berry

Don't wait for Thanksgiving to benefit from the natural way to urinary tract health. Cranberry is one of Nature's best weapons against cystitis and urinary tract infections. It has helped to treat bladder and kidney infections and has also helped to dissolve kidney and gallstones. Moreover, it is said to possess antioxidant qualities that may protect against the invasion of serious malignant disease.

History:
The Cranberry plant has been in existence since the Iron Age, but the Romans were the first to recognize and document its medicinal uses by the local inhabitants of what is now England. Herbalist Henry Lyte documented its healing effects in 1578, and since that time, the Cranberry has been a popular folk remedy for a variety of illnesses, including gout, rheumatism, diarrhea, constipation, scurvy, fevers and skin problems. The Cranberry plant is a small, creeping shrub bearing beautiful pink flowers that grow into rounded reddish-black berries, which are closely allied to the blueberry and huckleberry. Early Native Americans introduced Cranberry to the Pilgrims who settled the New England area, and the berries were favorably mentioned in a written European Account of Two Voyages to New England During the Years 1638, 1663  by John Josselyn. Two species of Cranberry are used interchangeably in herbal medicine, and they are distinguished only by the size of their berries: Vaccinium macrocarpon (large berry) and Vaccinium oxycoccus  (small berry).  Currently, there are approximately 150 species of Cranberry, but the best known and most popular is the American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), because of the size and juiciness of its fruit. The colonists "Europeanized" the berry, using it stewed and sweetened in puddings and tarts, and the Europeans included the Cranberry regularly in their diets and considered it a fine treatment for scurvy (it has a very high vitamin C content). Cranberry was cultivated by Captain Hall of Massachusetts in 1820, and by Benjamin Thomas of New Jersey about 1835. The berries are harvested early in the autumn for commercial preparation, but it is a difficult plant to grow, requiring a heavy investment and bogs. The United States presently produces about ninety-eight percent of the world's Cranberries. Cranberry is listed as an effective remedy for urinary tract infection in the United States Pharmacopeia, the official listing of drugs in the United States. Some of Cranberry's chemical constituents include tannins, lutein, triterpenoids, anthocyanins and catechin. It is also a good source of protein, fiber, beta-carotene, citric and malic acid, calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sulfur, zinc and vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, C and E. Often laden with sugar and high in calories, Cranberry is now available in supplemental form, including capsules, which are not only more potent, but also much less caloric and without the sugars often found in juices and other preparations.

Beneficial Uses:      
The common Cranberry is one of Nature's best weapons against cystitis and urinary tract infections. It is a diuretic and urinary antiseptic that helps prevent the spread of bacterial infection in the urinary tract. In the early 1920s, American scientists discovered that Cranberry increased the urine’s acid content, and because bacteria cannot survive in an acidic environment, the researchers speculated that this was the reason Cranberry was effective against urinary tract infections, which are commonly caused by bacteria known as Escherichia coli. Interestingly, however, recent laboratory studies (conducted in the mid 1990s) revealed that Cranberry’s effectiveness is not due to its ability to acidify the urine as originally thought, but to its ability to prevent E. coli from adhering to the cells lining the wall of the bladder. Without adhering to the bladder, E. coli cannot flourish, and test tube studies also suggest that Cranberry may also inhibit the adherence of other species of organisms that cause urinary tract infections as well, such as Proteus, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas. In fact, Cranberry prevents bacteria from sticking to the wall of the bladder, thus flushing the potential troublemakers out of the body before they do damage.

Further laboratory studies have indicated that cranberries also prevent another micro-organism known as Helicobacter pylori from adhering to cell walls.  H. pylori is a bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers, so it is possible that Cranberries may eventually prove to play a role in the prevention of this condition as well.

Studies also suggest that Cranberries may help to prevent bacteria from adhering to gums and around the teeth, which may be very beneficial in the area of oral hygiene.

Test tube research suggests that Cranberry may help keep LDL cholesterol from oxidizing, which would help prevent the development of cholesterol plaques in arteries.

Cranberry is high in antioxidants, partly from substances called proanthocyanidins (which give cranberries their rich color). Antioxidants scavenge damaging particles in the body known as free radicals, the natural by-products of normal metabolism. Free radicals can alter cell membranes, tamper with genetic material known as DNA and even cause cell death. Environmental toxins (including ultraviolet light, radiation, cigarette smoking and air pollution) can increase the number of free radicals in the body, which are believed to contribute to the ageing process as well as the development of a number of health problems, such as heart disease, melanoma and infections. Antioxidants can neutralize free radicals and may reduce or even help prevent some of the damage they cause.

While Cranberry is known for killing the bacteria that cause kidney and bladder infections, it is also helpful in dissolving kidney stones and gallstones. Kidney stones are most often caused by high levels of ionized calcium (as in calcium salts) in the urine, and Cranberries can help prevent this condition because they are rich in quinic acid, which increases the acidity of the urine. As a result, the levels of ionized calcium in the urine are lowered.

There are claims that Cranberry may help in the treatment of gout, which is characterized by a raised blood uric acid level, and severe, acute onset of arthritis resulting from crystal deposits of sodium urate in the connective tissues and cartilage. The anthocyanin in Cranberry is said to be effective in inhibiting uric acid from crystallizing in joints.

Cranberry has been used in nursing homes to keep the urine of incontinent patients from developing an unpleasant ammonia-like odor.

In previous years Cranberry was used as an effective treatment to combat scurvy; it contains a high degree of vitamin C. 

**Provided itself beneficial in research that involved people, endorsed by Germany’s Commission E for Therapeutic use, Bladder Infections, Cystitis, Kidney Inflammation and Infections, Urinary Tract Infections, Water Retention

Contraindications:
None. Adding sugar to cranberry powder cancels out the antibacterial effects of the herb.


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Disclaimer: The information presented herein by Organic Herbs Medicine Cabinet is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.