Cranberries for Thanksgiving and Long After

The cranberries that appear on many Thanksgiving dinner tables is now being labeled as very healthy, loaded with antioxidants and other valuable nutrients and deserves a regular place in our diets. In response to this good news food producers have been adding cranberries to a number of products including cereals, granola bars and mixing cranberry juice with other juices for tasty healthy drinks. According to recent studies and research, cranberries can give your overall health a boost. Here are some ways that cranberries may enhance ones health.

1. Banish fat: Cranberries contain organic acids that help dissolve fat deposits. They also have enzymes in them that are said to boost metabolism which can increase weight loss and they also help banish cellulite according to brainyweightloss.com. If you want to get rid of some extra flab, consider drinking a glass of cranberry juice or eating a dish of those Thanksgiving berries.

2. Manage cholesterol: Researchers at the University of Scranton found that drinking 3 glasses of cranberry juice daily for a month significantly raised the HDL(good cholesterol) by 10% and lowered the risk of heart disease by 40%. Those are some pretty impressive figures.

3. Fight Cancer: University of California researchers found that cranberries contain phytochemicals, phenolic acids, glycosides and anthocyanins that block cancerous tumors in the head and neck as well as the colon and prostrate. The phytochemicals are said to actually force the cancer sells to kill themselves. Any type of food that will kill cancer cells must be good, I'd say.

4. Stop UTI: Cranberries have been used for hundreds of years by Native Americans to fight infections. Modern scientists have found that cranberries are unique in their ability to keep bacteria from sticking to the bladder walls. A glass of cranberry juice daily reduces bladder infection, especially in women who experience it often. I will attest to this one. I have used it for years for bladder infections I've had. In the health care facility where I work, cranberry juice is part of many of the residents daily diets as an aide in the prevention of bladder infections.

5. Prevent tooth decay: A study at the University of California found that the flavonoids in cranberries help prevent tooth decay. It keeps the bacteria that is responsible for tooth decay from sticking to the teeth and helps decrease the formation of plaque.

6. Kills bacteria: A study at the University of Wisconsin found that cranberries stalled the growth of bacteria that causes food borne illnesses while enhancing "good bacteria". While Killing the bad bacteria they boosted the growth of Lactobacillus fermentum by 25%.

I would say that all these healthy benefits one may receive from eating cranberries are certainly worth giving this Thanksgiving berry a place on our dinner tables more then just at Thanksgiving. By next Thanksgiving you may be thankful you did that.

Sources: Newsmax Health.com/11/12/2010.