Cranberries have always been colourful and festive but now it appears they also help fight cancer and arthritis. Scientists are pointing to cranberry juice as a useful tonic for people with rheumatoid arthritis and to the cranberry fruit as having possible anticancer effects.
According to researchers, there’s a link between urinary tract infections and arthritis, and getting more cranberry can help.
UK Researchers at Kings College London observe a strong link between rheumatoid arthritis and microbial infection, such as urinary tract infection. People with rheumatoid arthritis, they suggest, could benefit from antibacterial measures including "the use of antibiotics, vegetarian diets and high intake of water and fruit juices such as cranberry juice in addition to currently employed treatments."
Sub-clinical urinary tract infections, these same researchers propose, are what trigger rheumatoid arthritis: a chronic, disabling disease affecting mainly older women.
Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, a University of Massachusetts review looked at the anticancer properties of cranberries. Researchers reviewed a number of trials and concluded that specific cranberry extracts "can inhibit the growth and proliferation of breast, colon, prostate, lung and other tumours…."
Among other ways in which they may fight disease, cranberries appear to be anti-inflammatory and to play a role in the disintegration of tumour cells.
"In fact…the unique combination of phytochemicals found in cranberry fruit may produce synergistic health benefits."
Sources: Clin Dev Immunol. 2006 Mar;13(1):41-8; Journal of Nutrition 137:186s-93s, 2007
