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October 23, 2001
Media contact:
Julie Walsh, M.S., R.D. (212-665-5374)
WAREHAM, Massachusetts - Since the first Thanksgiving of 1621, cranberries
have, and continue to be, on most American’s holiday menus. Not only are
cranberries popular because they’re steeped in this country’s heritage
- they also serve up a variety of potential health benefits.
At the first Thanksgiving, legend has it that Native Americans brought the Pilgrims cranberries - one of only a few fruits indigenous to North America - and later taught the Pilgrims how to use the ruby-red berries for food, medicine and as a natural dye. The colonists soon began using cranberries for blood disorders, liver problems, stomach ailments and to prevent cancer and scurvy.[1]
21st Century Cranberry Health Research
Recent research is giving credence to Native Americans’ and colonists’ beliefs about the cranberry’s health benefits. Several well-controlled studies have shown that cranberries contain unique flavonoids, called proanthocyanidins that help maintain urinary tract health by preventing E. coli from adhering to the urinary tract wall.
Preliminary research also suggests that these same compounds may inhibit H. pylori. This is the bacteria that may be responsible for some stomach ulcers. Recent studies show that H. pylori infections in the stomach are also associated with increased risk for stomach cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. [2]
Cranberry proanthocyanidins and other flavonoids also offer cardiovascular benefits. “Our studies are suggesting that cranberry juice flavonoids help protect the heart in three ways: preventing oxidative damage to blood vessels, dilating blood vessels to improve blood flow and reducing platelet aggregation to reduce blood clotting,” explains Ted Wilson, Ph.D., research scientist, University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. “These beneficial effects are similar to those found in red wine and Concord grape juice.”
Recent studies from Tufts University suggest that the potent antioxidant activity of cranberry flavonoids help protect the cells of the blood-brain barrier from oxidative and inflammatory damage. (The blood-brain barrier is a tight seal of specialized cells that form a protective barrier between the brain and the bloodstream.) Damage to these cells is thought to contribute to age-related declines in memory and other neurological functions as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Americans consume more than 400 million pounds of cranberries each year - equivalent to 1.6 pounds of berries per person. Great-tasting and nutritious cranberries are consumed in hundreds of products such as sauces, dried fruit, baked goods, cereals and fruit juice. During Thanksgiving week alone, we’ll eat some 80 million pounds of cranberries - 20 percent of the whole year’s consumption.
No other fruit has such a unique place in our country’s history as the cranberry. “As American as Cranberry Pie” makes sense - especially for Thanksgiving.
The Cranberry Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1951 to further the success of U.S. and Canadian cranberry growers through research and education. For more information go to www.cranberryinstitute.org.
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[1] Plimoth Plantation, Inc., a non-profit history museum.
[2] Uemura N, Okamoto S, Yamamoto S, et al. Helicobacter pylori infection
and the development of gastric cancer. N Engl J Med 2001;345:784-789.