It has been part of North Americans diet and used for medicinal purpose in folk medicine.
As a functional food, cranberry juice is associated with protection from urinary tract infection. It also may be useful for promoting cardiovascular health and inhibiting cancer development.
The earlier hypothesis stated that cranberry juice acted by increasing urine acidity, however other studies have challenged this theory.
New England Journal of Medicine, October 8, 1998 wrote that Rutgers led scientists identify the active components in cranberries responsible for maintaining urinary tract health as proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins.
Cranberry juices contain proanthocyanidins that interfere with E. coli adherence to the urothelium.
One controlled clinical study showed that women who drank ten ounces of cranberry juice daily had fewer urinary tract infections than did women who had only a vitamin C drink.
Cranberry juice and urinary tract infection
