Cranberry Caveat
Did you notice all the news headlines last week on the health benefits of cranberries, just in time for Thanksgiving? There's not really much new research on cranberries--just a publicity campaign timed to coincide with what must surely be the biggest cranberry consumption day of the year. (The disappearing boundary between news and PR is a topic for another post, but when fruits and vegetables have their own publicists, you have to wonder whether things have gotten out of hand.)
Cranberries d
o, in fact, have a lot going for them. They contain antioxidants like resveratrol (of red wine fame). They help keep bacteria from adhering to cells, which is why they help ward off urinary tract infections. They may also help fight plaque, lower cholesterol, and reduce tumor formation. But of course, you read all about that in last week's newspapers, blogs, and websites. This article on MSNBC.com was typical.
But here's something that I didn't see mentioned in any of the news stories I saw. (Maybe it wasn't in the press release.)
Cranberries au naturel are pretty darned sour. In fact, if you use ND's Nutrient Search Tool to search for the fruits that are lowest in sugar, you'll see cranberries near the top of the list, along with other pucker-producers like rhubarb, lemons, and limes.
Most commercially available cranberry products like cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, and craisins contain quite a bit of added sugar. Even if they are sweetened with "natural" fruit juice concentrate, it still amounts to a lot of refined carbohydrates, which health-conscious people generally try to limit.
For example, one cup (8 ounces) of cranberry juice cocktail contains 30 grams of sugar. That's 25% more sugar than in the same amount of Coke! One cup of unsweetened cranberry juice on the other hand contains just 3 grams of sugar.
If you're sold on the the healing properties of cranberries but don't want to add a lot of extra sugar to your diet, look for unsweetened cranberry juice products. Check the label for the amount of sugar per serving to be sure. Alternatively, you can juice fresh cranberries in your juicer and sweeten the juice with stevia or another low-calorie sweetener. (Let's save the pros and cons of the different low calorie sweeteners for another post!)
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Posted by: afshan ahmad | Feb 17, 2009 2:34:23 PM
hi
my weight is 162lbs.and im 5ft and 3in.my age is 32yrs.i m going to gym and do 5 miles per day four days in week.i m taking cereal'skiping lunch and eating at night time since 6 months.but did not lose weight and did not gain weight.how many calories i have to take.some thing is wrong with my eating.
plz help me out
thanks
