Blog on the Lillypad
Monday, October 27, 2003
 | Cranberry Juice!
Yes, that food that people eat once a year has been making some headlines recently and---well---not so recently. Traditionally, cranberries extracts and teas were prescribed for asthma and colds (back in the days before standardized allopathic medicine). Recent research has proven that cranberry juice---unsweetened and unadulterated---can help fight urinary tract infections. Now researchers are citing a possibility that cranberry juice also fights middle ear infections. This has not been proved in human subjects, but preliminary studies show that cranberry contains saccharides that bind to certain strains of bacteria known to be big causes of ear infections in children. But the cranberry juice that would work is unsweetened. Aaack! |
In one of my many folk remedy/herbal remedy/juice remedy books (and I have several), I ran across a statement that cranberry juice would help in sinusitis and is also a rejuvenator of the liver. In tradiitonal medicine, bitter herbs and fruits are good for the liver and gall bladder, and you can't get much more bitter than cranberry juice. I'm now drinking 4 - 8 ounces a day, and it's like sucking on aspirin to get it down. But it does appear to be helping my sinuses and liver function. (Liver function, according to traditional medicine, controls menstrual cycles. Thus it's also a part of the regulation of menopause.)
