How to Use Cranberry Juice to Make Your Heart Bulletproof

If you don’t know too much about heart disease, it’s time to expand your knowledge because heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States.

People who are particularly at risk for heart disease have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and/or smoke. You are also at risk for heart disease if you are diabetic, overweight or obese, physically inactive, engaging in heavy alcohol consumption, or living off a poor diet.

What are the stats on heart disease? How concerned should you be?

A 2005 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uncovered that one in four people die from heart disease every year, with coronary heart disease being the most common type, killing 370,000 people annually.

The survey also revealed that many people with heart disease ignore the major warning signs of heart disease which include:

Chest pain or discomfort
Upper body pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw, or upper stomach

Shortness of breath
Nausea, lightheadedness, or cold sweats.

Many experts can tell you that catching warning signs are key to surviving heart disease, but there’s something you can do to prevent the warning signs from popping up in the first place: living a healthy lifestyle and eating a healthy diet. It turns out that one way to heart disease proof your diet is to start drinking more cranberry juice.

There’s research supporting the powerful impact of cranberry juice on heart health.

A recent publication in the Journal of Nutrition by the U.S. Department of Agriculture observed that participants who drank cranberry juice daily showed improvements in many heart disease risk factors compared to those who had consumed the placebo beverage, (a harmless beverage used to disguise the real cranberry juice to prevent the patient’s psychological perception from interfering with the results.)

The participants were 56 obese men and women with risk factors for heart disease. For eight weeks, participants supplemented their diet with either a daily placebo beverage or a daily glass of authentic cranberry juice that contained 173mg of phenolic compounds that have known antioxidant properties.

The cranberry juice was able to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation throughout the body, lower blood sugar levels and decrease insulin resistance in participants who drank a glass of it daily.

Cranberry juice is most commonly used to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) because of the berry’s acidic nature, as well as the phytochemical it contains called pro-anthocyanidins that prevent bacteria from attaching themselves to the urinary tract, but all the while it was improving your heart health at the same time!

What makes cranberry juice so great for your heart?

For one, cranberry juice is packed with nutrients! One cup of cranberry juice can give you a hearty dose of vitamin C and potassium, in addition to other important vitamins and minerals.

Cranberry juice is also a rich source of phenols and other active compounds that have strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties that can reduce inflammation, and support and nurture blood vessel and heart tissue health. If you’ve got health blood vessels and healthy heart tissue, you’ve got yourself a healthy heart.

You probably want to avoid commercial cranberry juice.

Admittedly, cranberries aren’t the most popular fruit. You’re more likely to find a vine of grapes or a container of blueberries than a fresh batch of cranberries at your local grocery store, which makes it tempting to take a walk down the juice aisle in search of those big jugs of cranberry juice.

Unfortunately, many of the cranberry juices in your juice aisle, ( as well as commercial juices in general,) including popular cranberry brands such as Northland Cranberry and Ocean Spray, are deceptively filled with sugar, synthetic sweeteners and genetically modified foods (GMOs) that strip away the health benefits from the few cranberries that are used to make their products!

You may even find commercial cranberry juice that is “sugar free” or “low in calories” but you should always read your labels. Analyze the nutrition facts AND ingredients. More often than not, sugar substitutes or additives to lower calories do more harm than good.

And don’t be fooled by the cranberry juice cocktail blends. These beverages only dilute the powerful health benefits you could be getting from your cranberries.

So, how do you get the real cranberry juice, aka the good stuff?

Peruse your trusted local farmer’s market for fresh, organic cranberries you can juice. This will ensure that you are drinking preservative-free, GMO-free and pesticide-free cranberry juice.

Aside from keeping your heart happy and keeping your urinary tract infection-free, studies have also shown that those who regularly consume cranberry juice have a normal weight, and smaller waists! What are you waiting for? Get yourself a glass of cranberry juice!