Cranberry Juice Lowers Blood Pressure and Relieves Cystitis

Drinking cranberry juice lowers your blood pressure, so says new research.
The study which was conducted by Roger Corder, Professor at Queen Mary University of London, appeared on January 28 in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.
Corder, the author of The Red Wine Diet, has said that : “cranberry juice is a very promising alcohol-free alternative”.
Oligomeric procyanidins have been identified as the specific compound in cranberries which boosts the health of blood vessels, enabling the prevention of blood vessel constriction, a key cause of high blood pressure.
Some people believe that making the urine more acid can help cystitis, while others say that doing the opposite, making it more alkaline – is better.
There’s some evidence that either approach calms the pain and discomfort of cystitis and controls levels of bacteria.
Cranberry juice contains chemicals which inhibit the activity of E. coli, the bacteria most often responsible for cystitis. The chemicals, condensed tannins or proanthocyanidins, prevent the bacteria sticking to mucosal surfaces lining the bladder and gut.
This assits clearing of bacteria from the urinary tract and recent research highlights that this may be the most important effect of cranberry juice.
A key part of the treatement of cystitis is to drink lots of fluid to flush out the urinary tract.