What Is Cranberry Used for Today?
Cranberry is widely used today to prevent bladder infections, although as yet the evidence to support this use remains limited. Contrary to the research from the 1920s, it now appears that cranberry’s acidification of the urine is not likely to play an important role in the treatment of bladder infections; current study has focused instead on cranberry’s apparent ability to block bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall.1-6,23 If the bacteria can’t hold on, they will be washed out with the stream of urine. Interestingly, studies have found that in women who frequently develop bladder infections, bacteria seem to have a particularly easy time holding on to the bladder wall.7 This suggests that cranberry juice can actually get to the root of their problem. Just as cranberry seems to prevent adhesion of bacteria to the bladder, preliminary evidence suggests that it might also help prevent the adhesion of the ulcer-causing bacteria Helicobacter pylori to the stomach wall. On this basis,
