Re: In Praise of the Cranberry

[Guest guest]

I discovered one can get concentrates of grape, blueberry and cranberry joice

in the health food stores, allowing one to leave out the sugar and dilute as

desired. Peg

[Guest guest]

Francesca, they are Tree of Life Concord Grape Concentrate, and Brownwood

Acres Wild Blueberry Juice Concentrate. I haven't bought the cranberry yet.

They are very convenient. I made a great sugar free jello using one. Many

uses.

Peg

[Guest guest]

Peg: what is (are) the product name(s)?

on 9/13/2003 6:34 PM, hsanborn2@... at hsanborn2@... wrote:

> I discovered one can get concentrates of grape, blueberry and cranberry joice

> in the health food stores, allowing one to leave out the sugar and dilute as

> desired. Peg

[Guest guest]

I can visualize also making salad dressings with these. Previously I've

used the blueberry vinegar (originally recommended by Iris and in our

" links " page) in salad dressings and it is delicious but expensive and

available only over the net (which means shipping costs).

on 9/13/2003 9:46 PM, hsanborn2@... at hsanborn2@... wrote:

> Francesca, they are Tree of Life Concord Grape Concentrate, and Brownwood

> Acres Wild Blueberry Juice Concentrate. I haven't bought the cranberry yet.

> They are very convenient. I made a great sugar free jello using one. Many

> uses.

> Peg

[Guest guest]

bob or anyone else: I make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and

unsweetened apple juice. The taste is great. What I would like to know is:

does cooking the cranberries destroy all the benefits?

on 9/14/2003 12:27 PM, RJB112 at rjb112@... wrote:

> BTW, the thawed (or even frozen) cranberries are delicious with a bit

> of sucralose sprinkled on them----thanks Warren.

>

> Bob Bessen

[Guest guest]

> From: hsanborn2@a...

> Subject: Re: In Praise of the Cranberry

> Before I found a year-round source of whole cranberries (frozen), I

> was using a Cranberry Concentrate, which would presumably involve

> much less processing than an extract...I special ordered them

> from a food wholesaler, starting with a 10# order to check out the

> quality (which was exceptional), and most recently I purchased a

> 40# box of frozen cranberries, which, when thawed, are identical to

> the fresh cranberries that show up in groceries near Thanksgiving

> time.

>

> Most large supermarkets or health food stores with large frozen

> food sections can special order them for you, and they arrive very

> quickly, in less than one week, as they are trucked in along with

> all their other frozen food items.

> BTW, the thawed (or even frozen) cranberries are delicious with a

> bit of sucralose sprinkled on them----thanks Warren.

*****The above info sounds good Bob! Can you supply us with the name

of the wholesaler from whom you purchase the frozen cranberries? I

have been unable to locate whole, organic frozen cranberries,

anywhere local to me. With a name, I might be able to persuade the

local healthfood store (or even a " progressive " supermarket) to

purchase some. Thanks.

~ andy

[Guest guest]

I wondered why cranberry "juice" is red and called. They cook the cranberries, so the idea it's a juice is silly. OTOH, it probably recovers the stuff in the skin. I noticed also there isn't a lot of juice in a cranberry, so I eat the whole berry (when I eat it). The "juices" are mostly non cranb and a lot of corn syrup often.

Regards.

----- Original Message -----

From: RJB112

Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2003 11:27 AM

Subject: [ ] In Praise of the Cranberry

From: hsanborn2@...Subject: Re: In Praise of the CranberryI discovered one can get concentrates of grape, blueberry and cranberry joice in the health food stores, allowing one to leave out the sugar and dilute as desired. Peg--------I prefer to use the whole fruit. One has to question the processing methods that were used to make the extract, and wonder if the extract contains all of the beneficial components of the whole berry. One would guess that the processing used to make the extract would involve some loss or change in the flavonoid/polyphenol antioxidants.Before I found a year-round source of whole cranberries (frozen), I was using a Cranberry Concentrate, which would presumably involve much less processing than an extract. However, the 8 oz. bottle of cranberry concentrate had an expiration date 2 1/2 years in the future, which means that it must have been heated up/"pasturized" to some extent, otherwise the enzymes/sugars in the berry would make the concentrated juice go bad in a short period of time.Whole cranberries may be difficult to find depending upon where you live. There were none at all in El Paso. I special ordered them from a food wholesaler, starting with a 10# order to check out the quality (which was exceptional), and most recently I purchased a 40# box of frozen cranberries, which, when thawed, are identical to the fresh cranberries that show up in groceries near Thanksgiving time.Most large supermarkets or health food stores with large frozen food sections can special order them for you, and they arrive very quickly, in less than one week, as they are trucked in along with all their other frozen food items.BTW, one article that I cannot find right now (but I e-mailed it to Suz---Suz, perhaps you might post it?), showed that drinking 3 glasses of unsweetened (or artificially sweetened) cranberry juice raised the HDL level (the good cholesterol) of the study participants by 10%, and increased their total antioxidant capacity in their blood by up to 121%.Raising the HDL by 10% is quite remarkable, because very few things raise HDL. This 10% increase is the same amount of increase that drinking red wine is supposed to give. A 10% increase in HDL corresponds to a 20-40% decrease in the risk of Coronary Artery Disease.Raising the HDL, increasing the antioxidant capacity of the blood, and inhibiting the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol)makes the cranberry a powerful weapon in preventing the #1 cause of death in Americans.HDL ideally should be at least 40 or 45---however, the total cholesterol/HDL ratio is also very important----should be below 4.0, and to reverse heart disease should ideally be 2.5. LDL should not exceed 90, regardless of what the lab paperwork says is a "normal value." HDL is involved in reverse cholesterol transport: getting LDL out of the peripheral tissues (including coronary arteries) and bringing it back to the liver.Ways to increase HDL:1. Aerobic exercise is the best way, and the way most recommended by cardiologists, and usually increases HDL by about 10% (however, some people are unresponsive to this and their HDL does not increase by exercise). To obtain this benefit, the exercise program must be very consistent, e.g. 3-6x/wk sustained aerobic ex, such as walking/jogging/cycling/rowing machine/ etc. 2. The B-vitamin Niacin, or in a prescription form that minimizes flushing (Niaspan), is a powerful raiser of HDL, and it also lowers LDL and total cholesterol. But the doses required are high, and the liver enzymes must be checked regularly to make sure that the Niacin/Niaspan are not harming your liver. These are pharmacological doses of this B-vitamin, and should be done under the supervision of a physician.3. Drinking red wine may raise HDL by up to 10%, and generally reduces the overall risk of coronary artery disease by 24%, shown in over 40 studies.4. Drugs of the class called fibric/fibrinic acid derivatives (e.g. gemfibrozil) consistently raise HDL, but not as much as Niacin/Niaspan does. Also the statin drugs (e.g. Lipitor) have a modest but consistent effect in raising HDL by perhaps 5%.5. The newest method, from a 2003 discovery-----cranberries. If they do indeed raise HDL by 10%, it would be remarkable indeed.But again the study had the participants drinking 3 glasses of cranberry juice a day, which is quite a bit.I'm experimenting on myself, eating 2 cups of whole cranberries per day. After 12 weeks of doing this, I will have my HDL re-tested (I have genetically low HDL, and for me, exercising regularly does not raise my HDL). If it does raise my HDL close to 10%, it will be a happy day for me.BTW, the thawed (or even frozen) cranberries are delicious with a bit of sucralose sprinkled on them----thanks Warren.Bob Bessen

[Guest guest]

Try fresh orange put through a grinder with the cranberries and then add some Splenda.

Ruth

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>

Reply-

Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 12:33:12 -0400

< >

Subject: Re: [ ] In Praise of the Cranberry

bob or anyone else: I make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and

unsweetened apple juice. The taste is great. What I would like to know is:

does cooking the cranberries destroy all the benefits?

on 9/14/2003 12:27 PM, RJB112 at rjb112@... wrote:

> BTW, the thawed (or even frozen) cranberries are delicious with a bit

> of sucralose sprinkled on them----thanks Warren.

>

> Bob Bessen

[Guest guest]

Hello Peg and CR ALL:

I have enjoyed the discussion thread about Cranberry benefits,

and now this wise counsel from Peg on fruit juices.

I do the same as Peg: Use whole-juice concentrates only,

often just a teaspoon in a pint of water to dilute greatly.

Then add a few drops of non-caloric Sucralose Sweetener to

make it taste almost as good as the whole juice itself.

The sweetness brings out the taste superbly, and the calories

are almost zero. Add ice cubes, and the calories are zero

or less, because the Caloric body heat to warm the cold icy

water you drink is greater than the calories in the juice.

-- Warren

================================== =========================

> -----Original Message-----

> From: hsanborn2@... [mailto:hsanborn2@...]

> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 3:35 PM

>

> Subject: Re: [ ] In Praise of the Cranberry

>

>

> I discovered one can get concentrates of grape, blueberry and

> cranberry juice in the health food stores, allowing one to leave

> out the sugar and dilute as desired. Peg