I've heard, read, seen etc. all kinds of stuff regarding cranberry juice, how it's good for you and etc.

I've tried it a few times, didn't really like it, but now I think I'm willing to try again. The question is... or rather, the questions are...

Is cranberry juice really that good?
How much, and how often, do you need to drink for it to enjoy the beneficial effects it is said to have?

Thanks in advance

There's a great article on WebMD about cranberry juice preventing urine infections. They said dried cranberries or cranberry sauce may also help, though you'd probably consume a lot more calories that way. Dried cranberries have sugar added since they are so tart. They also said the benefit was likely from special tannins in the fruit, which is also present in blueberries. I wonder if you could substitute blueberries. Cranberry juice is also high in antioxidants which are good for your heart.

One cup of unsweetened cranberry juice contains 116 calories. The recommended amount is 8 ounces per day.

Most of the cranberry juice I've seen for sale is Cranberry Juice Cocktail, which is cranberry juice concentrate, water, and it is sweetened with sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. OceanSpray also makes a light version which is sweetened with Splenda and contains 40 calories per serving.

My husband drinks cran-apple juice on a regular basis...he is diabetic, so he has to choose light/unsweetenned/sugar free when ever possible.

His habit of drinking it was brought on by a urinary infection so bad it nearly hospitalized him....

This is just proof of a real person who benefits from it.

Another super healthy juice is pomegranate! I looove this stuff.

www.pomwonderful.com

As far as cranberry juice and urinary tract infections - I would share my most recent experience. Last week I went to Singapore on a business trip. A combination of not drinking enough or peeing enough (I was traveling and didn't want to have to go to the bathroom all the time) led to an incredibly painful UTI 2 days before I was scheduled to fly home. By the time I got to the airport, I was in serious pain. I got on the plane and asked for 2 cans of cranberry juice (all they had was cran apple). I downed both cans quickly and felt almost immediate relief. The pain definitely subsided. It was enough to get me home and to the doctor to get some antibiotics.

Go go cranberry juice!

I had heard that the sweetened cran juice wasn't supposed to be as good as the unsweetened -- kinda problematic as most of it is sweetened -- but have no idea of the actual truth of the situation...

So, I suppose this post is not really useful at all! sorry about that!

*mouth puckers* considering the tartness of a fresh cranberry, I don't know if it would be possible to drink freshly squeezed cranberry juice. Those things are TART.

Thanks everyone

I'll give cranberry juice a try, even though I'm very sceptical as to whether I'll like it. But pomegranate juice sounds yum, I love pomegranate!

Glory -- I know -- that's what turned me off of it! I tried it and *bleh*

there is now cranberry juice and now even yogurt in pill form! I know they both are wonderful for ya. Well minus the sugars and stuff like that.

You might try mixing the cranberry juice with something you DO like. When I was a kid I was always mixing stuff together. Sprite + cherry soda was one of my favorites.

You might try cranberry juice with orange juice, club soda, diet sprite, etc etc. My mother also waters down her juices. She finds most unsweetened juices to be too strong for her, so she waters them down so the flavor isn't so strong.

Just an idea

mmm...cranberry juice (mouth waters)...

Growing up, I had countless UTIs (so many that by the time I actually didn't have one, I was amazed to find that peeing was NOT supposed to be painful! ) and was even hospitalized for a week for a double kidney infection that had begin as a mere UTI. Cranberry juice was my friend Maybe this is why I LOVE cranberry juice, dried cranberries (no sugar on mine--all natural with only one ingredient: cranberries!), and extremely sour candy (think lemon and green apple warheads ).

Anyway, one thing my grandmother used to do was mix cranberry juice with ginger ale--YUM! Cuta back on the bitterness and adds a bit of fizz

I've been avoiding cranberry juice (well, all juice, for that matter) because I don't care to drink my calories, but I've been craving it lately, so I bought some little individual serving seized bottles of light cranberry juice. They're more expensive, but it keeps me from drinking half of a big bottle in one day

My multivitamins have cranberry in them. I didn't buy them because of that, I just noticed it once I got it home.

Jilly, I'm the same way with UTI's, when doctors ask me about them, I just answer 'when do I NOT have one?'...lol.

Cranberry juice does help with them, but I've found that a little baking soda in some warm water (nasty) works alot faster!!! It will do the trick overnight.

If you're wondering about cranberry juice because of UTI's, please, please, PLEASE see a urologist about them....I've had them all my life (mom found blood in my diaper...so literally all my life) and now I'm having to hope that cysts on both of my kidney's aren't going to eventually shut my kidney's down! My right kidney has proven to be noticably swollen in 2 ultrasounds so far...I found out that that's why I keep having the UTI's, and NOT because of the things I was drinking, the way I was led to believe all my life. Actually, it helps...if I drink Kool-aid type drinks, I can literally SEE blood when I pee.

That was prolly all TMI, but hey, I have no life...lol.

Kim