Cranberries is a ‘festive’ fruit that you will get to savor in luscious dishes throughout the winter, specially as that pleasantly tart sauce for the Christmas turkey or that sweet Cranberry Chutney.. *yum

Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, and sweetened dried cranberries. Cranberry is regarded an indispensable part of traditional American and Canadian Thanksgiving and Christmas menus and European winter festivals – cranberries are simmered in sauces, mixed into bread- or meat-based stuffings for turkey, added to muffins and baked in fruit tarts and pies.

Cranberries work well in many other types of recipes as well. For example, once cooked and puréed, they can be transformed into wonderful sorbets, soufflés, and mousses.

Besides its symbolism in this festive month, the cranberries is actually a healthy fruit. Cranberries is a type of acidic berries that are rich in Vitamin C and powerful antioxidants and phytochemicals (known as tannins) with anti-inflammatory effect. The good news about tannins is the fact that cooking could not destroy it !

There is potential benefit of cranberry juice consumption against urinary tract infections. This is because the juice reduce the number of bacteria adhering to the body’s urinary tract lining. In effect, it disrupts the development of kidney stone formation.

A recent studies has also shown the ability of this fruit to prevent peptic ulcer by inhibiting the adhesion of bacteria to certain parts of the stomach.

Cranberry also can help to provide relief for asthma patients. Crush the cranberries, boil it in distilled water and skin. This is effective relief from an attack since the berries contain active ingredients similar to drugs prescribed by your doctors to control asthma.

The condensed tannins in cranberries are considered an important contributor to a healthy heart. It is said to inhibit the oxidation of bad cholesterol and as a result, protects the body against atherosclerosis.