Cranberry juice is nutritious, delicious and is often recommended as a natural way to prevent bladder infections. Now scientists are suggesting that the same qualities in cranberries that help prevent bladder infections could also help people prone to stomach ulcers. Repelling harmful bacteria is the key and when it comes to ulcers, the culprit is the bacteria “helicobacter pylori.”
Prevent ulcers the natural way
A lot of people harbor helicobacter pylori in their gut, but not all of them end up suffering from ulcers. For people who do, the bacteria damages the fragile mucous coating of the digestive tract, allowing powerful stomach acid to burn the exposed area. Eventually an open sore develops.
For awhile now its been known that cranberry juice is effective in preventing certain types of bacteria associated with bladder infections from latching on to the cell receptors along the urinary tract. The idea arose that if compounds in cranberry juice called proanthocyanidins work against these types of bacteria, why shouldn’t they work against helicobacter pylori as well?
Cranberry ulcer remedy supported by science
Most studies examining the effect of cranberry juice on helicobacter pylori have found that it does produce improvement in people prone to ulcers. A 2005 study published in the journal “Heliobacter” found that people who drank one cup of cranberry juice every day had reduced levels of Heliobacter pylori in their stomachs than those drinking a placebo after 90 days.
In 2008 researchers published a randomized, double-blind study published in the journal Nutrition in 2008 that followed 271 children and teenagers who tested positive for helicobacter pylori. One group drank 200 milliliters of cranberry juice daily, another was given a probiotic supplement containing competing bacteria, and another received a placebo. After three weeks the cranberry juice group had higher “eradication rates” of helicobacter pylori than both the placebo and probiotic supplement groups.
Only pure cranberry juice will do
To prevent or treat ulcers, make sure to drink 100 percent cranberry juice to get high enough levels of proanthocyanidins–not a mixture of juices or artificially sweetened cranberry juice cocktail. According to Aurora Health Care, 8 to 16 oz. of pure cranberry juice daily could be effective in reducing the levels of Heliobacter pylori and preventing ulcers. Bear in mind that drinking too much cranberry juice can cause diarrhea. Recovery from an ulcer can be facilitated by drinking less coffee and eating more fiber.
Source: New York Times, Livestrong.com, Ehow Health