Cranberry has long been linked to helping defeat urinary tractinfections, and recent research is beginning to bear this out.

How do cranberries help? Whena cranberry is in its juvenile state, it is green and bitter, making itunpalatable to most animals. This is a matter of survival. At thisearly stage, the cranberry produces a certain class of molecules knownas flavonoids, substances that have been investigated for theirnutritional benefits and antibacterial activity. Studies have shownthat the particular flavonoids produced by the cranberry have a strongantibacterial effect.

As the berry matures, itmust propagate. To ensure that this happens, the plant transforms theflavonoid molecules to sugar molecules. ( so it will be more palatablefor animals to eat and spread it's seeds ). This sugar molecule makescranberry effective as a nutrient within the urinary tract. In thehuman body, different cells have unique receptor sites. In cranberries,the sugar unlocks a receptor site on the walls of the urinary tract.

This explainscranberries’ unique benefits. Cranberries contain a type of flavonoidthat is capable of defeating the bacteria that cause urinary tractinfections, and this flavonoid is attached to a sugar that seeks outthe cells that line the urinary tract.

Researchrecommends making cranberries part of your diet if you are prone torecurrent urinary infections. A 1994 article in the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association indicates that cranberry might reduce thelevels of bacteria in urine.