Organic Cranberry, 200 capsules

🌿What Makes Cranberry Different from Other Berries?

Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) may look like an ordinary small red berry, but chemically it is rather unusual.

One of its most interesting characteristics is its natural content of proanthocyanidins, better known as PACs. These are polyphenols found in several plants, but cranberry is particularly known for its A-type PACs.

🌿Why does that matter?

A-type PACs have attracted considerable scientific interest because of the way they interact with certain bacteria, particularly E. coli. Rather than acting like an antibacterial substance that kills bacteria, cranberry PACs have been studied for their ability to interfere with the adhesion of certain bacteria to the urinary tract lining.

That distinction is important and helps explain why cranberry has developed such a specific reputation around urinary care.

🌿Cranberry Is Not the Same as Cranberry Juice

When people hear "cranberry", many immediately think of cranberry juice. But a glass of cranberry drink and a cranberry supplement are not necessarily comparable.

Many commercial cranberry drinks contain water, other fruit juices and added sugar, and their cranberry and PAC content can vary considerably.

With this supplement, the amount is clearly defined:
2 capsules provide 900 mg organic cranberry and 18 mg proanthocyanidins (PACs).

This makes it easy to include cranberry consistently in your routine without drinking cranberry juice every day.

🌿What Exactly Are PACs?

PAC stands for proanthocyanidin, a family of naturally occurring plant polyphenols.

They should not be confused with anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for many of the red, purple and blue colours we see in berries.

Cranberry contains several different polyphenols, but its A-type PACs are particularly distinctive and are one of the main reasons Vaccinium macrocarpon has become such an extensively studied berry in relation to the urinary tract.

So when comparing cranberry supplements, looking only at the number of milligrams of cranberry does not tell the whole story. The PAC content is also an interesting piece of information.

🌿Why Vaccinium macrocarpon?

The cranberry in this supplement is Vaccinium macrocarpon, commonly known as American cranberry or large cranberry.

Native to North America, it is the familiar deep-red cranberry widely used today in foods, juices and supplements. What makes the berry particularly interesting is its distinctive combination of naturally occurring polyphenols, including proanthocyanidins (PACs).

Vaccinium macrocarpon has also become one of the most extensively researched berries in connection with the urinary tract, which helps explain why cranberry has developed such a specific place in modern botanical supplements.

🌿Cranberry and Water Belong Together

There is another very simple reason the directions tell you to take the capsules with a large glass of water.

Cranberry may be the botanical you have chosen, but adequate fluid intake remains an important part of an everyday urinary routine. The capsules should therefore not be seen as a replacement for drinking enough water.

Think of the two as belonging together: a measured daily cranberry supplement plus good hydration habits.

🌿One Box Lasts Longer Than You Might Expect

With 200 capsules, this is also a particularly practical long-term format.

At the full daily amount of 2 capsules, one box provides approximately 100 days of use.

At 1 capsule daily, it provides approximately 200 days.

That makes it easy to keep cranberry in the cupboard as part of an ongoing routine rather than buying small packs repeatedly.

Take 1 to 2 capsules daily with a large glass of water during meals.
Do not exceed the recommended daily dose.
This food supplement should not replace a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

- Certified Organic Product
- Certified Organic Agriculture (AB certified)
- Origin of raw materials: Canada
- Country of manufacture: France

Organic cranberry juice* with 1% PACs – Vaccinium macrocarpon, vegetable capsule (HPMC). *From organic farming

Organic cranberry*......900 mg
Including proanthocyanidins......18 mg

🌿A Berry with Deep North American Roots

Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is native to North America, where the low-growing evergreen plant thrives naturally in acidic wetlands, bogs and marshes.

Long before Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples harvested wild cranberries as an important seasonal food. The berries were eaten fresh and dried, used as a natural dye and incorporated into traditional preparations.

One particularly ingenious use was pemmican, a highly practical travelling food made from dried meat or fish, fat and sometimes berries such as cranberry. Compact, nutritious and able to keep for long periods, pemmican became an invaluable food for long journeys through the North American landscape.

Cranberries also had an important place in Indigenous seasonal traditions. Among the Aquinnah Wampanoag of Martha's Vineyard, Cranberry Day remains a significant annual harvest tradition today.

🌿Why Is It Called a Cranberry?

The name has a surprisingly charming origin.

Early European settlers called the fruit “craneberry”, apparently because the plant's delicate pink flower and curved stem reminded them of the head and neck of a crane.

Over time, “craneberry” simply became cranberry.

The berry had other colourful early names too, including bearberry, because bears were frequently observed eating the fruit, as well as mossberry and fenberry.

🌿From Indigenous Food to Colonial Kitchen

European settlers quickly adopted the native berry.

By the 17th century, written accounts describe both Indigenous peoples and English settlers cooking cranberries. In 1672, English traveller and naturalist John Josselyn wrote about cranberries being boiled with sugar to make a sauce served with meat, as well as being baked into tarts.

This means the familiar North American tradition of serving cranberry with meat has roots stretching back more than 350 years.

Cranberries were also remarkably useful before refrigeration. Their natural acidity and good keeping qualities meant that they could be stored and transported for long periods, making them valuable during the cold northern winters and on lengthy journeys.

🌿Cranberries at Sea

Cranberries eventually found another interesting role: as provisions aboard ships.

Historical accounts describe barrels of cranberries being carried on voyages, and the fruit became associated with protection against scurvy, the vitamin C deficiency that was once a serious threat to sailors.

Long before anyone understood vitamins, people had learned through experience that certain fresh and preserved plant foods were valuable during extended periods at sea.

🌿From Wild Bogs to Cranberry Farms

For centuries, cranberries were gathered primarily from wild-growing plants.

That began to change in 1816, when Massachusetts farmer and Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall discovered that cranberry vines grew particularly well when sand was spread over them. His experiments are generally associated with the beginning of commercial cranberry cultivation in North America.

During the 19th century, cranberry farming expanded across Massachusetts and other suitable regions of the northern United States and Canada.

Growers gradually learned how to manage the unusual wetland environment cranberries prefer, including water, sand, frost protection and harvesting.

🌿The Cranberry We Know Today

Cranberry eventually travelled far beyond the bogs of North America.

Today it appears in juices, dried fruit, sauces, foods and botanical supplements around the world, yet it remains unmistakably connected with its North American origins.

And perhaps that is what makes cranberry particularly fascinating: a small wild berry once gathered from northern wetlands became one of North America's most recognisable fruits.

Keep out of reach of children. Store away from heat and moisture.

🌿 Is Cranberry only for women?
No. Although cranberry is particularly well known among women, it is not a women-only supplement. Men can also use cranberry. The strong association with women comes partly from the fact that urinary tract infections are considerably more common in women and much of the cranberry research has therefore focused on women.

🌿 Is Cranberry the same as D-mannose?
No. They are two completely different things. Cranberry is the fruit of Vaccinium macrocarpon and naturally contains a range of plant compounds, including proanthocyanidins (PACs). D-mannose is a simple sugar.

Both are commonly encountered in products aimed at urinary routines, but taking cranberry does not mean you are taking D-mannose. This product contains cranberry, not added D-mannose.

🌿 Can I combine Cranberry with D-mannose?
Cranberry and D-mannose are different ingredients and are sometimes used within the same urinary-focused routine. However, there is no need to assume that combining them is automatically better.

If you prefer a simple routine, Cranberry can be taken on its own. If you specifically want both ingredients, D-mannose would need to be taken separately because it is not added to this formula.

🌿 Can Cranberry be used instead of treatment for a urinary tract infection?
No. Cranberry is a food supplement and should not be used as a substitute for medical treatment of an existing urinary tract infection (UTI).

If you develop symptoms of a UTI, particularly persistent burning when urinating, frequent or urgent urination, blood in the urine, fever, chills, or pain in your back or side, seek appropriate medical advice rather than relying on cranberry alone.

🌿 Can I take Cranberry if I use warfarin?
No, not without medical advice. Current NHS guidance advises people taking warfarin to avoid cranberry juice and cranberry products, including supplements, because cranberry may affect the action of warfarin.

If you take warfarin, speak with your doctor, pharmacist or anticoagulation clinic before using this product.

🌿 Does Cranberry make the urine more acidic?
This is an interesting part of cranberry's story. Urine acidification was historically proposed as an explanation for cranberry's association with the urinary tract, but this is not considered the main explanation behind modern cranberry research.

Research attention has instead focused strongly on cranberry's characteristic plant compounds, including proanthocyanidins (PACs).

200 capsules