BY MARY ANN O’DELL, MS, RDN
cranberries for all seasons The holiday season is the time for the little red berry, the tart cranberry, to shine! It adorns trees and is part of the holiday feast, but cranberry is much more than a condiment to be celebrated just once a year. Rich in vitamin C and other phytonutrients that may help protect against infections and heart disease, the cranberry has become a popular herbal remedy.
History Native Americans used cranberries well before English settlers arrived. The settlers eventually learned how to use cranberries for both medicine and food, and even to dye cloth. The name cranberry is believed to have come from German and Dutch settlers who first named the berry “crane-berry” because it appeared to be the favorite food of cranes, and the blossom of the cranberry looks somewhat like the head and neck of a crane. Crane berry was shortened to cranberry.
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Cultivation of cranberries began in the 1800s in Massachusetts. Today cranberries are grown in several northern American states, including Oregon, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.
Nutrition While cranberries contain water, they also contain carbohydrates and fiber. In fact, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) lists one cup of cranberries as supplying 3.6 grams of fiber, or almost 13 percent of the daily value for fiber. Cranberries are best known for their antioxidant value. Cranberries supply flavonoids, including proanthocyanidins (PAC).
2021
10/29/21 12:14 PM
