There are hundreds of different supplements out there that you can take to improve your overall health. Cranberry is one of them. It is an excellent supplement that can make a huge difference in how your skin and hair look as well as give you many anti-aging benefits. Furthermore, cranberry supplements can also help you prevent and treat infections of the bladder as well as help you reduce the chances of developing tumors and ulcers.
Unlike other supplements, cranberry pills are known as whole food supplements. There is a huge difference between whole food and powder supplements. Usually, powder supplements only introduce one key ingredient into your system with possible additions but whole food supplements give you the benefits of everything that is found in that specific food, in this case, the cranberry. So you can take advantage of many different ingredients which are naturally found in cranberries resulting in better absorption and a much healthier supplement overall.
Besides the known ingredients which have been determined to produce positive results, you are also ingesting other phytonutrients which might not have been isolated and haven’t been studied but are also capable of delivering benefits that you don’t even know about.
Cranberries can be ingested through various different methods, usually in a form of tablets, pills, juices, or simply as fresh or frozen fruits. No matter which form they are in they are still capable of delivering those superfood-like nutrients that your body can use to slow down aging and improve your health.
10 Best Cranberry Extract Supplements
Here are some of the cranberry supplements that we researched. Remember, there is no particular order that these products are in, they are all randomized.
1. Ellura
The great thing about cranberry supplements is that they can be blended in a specific way to target different health issues that you might be concerned with. Ellura is one of those supplements. This product is constructed in a special way to help improve the health of your urinary tract.
The key ingredient which is used in Ellura is proanthocyanidin which is extracted from cranberries and is thought of as being capable of helping urinary health. Ellura contains 36 mg of proanthocyanidins in every single pill.
This supplement is definitely on the list of the more powerful and well-refined forms of cranberry. The extract is borderline medical grade which means it’s very pure and its quality is outstanding, very surprising considering that this supplement can be easily acquired over the counter.
2. Schiff Cranberry Extract
Schiff decided to stick with a wholesome cranberry extract. Their supplement contains 500 mg of raw extract derived from cranberries for each serving of the supplement. Overall, this amount of extract is actually pretty decent and should be enough to make this supplement a well-rounded all-purpose cranberry supplement.
Since this form of cranberry supplement isn’t as refined as others it definitely lacks slightly in the purity department. However, because the final product is derived from raw cranberries there is a very high chance that many active ingredients, which are usually discarded during more precise refining methods, will end up in your system and deliver further benefits than just pure cranberry extract.
3. AZO Cranberry
Although cranberry extract is already very capable of fighting inflammation, AZO decided to add vitamin C to their formula. Each serving of AZO Cranberry contains about 500 mg of cranberry extract and about 120 mg of vitamin C.
When both of these are combined the end result is a pretty good supplement which can be used to improve your health and overall well-being. Vitamin C is a very powerful anti-oxidant, so when its combine with cranberry extract, the supplement ends up being a superb inflammation and oxidation combatant.
While these ingredients are very good at delivering some of the benefits that come alongside cranberries and vitamin C, the problem is that the extract isn’t pure enough to be able to use to target specific problems. So while this supplement might help with kidney and bladder cleansing, it’s not specifically designed for it, so the end result might not be what you’d usually expect.
4. Pure Healthland Cranberry Concentrate
There are tons of different supplement that utilize the power of cranberries. Many of these supplements were developed when the power of cranberries was verified and some research was done. Unfortunately, when this happens there are many smaller, less known supplement companies that attempt to mimic these supplements with their own unique formula.
It seems that’s exactly what happened with Pure Healthland Cranberry Concentrate. When you look at the ingredients in this supplement, there isn’t anything unique or special about them.
Furthermore, the servicing size is actually only about half as powerful as other supplements that use cranberries. Not much can be said about this supplement. If the price is right, we guess you could give it a shot but remember you get what you pay for.
5. Nature Made Super Strength Cranberry Plus
We hate to say this but we really think that Nature Made cut way too many corners when they made this supplement. Their biggest problem is the low concentration of cranberry extract that they decided to use in the formula.
Other supplements which rank higher on the quality ladder usually have about a 50 to 1 concentration level. Nature Made decided to use a 15 to 1 concentration level. So while technically the amount of extract per dose can be high, 450 mg in this supplement’s case, its actual concentration is far too low to deliver enough beneficial ingredients to see a significant difference in your health.
6. PureCo Cranberry Concentrate
We always try to focus on purity and quality when it comes to supplements. PureCo seems to also agree with us since they made one of the purest cranberry supplements we have seen on the market. Each serving of their PureCo Cranberry Concentrate offers 500 mg of pure cranberry extract. The best part is that there are no unnecessary ingredients in the formula. Besides the necessary compounds needed to hold everything together in a vegetarian-friendly pill, this supplement is as pure as they get.
While adding other ingredients to the blend can sometimes improve the benefits that you get from the supplement, we think that letting the consumer make the decision about the different types of ingredients that they want to put into their body is the best choice any supplement company can make.
7. Sunergetic Kidney Cleanse
This is one of those supplements that target a specific problem or body part. The main component in Sunergetic Kidney Cleanse is still cranberries but the additional ingredients found in the formula are designed to help you cleanse your kidney. All of the components synergize really well and truly do deliver when it comes to cleansing your kidneys, but you have to remember that this supplement isn’t a good choice if you are simply looking to improve your overall health.
Sunergetic is well-known for picking the right ingredients in their supplements. They don’t focus on purity as much as other supplements, but making sure that all ingredients in their formula work well together to get the job done is their priority and they are good at it. This is a very well designed supplement for kidney cleansing.
8. Puritan’s Pride Natural Cranberry Fruit Concentrate
Another excellent supplement that uses high concentrate cranberry extract, 50 to 1 ratio. Each pill provides about 500 mg of this concentrate, which is a pretty good amount if you are looking for those cranberry benefits. Puritan’s Pride has also managed to omit those pesky additives that we dislike so much as well as any other unessential ingredients.
Unfortunately, this supplement does have a major drawback. The capsules used for delivering the supplements are actually gelatin based, which means that someone who is a strict vegan could not benefit from their formula.
9. Zhou Nutrition Cranberry Extra Strength
As more and more supplements surface onto the supplement market we start to notice more and more gimmicky type claims. Zhou Nutrition is claiming that their cranberry extract is “extra strength” and the label states its “maximum strength” but in reality, their concentrate is actually closer to about half strength when compared to the more popular and effective cranberry supplements.
There is a small difference between this supplement and others we have come across; Zhou Nutrition does use both vitamin E and C in their formula but it’s nothing that can separate them from the pack. Maybe it was an attempt to boost the effectiveness of their weak blend, the world may never know.
10. Nature’s Bounty Cranberry Fruit
Another magical supplement that claims to offer a huge dose of the cranberry extract but in reality offers a very small amount of this excellent ingredient.
Their serving contains a miserly 168 mg of extract, which when compared to other supplements is somewhat pathetic. So unless you want to take a ridiculous amount of this supplement to get enough cranberry extract into your system to see any benefits, we think it might be best to stay away from this product.
Benefits, Side Effect, And Dosage
There are many different types of benefits that can be contributed to cranberries. There has been some research done to validate these findings and conclusions. One thing is certain, cranberries do offer nutrients that can be somewhat difficult to locate through regular dieting, so supplementing with a cranberry extract is a really good idea.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that cranberries can deliver.
Benefits
Bladder Infection Treatment
Those of you who have developed a bladder infection should be glad to know that cranberries can still help you with this problem. There has been research done amongst men and women who have developed bladder infections and the effects that cranberries have on an existing bladder infection. The study concluded that cranberries are very effective when it comes to treating existing infections in the bladder.
Bladder Infections Prevention
One of the biggest reasons why cranberries have become so popular in the supplemental world is because of their ability to fight urinary tract infections as well as bladder infections.
Ensuring that bacteria can’t stick to the walls of your bladder is the way that cranberries can reduce the risk of developing infections. Once the bacteria are unstuck, your urine can easily flush it out of the system.
Studies have done to prove the effectiveness of cranberries when it comes to reducing infections. The study was concluded on 77 patients and determined that taking cranberries regularly can, in fact, reduce the chances that bacteria will get stuck to the wall of your bladder which result in successful reduction of infection chances.
Cavities
We bet not many of you thought that cranberries can help you fight cavities. Because cranberries have that ability which prevents bad bacteria from sticking to organic walls in your body, they are also super effective when it comes to fighting bacteria responsible for forming cavities.
The same can be said for treating gum disease associated with bacteria. Since cranberries make it hard for bacteria to stick to walls inside of your mouth, the risk for gum disease is also reduced drastically.
However, there is one drawback to using cranberries for oral health. Cranberries are actually acidic, which means that you will be damaging the enamel if your teeth of you brush immediately after eating cranberries. So it’s strongly recommended that there is at least one hour difference between teeth brushing and cranberry consumption.
Ulcer Treatment
Ulcers are often generated by H. pylori bacteria which usually reside in the stomach. These bacteria can be found in the stomach of 1 out of every 2 men and women. Furthermore, it can be responsible for development of other problems like gastric cancer.
Cranberries are super helpful in this situation as well. Just like in the case of bladder infection suppression, cranberries also reduce the chances of bacteria sticking to the wall in your urinary tract. Additionally, it is able to loosen up the H. pylori bacteria which are already attached to your stomach walls in as little as one week.
Respiratory Infections
Yep, cranberries can be helpful with this problem as well. Once again their ability to stop bacteria from sticking to the walls inside your body is the reason. There is even additional research which suggests that cranberries can reduce the chances of flu virus invasions in your body and reduce the chances of getting sick due to this flu virus.
Tumor Size Reduction
Outside of the human body, when cranberries are applied to cancerous cells in a testing environment, they seem to be able to completely destroy cancer while leaving healthy cells intact. Research on rats was done to show that cranberry juice can actually reduce the speed of breast cancer growth.
Since cranberries are able to prevent cancer cells from growing, it might be a good idea to simply increase the consumption of this superior food as a preventative cancer measure. The slowdown of cancer growth gives your body a better chance to fight tumors and other cancerous growths.
Anti-Aging Benefits
Resveratrol is known for its ability to slow down the process of aging. Cranberries happen to have plenty of these ingredients in them alongside anthocyanins. These ingredients make you look not only younger but also improve your internal health while giving you an edge when it comes to fighting all sorts of cancers.
At one point it was thought that cranberries were also capable of reducing the chances for heart disease development. However, recent studies have shown that this is not true. This was concluded through a study which was done on two groups of women who were given drinks over a period of two weeks. One group was given placeboes whole the other was given cranberry juice.
There was no significant difference in the results. At the same time, the antioxidants listed above seemed to have shown plenty of promise when studies were performed in a lab. Speculations are that they are less effective in the human body for one reason or another. Some think that this might be due to the sugars or other ingredients which are mixed into cranberry juice to counteract its sour taste.
All of this leads to one fact, we need to do more studies and research on whether cranberries are actually able to prevent heart disease.
Fat Loss
Imagine that all you have to do to boost your weight loss is drink a bit of unsweetened cranberry juice. The well-known bitter taste associated with cranberries comes from the multiple different acids which are part of cranberries. These acids are able to increase your metabolism and oxidize fat, well actually help promote oxidation of fat. In English terms, cranberries help you burn fat!
Here is an excellent tip, instead of drinking all those super unhealthy and obesity-promoting sodas, replace them with a simple cranberry drink. Not only will you be removing a ton of sugar from your diet but you will also introduce some major fat burning ingredients into your system. Alternatively, you can mix cranberries into shakes or smoothies, as long as they are natural and fueled by real fruit.
Antioxidants
Cranberries are actually related very closely to blueberries. It turns out that the antioxidant powers that blueberries are praised for are also present in cranberries. This means that cranberries can help you prevent damage from oxidation and keep those free radicals at bay.
Skin Strength And Hair Growth
Vitamin C is something else that we can benefit from when we eat cranberries. Vitamin C is largely responsible for improving your connective tissues in the body. This means that with a steady supply of vitamin C your skin will always look amazing.
As long as make cranberries a part of your diet, expect to see your skin become softer, more youthful, and tighter.
Besides vitamin C, cranberries are also an exceptional source of vitamins A and E which are fat-soluble. These vitamins are absolutely essential for healthy hair growth and strength.
Acne Prevention And Treatment
You already know that cranberries can benefit your skin in amazing ways. So it shouldn’t be a shock that they can also help you fight acne. Besides the benefits of vitamin C which is delivered by cranberries, that same ability to prevent bacteria from sticking to walls inside your body can also help you prevent bacteria from sticking to the walls of your pores, this reduces the chances of acne development.
The best way to see quick results is to use a little bit of cranberry juice on a cotton ball and place it directly onto acne. You will be shocked to see how effective cranberry juice really is.
Eliminate Dandruff
All those vitamins and the acidity found in cranberries can also drastically improve your ability to fight dandruff. When your body isn’t able to produce enough oils and makes the skin on your scalp flaky and dry and even prevents healthy hair growth, it’s all because of a pH imbalance issue.
The acidic properties of cranberries can help you balance your pH levels and help your scalp produce more oil. While this is being done, cranberries can also deliver various nourishments in a form of vitamins C, E, and A to help your body recover from your dandruff problems.
Possible Side Effects of Cranberry Extract
Kidney Stone Possibility
Taking cranberry supplements in a tablet form can cause kidney stone formation. This is because of the binders and additives which are used to create the cranberry tablets. Since your kidneys have to process these tablets, research shows that this can actually increase the strain you put on your kidneys and often actually can increase the risk of kidney stone development.
Blood Thinner Amplifier
Salicylic acid is a substance which we usually take in a form of aspirin. This substance can also be found in natural foods. Cranberries are one of those foods. Generally, this doesn’t present much of a risk for most people and actually can help reduce blood pressure and even increase your heart health slightly. The problem is that some people are actually very sensitive to salicylic acid and can have a similar allergic reaction when consuming cranberry based supplements.
Salicylic acid can also act as a sort of catalyst for blood thinners, like warfarin. This isn’t a problem in most cases because people are told not to take salicylic acid alongside their blood thinner but many don’t know that cranberries actually contain this substance. So when you consume cranberry supplement you are actually unknowingly might be amplifying the effects of your prescribed blood thinner.
Please make sure to always mention all supplements and medications that you take whenever you speak with any doctor, this will reduce the chances of complications.
Additionally, if you are allergic to aspirin, it is possible that you can also be allergic to cranberries since both contain salicylic acid which might be the cause of your allergies.
Dosage
Supplements which are based on food generally show more benefits the higher the dosage of the supplement. Research has been done to determine the optimal dosage for cranberries and concluded that anywhere between 300 mg and 400 mg twice per day should be the perfect amount. If you prefer cranberry juice then you should drink between 8 and 16 ounces per day which should be split at minimum into two cups.
Remember that cranberries can have a negative effect on blood thinners and can itself have similar effect as blood thinners. So be very careful not to consume too much cranberry supplements or juice.
10 Best Cranberry Extract Supplements & Health Benefits 2018 Conclusion
There are dozens of different benefits that cranberries have to offer in many different forms. The key is to determine why you want to take cranberry supplements and find the right one for you. Remember that there are different types of cranberry supplements, some that target specific issues and some that aim to improve your overall health.
Cranberries have few side effects but you should always be mindful of the medications that you take while using cranberry supplements. If you stick to an acceptable dosage and as long as you pay close attention to your body, you should be safe.
One of the greatest benefits that cranberries offer is the ability to stop bad bacteria from sticking to the walls in your body. So if you have problems with infections and inflammations, then cranberries can definitely help.
Because of the different methods of consumption, cranberries can be easily added to your diet in various ways. Shakes, smoothies, fresh consumptions, and cranberry juice are all acceptable ways to increase your cranberry intake but nothing is as potent as cranberry extract which is used in most cranberry supplements.
Every person is unique and each body is different in its own way. Because of this we strongly suggest that you always mention your intention of taking any supplements to your doctor, especially those that have a potential to cause allergic reactions or the ability to influence medications. Since cranberries can amplify the effects of your blood thinner, we urge you to notify your doctor if you plan to or already are taking cranberry supplements.
