Tannic Acid

In the latest issue of the California Rare Fruit Growers (May/June) I came across a short article on cranberry and blueberry health benefits.

Offered by Steve.

Benefits of Blueberries

I was happy to learn that blueberries and cranberries share a unique healthful property. I had always thought that cranberries owed their beneficial effect in the case of urinary tract infection (UTI) to all the (can't you taste it?) acid. However, Modern Medicine (66 #12:11, '98) reports bacteriologists at Weisman Institute in Isreal discovered a substance in cranberries that inhibit the stickiness of coliform bacteria (commonest causative agent of UTI). Apparently if they can't stick, they can't infect. Recently Rutgers researchers found the same tannin substance in blueberries. If you ever had to drink a glass of cranberry juice a day, this should be good news.