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SAN DIEGO, Apr 04, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers report cranberries may help protect against heart disease.
The research, which was conducted on swine, was presented at the Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. The team from the UW School of Veterinary Medicine studied the effects of giving the animals cranberry juice powder regularly over a six-month period.
Cranberries contain naturally derived compounds -- antioxidants, flavonoids and polyphenols -- that improve vascular function. The researchers said this is important because it helped blood vessels to relax in subjects with high cholesterol and artherosclerosis.
Cranberries also have been shown to help prevent or shorten urinary tract infections and have a positive effect on gum disease, ulcers and even cancer.
The next phase of the research is to find the specific components of cranberries that are most important to improvements in vascular function and determine how they can most easily be consumed as part of a person's diet.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
