Benefits of Cranberries

Source: Cranberry Institute

Scientific research is revealing how healthful cranberries can be. Packed with nutrients like antioxidants and other natural compounds, cranberries are a great choice for the health conscious consumer. Cranberries are available in a wide variety of forms including fresh fruit, juice, sauce, and dried. Juices and sauce are available year-round at your grocery retailer. Fresh fruit is generally available from September to December. Include more cranberries in your diet today and start eating healthier today.

Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins (PACs) that can prevent the adhesion of certain of bacteria, including E. coli, associated with urinary tract infections to the urinary tract wall. The anti-adhesion properties of cranberry may also inhibit the bacteria associated with gum disease and stomach ulcers.

These days there are too many tempting adverts on TV, in comics, billboards etc which are all tailored to entice kids to their particular products. Of course we are not trying to say don’t ever buy anyone of them, but what we are trying to say is try and tempt your kids away from certain things, such as cola, fizzy drinks, sweets etc.

Most children enjoy a glass of milk, so why not try making them a smoothie for a change. This way you know that your child is getting fruit and vegetables into their diet.

A friend of mine asked her son if he would like a banana, he instantly replied “No, I don’t like them”. I suggested she make him a simple banana smoothie made from 1 banana and a large glass of fresh milk just to see if her son would drink that instead. She passed the smoothie to her son, he took a sip at first then gulped the rest down saying that he loved it! So please don’t give up trying to get your children to eat fruit and vegetables there are other ways, you just have to make them look more inviting to them.

Homemade fruit smoothies

With all this credit crunch situation at the moment we all need to start watching our money, and we need to look at how and where we can save money when doing our weekly / daily shopping.

If you buy fruit smoothie drinks on a daily basis you are no doubt spending a rather lot of money over a one month period, work it out exactly how much you are paying for them, you will be surprised.

My advice is that if you are buying fruit drinks and smoothies ready made then don’t! Buy yourself a standard smoothie maker, you don’t have to spend a fortune on a huge hi-tech machine, something simple will work just as good. Browse through the hundreds of free smoothie recipes here on flowercarole and then go to your local market / shops / supermarket and buy yourself the fruit you require (I usually buy enough fruit to make around 4-5 different types of smoothies which will last a few days). Then basically just get blending and making your own fruit smoothies, you will be surprised as how good they actually taste and they taste much fresher than the pre-made ones you used to buy in the shop. You are also helping to reduce waste, because there are no plastic bottles or cardboard cartons to dispose of, you just pour your delicious drink into your glass, easy!

So what are you waiting for? Start saving money today and make your own homemade smoothies, you won’t be stuck for a free recipe because we have every combination on our site – and they are all free to use!