Cranberry PACs for Urinary Health
By Laurell Matthews, ND
As a naturopathic doctor, I always want to craft health plans that improve both the short term issues and long term vitality of my patients. To reach these goals, I explore the quality of their sleep, exercise, digestion, and stress. Addressing these key aspects of health can have a deep impact on their other health challenges, whether they be immune or cognitive or cardiovascular. But my female patients are probably surprised by my inquiries about their urinary health when they came to me for a seemingly unrelated issue such as joint or immune health. It is not just that all body systems are interrelated. Urinary health can tie in with more global concerns. If we are feeling run down, it can be important to optimize urinary health as well as looking at other fundamentals of health.
Of course, I am concerned about the urinary health of my male patients too, as well as these possible interconnections. Both men and women have somewhat complicated plumbing down there, but women’s urinary health is more vulnerable. Urinary health can sometimes explain why women are more likely to have different health presentations than men.
This is why I wanted Bold Botanica to introduce Bold Cranberry Plus. Sure, other companies realize how important urinary health is and offer cranberry products, but ours stands out for its boldness.
The Proanthocyanidin Difference
If you've used other cranberry products, then you may have heard of proanthocyanidins, or PACs. These protective compounds are naturally found in many foods, especially red and purple foods like berries. Different foods and herbs offer different types of PACs. Cranberries are so valued for urinary health because they provide a rare type of PAC, called A-Type. This type is different from the ones found in elderberry that your immune system loves, or those in green tea that fight oxidative stress. It is the A-Type PACs in cranberry that provide its anti-adhesion activity in the bladder, making them so important for urinary health.
You also have to deliver enough of these PACs to the bladder, which brings up another important distinction between PACs, whether or not they are soluble in water. When we drink cranberry juice, we are getting the soluble PACs that will end up in the bladder. Many cranberry supplements, however, are derived from the pulp left over after the cranberry juice is pressed out, and therefore contain a high percentage of insoluble PACs. Research shows these insoluble PACs just don’t have the same benefit - after all, the urinary tract is a water processing system, so any supplement for urinary support needs water soluble active ingredients. In the case of cranberry, this means providing water soluble A-Type PACs. We utilize state-of-the-art, 3rd party testing to verify the strength and presence of these soluble A-Type PACs in our Bold Cranberry Plus capsules.
So here at Bold Botanica, we crafted our Bold Cranberry Plus with cranberry extracts that deliver these soluble A-Type PACs, and in the proper dose supported by research. Studies show that a 36 mg dose of these soluble A-Type PACs provides a superior benefit to the urinary tract than an 18 mg dose, which makes it well worth using premium ingredients as opposed to pulp. Bold Cranberry Plus uses two types of cranberry extract to achieve this optimal dose, with one of these powerful extracts being made from organic cranberries. These provide the right type of PACs to mirror the benefits of cranberry juice in the convenience of a capsule, and without the problematic sugar content of most cranberry juices. Plus, the exceptional blend of extracts in Bold Cranberry Plus provides a full array of the other healthy compounds found in cranberries, which support our heart and digestive health while acting as important antioxidants. A single herb can nourish our wellbeing on multiple levels, just as adequate sleep and exercise can boost our vitality in many ways. When you choose a natural, holistic approach, you get a multitude of benefits because it is all interconnected.
Laurell Matthews, ND, has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and received her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University. She has a life-long passion for helping people understand how to be healthier using dietary and lifestyle changes along with natural medicine modalities like homeopathy and botanical medicine.
This blog is intended for educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
