Frozen cranberries in your refrigerator are extremely valuable food that can boost immunity, help with infections and gastrointestinal problems, and simply diversify your diet. An incomparable sweet and sour drink is prepared from this wonderful berry. It is important to prepare cranberry juice correctly in order to preserve all the nutrients contained in the raw material.
Cranberries: useful properties and contraindications
Cranberries are sugars that are completely absorbed by the body; valuable organic acids; pectins; a large amount of vitamin C. In addition, there are many trace elements in the marsh berry, such as manganese, potassium, copper, molybdenum, as well as cobalt, which is necessary for digestion.
Traditionally, cranberries in folk medicine were used in the treatment of inflammations, colds, which modern scientists associate with the bactericidal effect of cranberry juice, the recipe of which has hardly changed over the years. It has been proven that due to the large amount of guipure acid, the medicinal drink enhances the effect of antibiotics, and vitamin P helps to restore sleep, relieve headaches and fatigue. The reserves of trace elements in cranberries make the medicinal drink an excellent helper for liver diseases and metabolic disorders.
And yet, homemade cranberry juice is not an everyday drink that can be consumed immoderately and without consulting a nutritionist and therapist. Excessive enthusiasm for sour fruit drink without subsequent rinsing of the mouth can damage the enamel of the teeth.
When cranberries are contraindicated:
- with peptic ulcer;
- with erosion of gastric tissues;
- allergies;
- gout;
- urate kidney stones.
You cannot abuse anything, the drink should be taken as an addition to the diet, a vitamin supplement.
Cooking frozen cranberry juice
You can make fruit drink from cranberries at any time throughout the winter, since this amazing berry, due to the content of benzoic acid, a natural preservative, is capable of staying fresh for up to nine months. The crop is harvested in the northern swampy forests, in other areas, cranberries are usually purchased frozen. It is necessary to defrost raw materials at room temperature so as not to destroy vitamin C.
Thawed berries (calculated for 150 g of raw materials) place in a non-oxidizing container (stainless steel, enamel, glass, ceramics) and crush with a wooden pestle, rolling pin. Of course, it is much easier to cook cranberry juice using a blender, but metal surfaces destroy vitamins, as well as prolonged thermal exposure.
Squeeze the berry juice using cheesecloth, a non-metallic sieve, and pour 600 ml of water into the cake, bring to a boil and strain immediately. Pour the juice, half a glass of granulated sugar into the broth, mix everything well and cool. And if you add honey to taste, as well as 0.3 teaspoons of ginger, instead of sugar to the cranberry juice, you get a great anti-cold drink.
