A Healthy Fruit Celebrates Its Holiday
Reader's Digest US|November 2018

A cranberry like me thinks of itself as the self-sufficient type.

Kate Lowenstein and Daniel Gritzer
A Healthy Fruit Celebrates Its Holiday

A cranberry like me thinks of itself as the self-sufficient type. Millennia ago, as one of a handful of fruits native to North America (along with blueberries and Concord grapes), I eked out an existence in the sandy, acidic, waterlogged soil of glacier-formed bogs and other inhospitable spots in the continent’s colder regions. In an environment that many plants would have found impossible, my shrubby vines flourished, my little green fruits turning white, then pink, then red as autumn deepened toward winter.

Native Americans picked my wild berries, eating them dried with deer meat, mashing them into antibacterial poultices for wound healing, and transforming the red skins into dye. When the Europeans arrived, my vitamin C helped them avoid scurvy.

Even after I became a cultivated crop (circa 1816), better-nourished modern humans benefited from the antioxidants in my skins and flesh, which offer anticancer, anti–heart disease, and antibacterial properties. I also help prevent urinary tract infections, thanks to my unusual abundance of chemicals called proanthocyanidins, which keep bacteria from sticking to the tract’s inner surface.

Despite these attributes, my fame could have remained limited. After all, my raw flesh is an acquired taste, to say the least—so tart and tannic that it takes more than a small amount of sugar to make me palatable. I might have been a mere novelty that shows up at the farmers market for a short season—the way, say, gooseberries or fiddlehead ferns do, stumping home cooks unfamiliar with how to incorporate them into a meal.

この記事は Reader's Digest US の November 2018 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Reader's Digest US の November 2018 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

READER'S DIGEST USのその他の記事すべて表示
Election Day Memories - Stories about voting by the people, for the people
Reader's Digest US

Election Day Memories - Stories about voting by the people, for the people

A Convincing Argument When my boyfriend and I were finally old enough to vote in our first presidential election, we spent months debating with one another about our chosen candidates. We were quite persuasive, as we discovered when we got home from the polls and learned that we'd both voted for the other's initial choice.―SHERRY FOX Appleton, WI

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
A New Way to Monitor Blood Sugar
Reader's Digest US

A New Way to Monitor Blood Sugar

Who can benefit from this wearable technology

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
A Flag for Dad
Reader's Digest US

A Flag for Dad

An old sailor made a last wish. His son was determined to see that it came true.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
Sisterhood to Last a Lifetime
Reader's Digest US

Sisterhood to Last a Lifetime

These college pals teach a master class in how to maintain a friendship for 50-plus years

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
...TO DIE ON A HOCKEY RINK
Reader's Digest US

...TO DIE ON A HOCKEY RINK

ONE MINUTE I WAS PLAYING IN MY BEER LEAGUE, THE NEXT I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL

time-read
9 分  |
November 2024
Yes, There's a Museum for That!
Reader's Digest US

Yes, There's a Museum for That!

These collections are wacky, wonderful and worth a visit

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
Town Meeting Is Called!
Reader's Digest US

Town Meeting Is Called!

Once a year, the people of Elmore, Vermont, gather to practice a cherished right: democracy

time-read
8 分  |
November 2024
Just Tight
Reader's Digest US

Just Tight

Broken, battered and trapped in a ravine for days, a desperate driver wonders, \"Will anyone find me?\"

time-read
9 分  |
November 2024
WHY OUR BODIES DON'T DIG DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Reader's Digest US

WHY OUR BODIES DON'T DIG DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Twice a year, when we spring ahead and fall back, we're more prone to sleepiness, depression and accidents

time-read
7 分  |
November 2024
MONEYSAVING DO'S AND DON'TS
Reader's Digest US

MONEYSAVING DO'S AND DON'TS

The run-up to the holidays doesn't have to bah-humbug your budget. A shopping expert shares strategies for saving big now and all year round.

time-read
10 分  |
November 2024