Can Cranberry juice ease arthritis pain in women?

UK: 400,000 women in the UK have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and daily intake of half-litre of cranberry juice can help ease the pain, as reported by the Daily Mail. After a regular intake of cranberry juice for three months, they reported having less swollen and tender joints.

The study was led by the University of Londrina in Brazil for which they recruited 41 women with rheumatoid arthritis. The authors of the study shared, “The present study indicated that cranberry juice decreases disease activity and therefore has beneficial effects for rheumatoid arthritis patients, although larger and long-term studies are needed to definitively probe this effect and to clarify the mechanisms involved.”

These 41 women were tracked for three months, out of which 23 drank half a litre of cranberry juice daily, while the rest 18 followed their regular diet. Blood samples collected from these women measured the levels of anti-CCP – antibodies that attack the immune system and damage joints. According to this study, inflammation might not have been reduced by this juice.

Alisa Bosworth, chief executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society shared that more significant research has to be conducted to support the recommendation of cranberry juice for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Without the right drug treatment, irreversible joint damage happens quite fast and there is no substitute based on evidence for taking disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.