Cranberry juice could help to ease arthritis pain

CRANBERRY juice could relieve joint pain in women with arthritis.

A small study suggests a daily half-litre of low- calorie cranberry juice could help women with rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 400,000 people in the UK.

Female patients who drank the juice for three months showed lower levels of antibodies which attack the immune system and damage joints – and reported less swelling and tenderness. It is thought the antioxidants in cranberries can prevent some of the immune reaction that causes pain and stiffness in those with rheumatoid arthritis, which affects hands, feet and wrists and is more common in women.

The authors of the study, led by the University of Londrina in Brazil, said: ‘ The study indicated cranberry juice decreases disease activity and has beneficial effects for patients, though larger, long-term studies are needed to definitively probe this.’

Researchers took blood samples from a group of 41 women, 23 of whom drank half a litre of cranberry juice every day, to measure levels of anti-CCP – antibodies produced by an overactive immune system which attack joints. The results, published in the journal Nutrition, show those who drank the juice had improved symptoms and lower levels of anti-CCP, which are used to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis.

Ailsa Bosworth, chief executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, said: ‘Significantly more research would need to be done to be able to support a recommendation of cranberry consumption as a nutritional intervention for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.’