Is Cranberry Juice Good For Diabetics?

Edit: Since writing this I have become aware that what I have discovered and told you about here isn’t pure cranberry juice but a cranberry juice drink, essentially watered down craberry juice with sweetener. May not seem like an important difference, but I am conscious of trying to provide the most accurate information possible on this blog and would hate for someone to go and mistakenly drink loads of pure cranberry juice on my recommendation only to have their blood sugars spike!

So, a couple of days ago I discovered something that I just had to share with my fellow diabetics. I was walking through Co-Op looking for something to go as a mixer with some spiced rum (Kraken Spiced Rum for anyone who’s interested) and slimline tonic (because, no sugar right?) when something caught my eye.

Sat casually and unassumedly in the top right of the juice shelf, covered with a slight layer of dust (exaggerating there but artistic license is a thing and I am going to use it) was a juice I had never even considered before, Cranberry.

Now, I used to love a glass of orange or apple juice first thing in the morning before I was diagnosed. But after, I understood just how much sugar was loaded in fruit juices. A fuck tonne. And that put me right off. In fact, I have basically cut all fruit juices out of my life for 4 years minus the odd indulgent sip of one my girlfriend may be drinking.

But looking at this carton of cranberry juice I wasn’t sure if my eyes were deceiving me. I rubbed them and looked closer and yes, it was true, there was less than a gram of sugar per 150ml! A fruit juice with basically no sugar, I didn’t even think that was possible?! So naturally I purchased 3 cartons and have been having a glass a day since.

Cranberry Juice Is Good For Diabetics

Let’s take a quick look at the nutrition info of a glass of Co-Op Cranberry Juice vs Apple and Orange:

150ml	Cranberry	Orange	Apple
Carbs	0.5g	13g	15g

I was so keen to share this with you all because I genuinely believed that a type 1 diabetes diagnosis meant you never got to enjoy a nice cold glass of fruit juice anymore when it turns out that just plain isn’t true. I appreciate that Cranberry Juice won’t be to everyone’s taste but it’s right up my street.

In Fact, Cranberry Juice Is Good For Everyone, Not Just Diabetics!

So, it turns out Cranberry Juice has a load of other benefits outside of its lack of sugar, these include:

• Packed full of antioxidants
• Loaded full of polyphenols that help fight heart disease
• Has antibacterial affects that help protect against UTIs
• Contains phytochemicals that support a healthy gut and digestion
• Inhibits growth of some bacterial microbes helping protect the body from infection

More reading on this here, here and here. Clearly a lot of these benefits are particularly relevant for diabetics, whether they’re type 1 or type 2, but anyone can benefit from a healthier heart, gut and infection fighting!

So yeah, that’s it really. Just wanted to share what I class as an exciting diabetic friendly discovery with all my diabuddies. Do you know of something that’s surprisingly low carb? Let me know in the comments!

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