Four Plants with Health Benefits!

Cranberry: While current research doesn’t support the notion that drinking cranberry juice will cure a urinary tract infection (UTI), it has shown that regularly consuming cranberries does indeed help prevent UTIs. Researchers have observed that daily consumption of cranberries “significantly reduced” the incidence of UTIs over the course of a twelve-month study involving 150 women.

Pomegranate: While it won’t replace toothpaste anytime soon, there is evidence that shows that an extract from pomegranate has antibacterial properties that can help control dental plaque bacteria in the mouth.

Purple Passion Flower: An extract from purple passion flower may help those suffering from uncomfortable, or even debilitating, anxiety. In a four-week study that compared the extract to both a standard pharmaceutical treatment and placebo, researchers observed no significant difference between the extract and drug in reducing anxiety, except that participants who took the extract were less likely to report job performance issues when compared with those who received the medication.

Echinacea: Recent studies indicate that those who took a daily echinacea supplement were about half as likely to get a cold when exposed to rhinovirus.  If you do happen to get sick, at least one meta-analysis has concluded that echinacea can reduce the length of your cold by 1.4 days.