Liquid Love: Last Minute Valentine's Day Gift For Your Heart

LAKEVILLE-MIDDLEBORO, Mass., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, skip the flowers and heart shaped box of chocolates and head to the juice aisle for a bottle of refreshing Ocean Spray® Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail.  New research just in time for Valentine's Day suggests that cranberry juice may be just what cupid and the doctor ordered.

The recent in vitro study conducted at Queen Mary University of London, and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs) present in regular and light cranberry juice cocktail, may help lower blood pressure and help promote a healthy heart.

Providing the "why" behind how Ocean Spray's taste good, good-for-you juice keeps your heart pumping, the experimental study conducted by Dr. Roger Corder of Queen Mary University measured the cardio-protective potential of cranberry juice and compared it to red wine, cocoa and green tea.  

"Red wine has long been associated with heart health, but this new study shows that cranberry juice is a very promising alcohol-free alternative," said Dr. Roger Corder of Queen Mary University, and author of "The Red Wine Diet." "We have now identified OPCs as the specific compound in cranberries that can boost the health of blood vessels, helping to prevent blood vessel constriction -- a leading cause of high blood pressure."

Giving consumers more to love about their favorite juice, the study identified oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs) in cranberries that can promote a healthy heart by inhibiting Endothelin-1 (ET-1) synthesis, a blood vessel constrictor that causes heart disease.

The OPC study builds on previous research connecting cranberry juice such as Ocean Spray Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail to heart health.  Previous studies by Ruehl et al (2006) showed that that cranberry juice increased circulating levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Cranberry has also been found to inhibit the oxidation of LDL particles that carry the 'bad' cholesterol, an effect that may help to further reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease.  

About Ocean Spray

Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and other parts of Canada as well as more than 50 Florida grapefruit growers. Ocean Spray was formed 80 years ago by three cranberry growers from Massachusetts and New Jersey. Florida grapefruit growers joined the Cooperative in 1976. Ocean Spray is North America's leading producer of canned and bottled juices and juice drinks, and has been the best-selling brand name in the canned and bottled juice category since 1981. Ocean Spray posted fiscal 2009 sales of $2 billion.

SOURCE Ocean Spray