jennyjenny's Blog

By Wellyn Leu

Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is a small evergreen shrub that grows in mountains, forests and damp bogs from Alaska to Tennessee. Native Americans introduced the Europeans to cranberry as a food, dye, and medicine. In the 1920s, canned cranberry sauce was introduced, and in the 1940s, cranberry juice became commercially available. Cranberry has been used to prevent and treat urinary tract infections since the 19th century.

Today cranberry is available in a variety of forms such as fresh or frozen cranberries, cranberry juice cocktail, other cranberry drinks, cranberry sauce, and powder in hard or soft gelatin capsules. Cranberries are approx 88% water and contain flavonoids, anthrocyanins, cetechin, triterpinoids, citric acid, malic acid, glucuronic acid, quinic acid, benzoic acid, ellagic acid, and vitamin C. Fresh or frozen cranberries are a good source of cranberry because they contain pure fruit.

However, because of their high acidity and extremely sour taste, they are less readily used in clinical practice. Pure cranberry juice is tart like lemon juice because of the high citric and quinic acid content. Cranberry juice cocktail is more palatable, but is only 25%-33% juice and contains corn syrup as a sweetener, whereas other cranberry juice drinks contain as little as 10% juice.

These sweetened beverages are relatively high in calories (approx 140 kcal per 8-oz serving) and could cause weight gain in a patient consuming the juice for medicinal purposes. Another drawback to sweetened beverages is that, theoretically, the sugar could act as a source of food for uropathogens. Cranberry sauce consisting of sweetened or gelled berries at a concentration one-half that of cranberry juice cocktail is also readily available to consumers. Cranberry capsules are a sugar-free source of cranberry.

Hard gelatin capsules contain more crude fiber and organic acids than cranberry juice cocktail, whereas the soft gelatin capsules contain soybean oil and have only 8% of the total organic acids found in fresh cranberries. It takes 12 capsules of cranberry powder to equal 6 fluid oz of cocktail. In the various studies and consumer references, many dosages and dosing regimens have been reported for the use of cranberry in prevention of renal calculi, prevention of urinary odor, and prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections.

• Prevention of urinary tract infection: 8 oz of cranberry juice four times a day for several days, then twice daily; 300 mL/day as cranberry juice cocktail.
• Treatment of urinary tract infection: 6 oz cranberry juice of daily for 21 days; 6 oz twice daily.
• Reduction of urinary odors: 16 oz of cranberry juice daily; 3 oz of daily, then increased by 1 oz each week to a maximum of 6 oz daily.
• Prevention of urinary stones: 1 qt of cranberry juice cocktail daily; 8 oz four times a day for several days, then 8 oz twice daily.

Another potential benefit to the use of cranberry is its antiviral effect. One study evaluated the ability of various commercial juices and beverages to inactivate poliovirus type I in vitro. Cranberry juice had some antiviral activity that was noted to be enhanced at pH 7.0. The antiviral effect of commercial juices is thought to be caused by polyphenols, including tannins, which form complexes with viruses. So, now you have it, cranberry is not just good with the thanksgiving feast.

1. Most folks know that Americans celebrate a Thanksgiving Day, but they aren't alone. What event is celebrated in The Virgin Islands on Oct. 25?

A. A Thanksgiving Day to rejoice in the end of the hurricane season

B. A Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the end of the harvest season

C. A Thanksgiving Day to mark the beginning of the harvest season

D. There is no such event except in The QuizQueen's imagination.

A. A Thanksgiving Day to rejoice in the end of the hurricane season

QQ: The Virgin Islands observe a Thanksgiving Day on Oct. 25 to rejoice in the end of the hurricane season. That is certainly something to celebrate alright!

2. Where did turkeys come from?

A. Turkey

B. Europe

C. South America

D. Antarctica

C. South America

QQ: Turkeys weren't introduced into Europe from the Spanish colonies in South America until 1523. However, by 1524, turkeys, imported from South America, were eaten at the court of King Henry VIII of England.

3. Thanksgiving is also a legal holiday in Canada. When does it fall?

A. Second Monday in October

B. Second Thursday in October

C. Second Monday in November

D. Second Thursday in November

A. Second Monday in October

QQ: Because Canada is north of the United States, its harvest comes earlier in the year. Accordingly, the Thanksgiving holiday falls earlier in Canada than in the United States. The Canadian Parliament set aside Nov. 6 for annual Thanksgiving observances in 1879. In 1957 the date was shifted to an even earlier day, to the second Monday in October.

4. Who originally domesticated the turkey?

A. The Turks

B. The Mexicans

C. The Chinese

D. The Vulcans

B. The Mexicans

QQ: The turkey was originally domesticated in Mexico. The ocellated turkey is native to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and adjacent Guatemala and Belize.

5. What month is National Turkey Lovers' Month?

A. May

B. June

C. November

D. December

B. June

QQ: Hah, bet lots of people got that one wrong! June is National Turkey Lovers' Month, after all, June is the month for lovers, isn't it?

6. Benjamin Franklin, who proposed the turkey as the official United States' bird, was dismayed when the bald eagle was chosen over the turkey. Why?

A. He loved to eat turkey and wanted everyone to love it, too

B. He thought the turkey much more respectable

C. He said the bald eagle had a bad moral character

D. The turkey was a true native of America

E. All are true

F. None are true

G. A, B, and C are true

H. B, C, and D are true

H. B, C, and D are true

QQ: He may have loved to eat turkey, but after the selection was made, Franklin wrote to his daughter, referring to the eagle's "bad moral character," saying, "I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country! The turkey is a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America."

7. What Thanksgiving Day image can be traced back to ancient harvest festivals?

A. Candle

B. Cornucopia

C. Pilgrim hat

D. Turkey

B. Cornucopia

QQ: The cornucopia (a horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruits and vegetables) is a typical emblem of Thanksgiving abundance that dates to ancient harvest festivals. Many of the images commonly associated with Thanksgiving are derived from much older traditions of celebrating the autumn harvest.

8. Can turkeys fly?

A. Only the domestic ones

B. Only the wild ones

C. All turkeys can fly

D. No turkeys can fly

B. Only the wild ones

QQ: Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour and can run 20 miles per hour.

9. Although the U.S. is tops when it comes to turkey consumption (who knows if it is Thanksgiving that puts us over the top), what country is a close second?

A. France

B. Italy

C. Germany

D. UK

A. France

QQ: This was a tough question, because according to the USDA the French, the Italians, the Germans, and the British all follow US consumption of turkey (in that order).

10. Although often linked to Christmas, Kwanzaa is actually more closely tied with which holiday?

A. St. Patrick's Day

B. Halloween

C. Thanksgiving

D. Valentine's Day

C. Thanksgiving

QQ: Come on, even if you didn't know that Kwanzaa was Swahili for "first fruits" this is a Thanksgiving-theme quiz! Kwanzaa has its roots in the ancient African first-fruit harvest celebrations from which it takes its name. However, its modern history begins in 1966 when it was developed by African American scholar and activist Maulana Karenga.

11. When Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin sat down to eat their first meal on the moon, their foil food packets contained what?

A. Roasted turkey and all of the trimmings

B. Spaghetti and meatballs

C. Hot dogs and beans

D. Peanut butter and jelly

A. Roasted turkey and all of the trimmings

QQ: If you got this wrong, refer to the title of the quiz!

12. What Jewish holiday could be associated with Thanksgiving?

A. Shabuoth

B. Passover

C. Hanukah

D. Yom Kippur

A. Shabuoth

QQ: Shabuoth or Shavuoth, also Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, is celebrated in the late spring during the Hebrew month of Sivan, seven weeks after Passover. In biblical times the festival was a thanksgiving for the grain harvest. Later tradition associates the holiday with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.

13. Who gobbles in the turkey family?

A. Everyone

B. Only adult turkeys, not chicks

C. Only tom turkeys

D. Only hen turkeys

C. Only tom turkeys

QQ: Only tom turkeys gobble. Hen turkeys make a clicking noise. Click. Click.

14. The custom of watching football games on Thanksgiving Day also evolved during the early decades of the 20th century. Many Americans digest their holiday meal while watching football games on television. Traditionally, which two National Football League (NFL) teams host games on Thanksgiving Day?

A. Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys

B. Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins

C. Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals

D. Houston Oilers and Cleveland Browns

A. Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys

QQ: High viewership of these holiday games has made football an American Thanksgiving tradition. Yet another retail strike against America! And for your football trivia, The Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Oilers could not be part of any long-standing tradition as the Panthers and Jaguars were part of the 1995 expansion of the NFL and the Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997 to become the Titans.

15. What is the turkey trot?

A. A ragtime dance

B. The gait of a horse

C. A card game

D. The way a turkey runs

A. A ragtime dance

QQ: The turkey trot ragtime dance is characterized by a springy walk with the feet well apart and a swinging up-and-down movement of the shoulders.