How can you get people to say, “Wow, you’re glowing!”?
How can you stay strong and healthy through the holiday season?
Here’s my one hashtag answer: #CranberryChallenge!
Why Cranberries?
This little red rubies are nutritional and antioxidant powerhouses – and are capable of making your skin glow, your immune system fierce, and your energy high!
Cranberries are high in antioxidants, making them perfect for protecting your skin against damage from stress. Wrinkles, begone! Cranberries are an amazing anti-aging food due to their significant antioxidant content. Because of their highly antiseptic properties, cranberries help keep your skin clear by killing bacteria that can cause breakouts on your skin. Puffy skin or swollen face? Cranberries significantly reduce inflammation due to a certain phytochemical compound (A-type proanthocyanidins) not found in many other fruits. Looking to lose weight? Cranberries are one of the best foods to help! Not only does a bowl of cranberries help suppress your appetite (limiting junk food calories), it will also detoxify your organs and rid your body of substances that can make it stubbornly hold onto weight. Extremely low in calories and high in nutrition, these little berries are important in a weight loss journey!
Don’t want to get sick? Or trying to recover from sickness? Cranberries are here to help. Packed with vitamin C, these little treasures provide a powerful boost for your immune system! Their ability to kill bacteria, viruses, and pathogens in the body are perfect reinforcements for when you do get sick, and can help shield you from infection. Not only this, but the bioactive compounds in cranberries help prevent chronic diseases – which can often stem from a viral infection (in combination with other factors). In fact, cranberries are amazing for heart health, as antioxidants fight the aging of the arteries and the phytochemicals from their dark red color improve the circulatory system. Cranberries are also powerful while on a cancer journey, as they can pull radiation out of the body and stop the proliferation of cancer cells.
How can you incorporate these precious berries to get the benefits? Find out more below.
What’s the Cranberry Challenge?
The #CranberryChallenge is a period of time that you commit to consuming cranberries every day for glowing skin and boosting health.
This is the perfect way to get ready for the holidays – look good and feel good to prepare for those family gatherings!
Here are some tips to optimize the #CranberryChallenge for you!
CONSUME A LARGE AMOUNT.
To really see a difference, I would recommend at least 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries a day. A few cranberries sprinkled in your smoothie won’t make much of an impact. The more cranberries, the better! I encourage you to challenge yourself and push yourself to do more than your normal. You really want to glow? You desperately need to get over being sick? Large amounts of cranberries will do the trick.
EAT CLEAN.
The cranberries can really do their best work when your diet is clean. If you really want to see serious results, try cutting out meat, eggs, dairy, and gluten – and add in lots and lots of fruits and vegetables! There are many resources and recipes on my blog for this! You can also check out my Go Vegan For 30 Days course that includes over a hundred recipes and tons of information and resources.
HYDRATE.
Proper hydration helps your body best absorb the effects of cranberries. Not only that, but consistently drinking fluids throughout the day helps improve your skin, aids in weight loss, reduces puffiness and swelling, assists detoxification, improves the circulation of nutrients, clears a clogged lymphatic system, lessens congestion, and so much more! To get the maximum benefit of this challenge, be sure you stay hydrated. Better yet – why not drink your cranberries? See the recipe section below for some ideas.
Cranberry Recipes
Need some ideas to get you started? Here are some of my favorites from last year’s challenge:
- Cranberry Pear Lemon Refresher
- Cranberry Orange Delight
- Vegan Apple Cranberry Muffins
- Cran-Nana Ice Cream
- Cranberry Drizzle
- 10 Blissful Recipes To Make You Crush On Cranberries
Cranberry Protein Smoothie
This smoothie is filling, delicious, and nutritious! It’s the perfect way to start your day and to kick off your #CranberryChallenge. Besides the powerhouse punch of 2 cups of cranberries, spinach and spirulina come together for plant-strong protein that is easily absorbed into your body. There’s a reason Pop-Eye got so strong from spinach!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cranberries
- 4-5 cups loosely packed spinach
- 2 cups mango
- 2 tsp amla powder
- 2 Tbsp Hawaiian spirulina
- Liquid of choice (options: sesame seed milk or other nut/seed milk, aloe vera juice, fresh pressed orange juice, pure filtered water, etc.)
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients to a blender.
- Blend and enjoy!
Notes: Amla powder is full of vitamin C that strongly boosts the immune system. My favorite brand is from Terrasoul Superfoods, but any organic brand could work. Read more about Vitamin C here.
I like the spirulina from Purium or Nutrex Hawaii.
Cranberries: Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, fresh cranberries or dried cranberries?
The fibers in fresh cranberries contain living water inside that deeply hydrate your cells. Cranberries also retain so many more minerals in their fresh form that profoundly nourish your body and help overcome any unknown deficiencies you may be dealing with. Dried cranberries still have some benefit – but if you are looking to make a big impact on your skin or your overall health, fresh cranberries will get you the most bang for your buck. Dried are often sweetened with sugar, so if you wish to use them, look for a brand that is unsweetened or sweetened with organic apple juice. Even better if you can find them without added oil (which is used to keep them from sticking to each other) – though this is very difficult. I like the Braga or Eden Foods brands. Wilderness Poet is also a good brand.
Do the cranberries have to be organic, or can they be conventional?
I always say you will be better off with less harmful chemicals in your diet and lifestyle, so in my opinion organic is best if possible. However, if organic cranberries are hard to find near you, it is better to have conventional cranberries than none at all! The benefits of cranberries are so powerful that they can overcome the detriments of pesticide use while growing.
What if I’m traveling, live abroad, or can’t find fresh or dried cranberries?
If you are unable to find fresh or dried cranberries near you, or are challenged by travel or where you live, cranberry juice powder can still deliver wonderful benefits. You can easily add this powder to smoothies, beverages, sauces and dressings, baked goods, and in any other creative ways you can think of!
Cheers to another great #CranberryChallenge! I’m looking forward to doing it with you all!
Blessings,
Amber
P.S. I also talk about cranberries in my online course UNDEFEATED: Your Passport To A Powerful Immune System – if you want a rockstar immune system this winter season, I encourage you to check it out!
Cranberry Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberries
- 4-5 cups loosely packed spinach
- 2 cups mango
- 2 tsp amla powder
- 2 Tbsp Hawaiian spirulina
- Liquid of choice options: sesame seed milk or other nut/seed milk, aloe vera juice, fresh pressed orange juice, pure filtered water, etc.
Instructions
-
Add all ingredients to a blender.
-
Blend and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Amla powder is full of vitamin C that strongly boosts the immune system. My favorite brand is from Terrasoul Superfoods, but any organic brand could work.
I like the spirulina from Purium or Nutrex Hawaii.
Here's a great recipe for sesame seed milk and more about its benefits.
If you choose to use aloe vera juice, I highly recommend the brand Lakewood Organics.
