Cranberries are an extremely healthy food that should be included in diets, suggests a recent article in WebMD.

The article says that one cup of cranberries has almost 800 antioxidants, more than almost every fruit and vegetable except blueberries. One cup of cranberries contains only 45 calories and is strong in vitamin C and fiber as well.

Cranberries are also fresh during the fall and winter when many other fruits and vegetables are not.
 
“Fresh cranberries stored in a tightly-sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator will last up to two months,” states the article. “But be careful: If one starts to get soft and decay, the others will too--so remove soft ones before you store them.”
 
The article suggests adding cranberries to cereal or blueberry muffins to incorporate them into your diet. Drinking 100 percent fruit juice that contains cranberries or adding cranberries to chicken and pork dishes are other suggestions.

For a sweet treat, try this recipe for Cranberry Apple Crisp provided in the article:

Ingredients (9 servings)

• 5 cups tart apples (about 6 medium apples), pared and sliced
• 1½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan.  Layer apples and cranberries in pan, sprinkling with sugar as you layer.
Make topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Work in butter until light and crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and cranberries.
Bake 45 minutes or until apples are tender.

Nutritional Information

CALORIES  210 (25% from fat); PROTEIN 1g; FAT 6g; CARBOHYDRATES 39g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; FIBER 3g; SODIUM 64mg.