Do you take second helpings when the cranberry relish comes around? Here’s a reason to feel good about it:

Not only do cranberries make the perfect accompaniment to turkey and stuffing, but they may curb your risk for heart disease, too.

The Makings of a Healthy Heart
Cranberries were high on the list of best-for-your-heart foods in a review of 134 studies examining cardio-smart nutrition. Researchers suspect that an arsenal of polyphenolic compounds in the tart red fruit may help your ticker in several ways:

• They calm your tissues. Compounds that are close to becoming household words (quercetin, proanthocyanidins, and resveratrol) help put the chill on chronic vascular inflammation -- and that may lead to younger arteries and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Here’s another food that helps clamp down on vascular inflammation.
• They clean house. The antioxidants in cranberries help cells in your heart and elsewhere rid themselves of troublemaking free radicals. Mopping up free radicals can prevent a bunch of other diseases, too.
• They may even balance your blood fats. Although further research is needed, cranberry juice may increase good-for-you HDL cholesterol and reduce lousy LDL cholesterol. Get the facts on cholesterol’s role in heart disease.

Recipe Corner
Cranberries freeze well, so stock up on any markdowns at the grocery store. And here’s something you can make with that extra bag of berries in the fridge: Holiday Cranberry-Orange Pistachio Bars. They can be frozen for up to a month, so you’re ahead of the game for the next holiday feast.

Find out what else you can do to protect your heart.