Cranberries vs Raspberries – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing cranberries to raspberries, we picked the raspberries.

Why?

It wasn’t close:

In terms of macros, raspberries have nearly 2x the fiber for the same carbs. Technically raspberries also have more protein, but as you might imagine, it’s trivial in its paucity and so isn’t really a factor here. In any case, a clear win for raspberries in this round on account of the fiber.

In the category of vitamins, cranberries have slightly more of vitamins A and E, while raspberries have a lot more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B7, B9, and K, winning by a huge margin here.

Looking at minerals next, cranberries are not higher in any mineral (unless which count sodium, in which case yes, cranberries are higher in sodium), while raspberries have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, once again winning easily.

In other considerations, both have beneficial phytochemical properties, but cranberries’ health properties are a mixed bag of good and bad, while raspberries’ offerings in this regard (simply: a greater abundance of polyphenols) are solely good, so raspberries win this round too.

Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for raspberries, but by all means enjoy either or both, unless you are prone to kidney problems or blood clotting problems, in which case maybe skip the cranberries, for reasons outlined in the link below:

Want to learn more?

You might like:

Health Benefits Of Cranberries (But: You’d Better Watch Out) ← cranberries’ bonus properties (including: famously very good at decreasing UTI risk) come with some warnings, including that they may increase the risk of kidney stones if you are prone to such, and also that cranberries have anti-clotting effects, which are great for heart health but can be a risk of you’re on blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder.

Enjoy!