Cranberries vs Gooseberries – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing cranberries to gooseberries, we picked the gooseberries.

Why?

It wasn’t close:

In terms of macros, cranberries have more carbs while gooseberries have more fiber, so that’s a win for gooseberries. A nominal win as the differences aren’t huge, but clear enough to be a win nevertheless.

In the category of vitamins, cranberries have more vitamin E, while gooseberries have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and C, winning easily.

Looking at minerals next, cranberries have more manganese, while gooseberries have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, scoring their third win in a row by quite a margin.

In other considerations, cranberries have some special properties that amount to a mixed bag of pros and cons (see details in the “learn more” below), while gooseberries are higher in polyphenols. Since cranberries have good and bad things in this round while gooseberries have just good, we say gooseberries in this round, too.

Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for gooseberries, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best (unless one of the contraindications for cranberries applies, in which case, skip those)!

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!