Cranberries vs Dates – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing cranberries to dates, we picked the dates.

Why?

It wasn’t close:

In terms of macros, dates have more fiber, carbs, and protein, making them the more nutritionally dense option in this category.

In the category of vitamins, cranberries have more of vitamins C, E, and K, while dates have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, and B9, winning again.

Looking at minerals, cranberries are not higher in any minerals, while dates have a lot more more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, winning a third round overwhelmingly.

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), so that could swing it one way or another depending on your personal health risks, and they’re about equal in polyphenols, so in the interests of fairness, we’ll call this round a tie.

Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for dates, but by all means do enjoy either or both (unless cranberries are contraindicated for you personally), since as very good general rule of thumb, diversity is best!

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!