Uva Ursi, Cranberry & Bearberry | 60 capsules | Swanson

Uva Ursi, Cranberry & Corn Silk by Swanson

Some herbs have traditionally been used together as a fixed recipe. This Swanson formula brings three together: uva ursi, cranberry and corn silk. Each herb is included at 200mg per capsule. It is intended for adults who want to take this classic combination in a fixed form, instead of as separate tea, juice or powder. One bottle contains 60 capsules, enough for two months at one capsule per day.

What uva ursi is

Uva ursi is the Latin name for bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), a low, creeping bush with small red berries that grows in cool, northern regions. The name literally means bearberry, because bears are fond of the berries. For supplements, it is not the berries but the leaves that are used. The leaf naturally contains arbutin, a plant substance that is characteristic of bearberry. Uva ursi was listed in old American and European herbal books for a long time, which shows how deeply rooted the herb is in tradition. Arbutin is the substance from which uva ursi derives a large part of its character, and the leaf is precisely the part of the plant in which that substance is most concentrated.

Cranberry and corn silk

Cranberry, or bog cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), is the best known of the three. The bright red berry is widely eaten, fresh and dried, and naturally contains proanthocyanidins, a group of polyphenols that give the berry its color and character. Corn silk (Zea mays) is much less well known: it is the fine, silky threads, the stigmas, that you see at the top of a corn cob under the leaves. Many people wonder what corn silk has to do with the other two. The answer lies in tradition: all three belong to the plants that have been used together for generations. Precisely that long shared history explains why corn silk, which is known to few people on its own, has found a place in this formula alongside the much better known cranberry.

Three herbs in a capsule

The idea behind a combination is simple. Instead of buying three separate bottles and dosing them yourself, everything is together in a capsule. Each capsule contains 200mg corn silk, 200mg cranberry and 200mg uva ursi, in a fixed ratio. This way you get the whole trio in one go, without having to mix or weigh it yourself. The three herbs complement each other within the recipe, each with its own plant profile and its own place in tradition. That makes the classic trio practical for daily use.

The capsule and what is in it

In addition to the three herbs, there are excipients: maltodextrin and brown rice flour as carriers, calcium palmitate, magnesium hydroxide and citric acid. The capsule itself is made of gelatin. You take one capsule per day with water, and it is wise to drink enough during the day. In short: this is the classic trio of uva ursi, cranberry and corn silk, brought together in a bottle of 60 capsules for those who prefer to dose the combination pre-measured rather than assemble it themselves.