Many of us do our best to consume foods that are good for us regularly. However, this isn’t always possible and can be expensive, time consuming or even stressful to have to think about. While it is best to try to eat a wide variety of healthy foods in our diet, sometimes making a small change like adding one item to our daily routine is a good place to start.

If this is something you’re thinking of trying, one expert recommended trying a specific drink. According to NHS surgeon Doctor Karan Raj, cranberry juice can help not only reduce inflammation in the body but boost your all important gut health. He explained some of the health benefits in a video posted to social media platform TikTok .

In the video, Dr Raj was responding to another creator who said she regularly drinks cranberry juice. She said: “I started drinking cranberry juice every day, not for a UTI but for my gut health, because I had a doctor on my podcast who said that getting red pigments in your diet is the most important thing that you can do for your gut bacteria.” Dr Raj endorsed the drink for its benefits, saying: “If you want a really easy way to improve your gut health, then do this.

When you drink cranberry juice you get a dose of one of the most beneficial nutrients you can get from any diet - polyphenols. “These are natural plant antioxidants which can help to reduce inflammation and provide some more gut health benefits. The type of polyphenols found in cranberries, which also give it i.