I love seeing all the pink water out there!!! My journey with cranberry extract started with trying RezBlock. The first formula, the green one, worked ok but its makeup perplexed me. When the next formula came out I guessed fairly quickly that it tasted like cranberry extract.
Going online I found a new study out of Rutgers University, link below, describing the active mechanism in cranberry. They actually have an agricultural experimental station for blueberry and cranberry research.
The Science: Cranberries have been used by enlightened people for a very long time to help with UTI infections. As it turns out the cranberries contain Proanthocyanidins. Proanthocyanidins are a class of polyphenols found in a variety of plants. Chemically, they are oligomeric flavonoids. Many are oligomers of catechin and epicatechin and their gallic acid esters. More complex polyphenols, having the same polymeric building block, form the group of tannins.
Cranberry fruit is rich in polyphenolic constituents with flavonols, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins (PACs) being the major classes of phytochemicals. In contrast to other species, for example, cocoa, grape, pomegranate, noted for relatively high proanthocyanidin content, cranberries contain proanthocyanidins with A-type linkages between units. PACs with the A-type linkage are associated with antibacterial adhesion properties (Howell and Vorsa, 1998; Foo et al., 2000) and (Cranberry Therapy of Urinary Tract Infections, Wise Young PhD MD, Professor II & Director W M Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Rutgers, State University of New Jersey)
So how this works is the Proanthocyanidins have a unique bio-slipperiness which makes it so the bad guys in your urinary tract can't stick to anything and they get flushed away. There are no antiseptic qualities going on here.
It is this exact mechanism that keeps resin from sticking to you glass . . .
Usage: First you need to get some cranberry extract. This does NOT mean juice as it is mostly sugar and water. Also, you need to find an extract that does not contain alcohol as inhaling ethanol vapors can seriously irritate your lungs. We have found that Nature's Answer Cranberry Extract (NACE) and Botanic Choice (BC) both make suitable products and can be found online for reasonable prices with a little research. Its best to start with sparkling clean, and sterile, glass. PBW can be an excellent choice for cleaning but it is NOT a sanitizer so please sanitize your glass.
Next, take your glass and put about 6-8 drops of cranberry extract in, if your piece is really small start with less, then fill to your usual level. The water should be a medium pink color, not too dark or too light. Cranberry extract will enhance stacking bubbles a little better so testing this should be in your mind as you move forward.
Lastly, you will want to put a small amount of citric acid, aka sour salt, into the mix to help keep things fresh. A quarter teaspoon should suffice. If you really want to know use a PH test strip and see how acid your solution is. You should be aiming for a PH of around 5. Citric acid is a common food preservative and it gives sour candy it's "sour power". It can be found in supermarkets where canning goods are found, or at your local home brew store, or online. Please note that this only works where the fluid touches your glass. Dry surfaces will react as normal.
I discovered in an experiment vaping through low PH ionized water that it kept things fresher for much longer. Most people do not have a $1,800 water ionizer. Then I thought citric acid lowers PH as well . . .
Enjoy cleaner, fresher, glass and vaping fluid with cranberry extract in your mix . . .
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Going online I found a new study out of Rutgers University, link below, describing the active mechanism in cranberry. They actually have an agricultural experimental station for blueberry and cranberry research.
The Science: Cranberries have been used by enlightened people for a very long time to help with UTI infections. As it turns out the cranberries contain Proanthocyanidins. Proanthocyanidins are a class of polyphenols found in a variety of plants. Chemically, they are oligomeric flavonoids. Many are oligomers of catechin and epicatechin and their gallic acid esters. More complex polyphenols, having the same polymeric building block, form the group of tannins.
Cranberry fruit is rich in polyphenolic constituents with flavonols, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins (PACs) being the major classes of phytochemicals. In contrast to other species, for example, cocoa, grape, pomegranate, noted for relatively high proanthocyanidin content, cranberries contain proanthocyanidins with A-type linkages between units. PACs with the A-type linkage are associated with antibacterial adhesion properties (Howell and Vorsa, 1998; Foo et al., 2000) and (Cranberry Therapy of Urinary Tract Infections, Wise Young PhD MD, Professor II & Director W M Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience Rutgers, State University of New Jersey)
So how this works is the Proanthocyanidins have a unique bio-slipperiness which makes it so the bad guys in your urinary tract can't stick to anything and they get flushed away. There are no antiseptic qualities going on here.
It is this exact mechanism that keeps resin from sticking to you glass . . .
Usage: First you need to get some cranberry extract. This does NOT mean juice as it is mostly sugar and water. Also, you need to find an extract that does not contain alcohol as inhaling ethanol vapors can seriously irritate your lungs. We have found that Nature's Answer Cranberry Extract (NACE) and Botanic Choice (BC) both make suitable products and can be found online for reasonable prices with a little research. Its best to start with sparkling clean, and sterile, glass. PBW can be an excellent choice for cleaning but it is NOT a sanitizer so please sanitize your glass.
Next, take your glass and put about 6-8 drops of cranberry extract in, if your piece is really small start with less, then fill to your usual level. The water should be a medium pink color, not too dark or too light. Cranberry extract will enhance stacking bubbles a little better so testing this should be in your mind as you move forward.
Lastly, you will want to put a small amount of citric acid, aka sour salt, into the mix to help keep things fresh. A quarter teaspoon should suffice. If you really want to know use a PH test strip and see how acid your solution is. You should be aiming for a PH of around 5. Citric acid is a common food preservative and it gives sour candy it's "sour power". It can be found in supermarkets where canning goods are found, or at your local home brew store, or online. Please note that this only works where the fluid touches your glass. Dry surfaces will react as normal.
I discovered in an experiment vaping through low PH ionized water that it kept things fresher for much longer. Most people do not have a $1,800 water ionizer. Then I thought citric acid lowers PH as well . . .
Enjoy cleaner, fresher, glass and vaping fluid with cranberry extract in your mix . . .
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