How Does Cranberry Juice Affect Urinary Tract?

Maintaining a healthy urinary tract is important, especially for women, who experience urinary tract infections much more frequently than men. For many individuals, cranberry juice may help promote a healthy urinary tract, but it's not for everyone, so talk to your doctor before consuming it on a regular basis.

Effects

Cranberry juice changes the environment in your urinary tract, which may improve your overall urinary tract health by decreasing your chances of developing a urinary tract infection (UTI). According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), cranberry juice increases the amount of acid in your urine, which limits the ability of bacteria to grow. Cranberry juice also makes the walls of your bladder more slippery, just as ice makes bare ground more slippery; this may keep the bacteria that cause a UTI from being able to stick to the walls of your bladder.

Significance

According to Tomas Griebling, a urology professor at the University of Kansas, E. coli bacteria, which are present in your body naturally, bear responsibility for up to 85 percent of the UTIs contracted by women in day-to-day life. Drinking cranberry juice on a regular basis--generally no more than two to three 8 oz. cups per day--provides an inexpensive way for you to fight off these bacteria if they make their way into your urinary tract. Cranberry juice also helps keep your body hydrated, which increases your ability to flush the bacteria from your urinary tract through more frequent urination.

Safety

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) warns against the consumption of cranberry juice or other cranberry-based products if you have developed kidney stones in the past or have a family history of kidney stones, as cranberries have been linked to an increase in the formation of certain types of kidney stones.
Never try to treat a UTI just with cranberry juice. Although cranberry juice may help keep UTIs from developing, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAT) points out that no sufficient evidence is available to support using the juice to actually treat this potentially serious health condition.

Types

Cranberry juice is available for consumption in a variety of different forms. Generally available for purchase at local grocery and convenience stores, cranberry juice cocktails and cranberry juice fruit drinks usually have higher sugar levels and lower concentrations of cranberry, depending on factors such as juice brand. Cranberry juice concentrate typically contains higher levels of cranberry, with some brands possessing 100 percent cranberry juice; it comes sweetened and unsweetened. According to Dr. James Belcher, coauthor of "Prescription for Nutritional Healing," consumption of pure, unsweetened cranberry juice is generally the best way to provide the maximum benefit for your urinary tract, but be prepared for its distinctly bitter taste, which you may want to offset with a tablespoon or two of honey.

Potential

Despite a range of studies examining the effect of cranberry juice and other cranberry-based products on the urinary tract, scientists still lack a full understanding of the relationship between this bitter red berry and the urinary tract. The NCCAT notes that it is actively working with the NIDDK to fund studies that will shed further light on this relationship.