Urinary tract infections affect women much more often than men, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, and they can be quite painful. They can make you feel like you have to urinate frequently, have a burning pain while urinating and even cause blood in the urine. Treatment for a urinary tract infection usually involves taking antibiotics. However, one-third of women who had a urinary tract infection will have another one in the following year. Therefore, drinking cranberry juice might be a good start to preventing a recurrence.
Causes of Urinary Tract Infections
A urinary tract infection is an infection that may affect your kidneys, uterus, bladder, prostate or urethra. If you are trying to prevent a urinary tract infection, you may be wondering how you got one in the first place. A urinary tract infection is caused by bacteria that attach and reproduce in your urinary tract. These bacteria can come from your digestive tract, vagina or around the entrance to the urinary tract. Your body can usually fight off these bacteria and you will have no symptoms. So how does cranberry juice help your body fight?
Mechanisms of Cranberry Juice
Cranberries contain three acids called quinic, malic and citric. The acidity of this fruit is what was once thought to help prevent urinary tract infections. However, new research reported on the Cranberry Institute website has found another explanation. Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins, a class of antioxidants that inhibit bacteria's ability to attach to the urinary tract. If the bacteria cannot attach, they cannot reproduce, and an infection does not occur.
Research
A study published in the June 2001 "British Medical Journal" had 50 women with urinary tract infections drink 50 ml of cranberry juice for six months, and another 50 women were given none. At the end of the trial, only 16 percent of the women who drank cranberry juice developed a new urinary tract infection, compared to 36 percent of the women without. At the Experimental Biology conference in 2002 it was stated that an 8-ounce class of cranberry juice cocktail prevented E.coli bacteria from attaching to the bladder cells in six volunteers. A study published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" reported that the effects of cranberry juice can last up to 10 hours after consumption. Thus, suggesting that two servings of cranberry juice a day, one consumed in the morning and one at night, may be more beneficial than one.
Other Methods of Prevention
Cranberry juice is just one way to prevent urinary tract infections. Another way is to drink lots of water to flush your system. Urinate often as bacteria can grow when urine stays in the bladder too long. Keep the area dry by wearing cotton underwear and loose-fitting clothes. Also, use good hygiene practices consistently.
References
- Healthful Life Project: Should Women Drink Cranberry Juice to Prevent Urinary Tract Infections?
- National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse: What I need to know about Urinary Tract Infections
- Vanderbilt University: The Truth about Cranberry Juice Preventing Urinary Tract Infections
- The Cranberry Institute: Urinary Tract
- British Medical Journal: Randomized trial of cranberry-lingonberry juice and Lactobacillus GG drink for the prevention of urinary tract infections in women
