Does Cranberry Juice Get Rid of Urinary Tract Infections
The short answer is probably not according to recent research on the subject, though of course there are certainly many who swear by this method of getting rid of / preventing urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and there are good theories behind why cranberry juice could potentially help.
In the past, it was because of these theories that health professionals used to recommend drinking a glass of cranberry juice per day for those who were at increased risk of chronic recurrences of infection. In fact, there are some health professionals that still promote the idea despite the fact that current studies and reviews of past studies have shown there is no statistically significant difference of infection rates in individuals who drink cranberry juice or take cranberry tablets. In the end, those who drink 2 glasses of cranberry juice per day for several months straight, and are prone to getting UTI’s, might prevent approximately one UTI.
UTI’s are a type infection caused by bacteria entering and taking hold inside your urinary system. Your urinary system involves both kidneys, two ureters (the tubes from your kidney’s to your bladder), your bladder, and the urethra (the tube from your bladder to the opening of where the urine comes out). The most common type of infection is caused by E-coli bacteria (Escherichia coli). Most of these bacteria are thought to come from fecal matter. Since most women’s urethra are closer to the anus than with males, women are more likely than men to get infections- about 1 in 3 women will have a UTI before the age of 24. For comparison’s sake, only about 1 in 2000 men will have a UTI in that same span.
There are many types of E-coli bacteria, most are harmless and some are beneficial, helping with the production of vitamin K, which helps with bone and heart health. The ones that cause UTI’s have Fimbriae on them. These little hair-like structures allow the bacteria to attach to cells within the urinary system. Once there, they begin to propagate and form a biofilm that allows the infection to begin.
One of the specific measures used to tell if E-coli will most likely adhere to your cells is known as “Gibbs free energy of attachment”. Without morphing this article into a physics lecture, this basically means E-coli must use some energy to attach to a cell inside your urinary tract. Using Gibbs free energy formula, E-coli with Fimbriae have a negative number, meaning they will, in effect, be attracted to, and most likely, attach to those cells. In the lab, in the presence of increasing amounts of cranberry juice, this number becomes more and more positive, making the E-coli expend more energy to attach. Since natural processes favor the path of least resistance, this makes it less likely the E-coli will attach to the cells.
So what specifically about cranberry juice is historically thought to help fight E-coli propagation? It was thought that the acidic nature of the fruit (specifically containing benzoic acid, citric acid, malic acid, and quinic acid) helped kill the bacteria. More recently, it was found that cranberries contain molecules known as Proanthocyanidins and Flavonols. These molecules were thought to be responsible for not allowing E-coli with Fimbriae on them to adhere to your cell walls by changing the amount of energy E-coli had to expend to attach, as described above. While this will help you flush out the bacteria, it doesn’t affect the growth rate of E-coli, though it can protect against some bacteria (specifically Streptococcus mutans, and Helicobacter pylori).
A Cochrane review in 2012 showed that of the 24 studies done since 2008 on the cranberry juice / UTI question, a person had a 14% lower risk of UTI if taking cranberry products compared to no treatment or a placebo. However, the researchers pointed out that this was not a very significant difference and could simply have just been chance. They went on to say that numerous people dropped out of several studies because it was too difficult to drink the necessary amount of cranberry juice on a daily bases. The European Food Safety Authority also noted in 2011 that “A claim on cranberry fruit products by standardized by their proanthocyanidin content and reduction in the risk of urinary tract infections in women by inhibiting the adhesion of certain bacteria in the urinary tract has been assessed with an unfavorable outcome.”
Historically, cranberry juice and products like cranberry tablets have been used by health professionals in the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections (UTI’s). Like any new science that refutes old opinions, it might take a while for all health professionals to change their opinion and much, much longer before the general public starts accepting this. But even if cranberry juice doesn’t help much or at all with preventing UTI’s directly, drinking more fluids when you have a UTI is helpful for flushing out bacteria and the Proanthocyanidins and Flavonols in cranberry juice may well help a bit in that process, it just won’t specifically cure the infection. Also, drinking cranberry juice is quite good for you outside of UTIs. Several studies have shown that those infamous Flavonols in the juice might be helpful in preventing cancer, among other health benefits of drinking the juice.
Bonus Facts:
- Urinary tract infections account for approximately 8 million doctor’s visits every year in the United States. The estimated cost of treating them is around 1.6 billion dollars.
- Some common symptoms of a UTI include: cloudy unpleasant smelling urine, blood in your urine, pain when urinating, abdominal pain, back pain, tenderness of the pelvic area, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
- A specific infection of your bladder is known as cystitis. Kidney infection is known as pyelonephritis. They are both UTI’s.
- 6 ounces of Ocean Spray cranberry juice cocktail has 94 calories, 24 grams of carbohydrates, .17 grams of crude fiber, .02 grams benzoic acid, .28 grams of citric acid, .30 grams of malic acid, and .45 grams of quinic acid. If you want to be really hardcore, instead of going with the “from concentrate” Ocean Spray blend type cranberry juice, head on over to what I like to call the “hippie” section of your local grocery store and check out the pure-juice section. The straight cranberry juice you’ll find there is a bit harder to chug down, but some swear this version of the juice is much better at “curing” UTIs, for what that’s worth.
- The first known cultivation of cranberries was tended in Dennis, Cape Cod in 1816. Native to North America the Native Americans used to call them “ibimi”, meaning “bitter berry”. They mixed dried venison and fat with crushed berries to create “Pemmican”… Yum?
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Very informative.
I think it’s probably safe for me to say that drinking enough water to fend off dehydration probably helps more to prevent UTI’s than changing one’s PH.
Still, I like cranberry juice and will still drink it.
Cherie,
drinking cranberry juice does not change your body’s pH. We have buffers to prevent drastic changes and regulation of pH is one of the actions of homeostasis. Cranberry juice however, can change the pH of urine because homeostasis basically causes us to excrete the excess pH which, by drinking cranberry juice, is more acidic.
There are a few things about that study that bug me though. First, 14% is fairly significant; not quite “it’s a cure!” significant, but as far as safe/natural methods go it’s pretty significant. Second, what kind of terrible studies are these where people just drop out mid-study? That’s the kind of work that should have those studies tossed out entirely. Drinking two glasses a day of something is really THAT much of a life-altering event for these people that they can’t keep it up?
More LEGITIMATE studies need to be completed before anyone prematurely declares one way or the other. The fact that there was a significant change, yet the authors went out of their way to make a conclusion contrary to the results should make one pause before accepting their conclusion.
And no I don’t work for a cranberry lobby or anything, I just would like some further clarification but the “conclusions” based on this one study seem to be sited without anyone questioning the glaring faults within the study.
I’ve been ran over by a car and ruptured my wee sphincter and now I have a bag to wee from at the moment I have blood amounst my urine in my bag coming from my wee bag. Will cranberry juice stop this. I am booked for a bladder flush but in the meantime would cranberry juice help me
It’s best to get some high-potency cranberry pills. They contain way more of the chemical needed to stave off bacteria than the juice, which contains sugar that bacteria feed on.
Ive been prone to uti’s since i was a kid. I used to do a ‘cranberry flush’ every couple of months and for years I kept them away. Which basically just consisted of drinking alot of cranberry juice (as straight as i could find it) or taking the azo cranberry pills. They even have cranberry tea in health food stores. I figured i was in the clear since i hadn’t had one in forever..and I just ended up with one 2 weeks ago. I was dying..no health insurance, trying to avoid spending the money to go to a walk in clinic…so i picked up a box of cranberry pills (around 3$) and started taking two a day. I went from DYING…to absolutely nothing. No pain. completely symptom free. Which is how they’ve always worked for me. Taking one pill relieved symptoms in a couple hours. I don’t think they will work for everyone. but I can swear by them. I plan on staying on my two a day regiment for another week or so then stopping to see if the Uti went away or the pills were just stopping the symptoms. I would recommend anyone with a uti to try them if nothing more than just symptom relief, from what Ive read either they work for you or they don’t. I hate to take antibiotics if i don’t have to.
After having 2 UTI’s in one year I thought I would give the Lady Soma Cranberry Tabs a try. I really do not want to go through that again! So far I have gone a year without one – Lady Soma is the way to go.
I’ve had pemmican. It’s super delicious.
“…the tubes from your kidney’s to your bladder…” *kidneys*, plural; “kidney’s” is possessive singular.
This is a great article, very informative. I drink the pure cranberry juice to flush out bacteria but with caution, lots of sugar in the juice. Recently, I had symptoms of UTI and before I could get into a doctor did a self-test: when I drank lots of water and especially with pure cranberry, I felt better. I found the more water and cranberry juice you drink at once, the better (I chug 26 oz at a time for a good flushing).
Being Native American, I always use alternatives to treat my ailments. With that being said I drink pure cranberry juice (water cranberries and their pulp) when I develop a UTI. It honestly does work great, I woke up yesterday morning with one and started to down the juice along with water and its gone today. This is much healthier than the antibotics the doctor’s want to shove down your throat, they alone can make you more sick than well! I honestly think that the doctor’s dont want you to know about this as it takes from their pockets and whatever kick backs they get from the pharmaceutical companies!
I noticed the author Scott used the words “probably not” in the first sentence of his article.
I know for a fact that cranberry juice, not cranberry drink…mixed with water or other juice… does stop urinary infection if drank soon enough or continually. My wife has been drinking cranberry juice ever since our doctor told her to drink it over 40 years ago when she went in with a urinary infection. In fact she had kidney pain just day before yesterday and I told her to drink some cranberry juice, she did and not yesterday not today has she had any kidney pain… Beside, what can drinking cranberry juice, over diet cokes hurt? Nothing I contend…
I have a UTI at the moment, 2 visits to the doctor in a week for 2 different types of antibiotics. I had completely forgotten the wonderful cranberry – my sister was a quadriplegic & had frequent utis but a doctor advised us years ago to take daily cranberry tablets. She occasionally got a uti, and would take antibiotics instead of cranberry for the time of the infection. So my query is does cranberry work while taking taking antibiotics?
There is some science behind the claims that cranberries can protect against urinary tract infections, especially in women who are prone to getting UTIs. Yet the benefit for other groups of people isn’t as clear. Plus, there are no real recommendations on how much cranberry juice you’d need to drink to get any protection against UTIs.
Scientists used to believe that cranberries protected against UTIs by making the urine more acidic and, therefore inhospitable to bacteria like Escherichia coli (E. coli) that cause urinary tract infections. Now the thinking has shifted.
And I believe that!
12 years ago I developed a condition that requires me to self-catheterize several times a day. For the first year I was getting a bladder infection every 2 – 3 months. Then I began drinking 8 ounces of pure cranberry juice daily, which reduced the frequency of bladder infections to only a mild infection once every 1-2 years. But I discovered, at least for me, that cranberry tablets were not as effective as drinking pure juice.
I’m suffering with my first UTI and I have never had such misery in my life. I just bought some pure 100% cranberry juice. I felt a little better immediately, but I just hope it will make the infection go away completely. I’ve had four prescriptions of antibiotics that made it appear to diminish like it would go away, but it never totally went away. I’m miserable. I just pray the cranberry juice will cure it 100%. Tomorrow I will buy the cranberry pills, and take together with the juice.
The girls get them from time to time in our household. We buy the Ocean Spray original. I think it tastes good too. They only drink it when they need it and Heaven help you if you drank it and it isn’t there when they need it. For them and the times I’ve had UTIs, I have to say, sorry doc, but cranberry juice makes antibiotics look like placebo. We’ve never tried the pills.
This is old so idk if anyone will see this, but just a tip for uti sufferers (from a former chronic-UTI-er) – vitamin C!!!!! Take it upon your first pangs of uti pains (I take 1-2 emergen-c’s, cuz they’re easy and the fact that it’s also liquid is a bonus for flushing out the infection) and the uti will disappear within minutes (the longest I’ve seen it take someone was like 30, but for me it was usually always within 15 or less). It’s truly a godsend.
Cranberry juice/pills never did anything for me, and I had UTIs so often that that AZO stuff that alleviates uti symptoms stopped working for me, and the antibiotics I was prescribed lost their efficacy and were no longer able to fully cure my UTIs. It got so bad that my doctor reccommended putting me on a daily course of prophylactic antibiotics for the rest of my life – yah, great idea (not).
Enter the miracle that is vitamin C, and now I never even get UTIs in the first place. But if and when I ever do again, I don’t have to spend hours hopping back and forth between the tub and the toilet, trying to pee for forever while I wait to see a doctor. Give it a try, I promise you won’t regret it!