Thursday, April 5, 2012

Cranberry Juice to Prevent Bladder Infection



Urinary tract infections also called cystitis are caused by bacteria that travel from the urethra up into the urinary bladder. It can be quite painful. Women may have burning pain while urinating and feel like they need to urinate frequently. Some women tend to develop recurrent cystitis. In that case, drinking cranberry juice is very helpful as a preventive measure because a substance present in that fruit prevents bacteria from adhering to the walls of the bladder decreasing the chance to develop an infection. 
Putting it into action: 
It is advised to drink about 20 cl (7 ounces) of cranberry juice daily. Make sure it’s 100 % juice. If you find it too sour tasting, cranberry capsules do exist, and the research has shown that it is also effective. During the infection, drink lots of water in addition to the cranberry juice and prefer showers to baths.
Source:
Jepson RG, Mihaljevic L, Craig J. "Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections."
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD001321. 
Stothers L. "A randomized trial to evaluate effectiveness and cost effectiveness of naturopathic cranberry products as prophylaxis against urinary tract infection in women." Can J Urol. 2002 Jun;9(3):1558-62.

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