Home Remedies: Does Cranberry Juice Really Help?

Infections of the urine are fairly typical in women of all ages. Due to the physically small urethra in women, urinary infections are more common in women. Let’s talk about how cranberry juice and urinary tract infections are related.

Drinking cranberry juice has been recommended as an effective strategy to lower the incidence of urinary infections. Because cranberry juice raises the level of benzoic acid in the urine, the urine becomes more acidic and inhibits the growth of germs. Cranberry juice was also thought to prevent infections from long-lasting catheters and keep germs from adhering to inert surfaces like catheters.

How Cranberry Juice Treats Infections of the Urinary Tract?

According to research, cranberry juice extract ingredients including fructose, condensed tannins, and glycoproteins keep bacteria from adhering to the epithelial cells and causing an infection in the urine. The germs are washed away in the urine because they do not adhere to the walls.

The most often consumed cranberry beverage, cranberry juice cocktail, was employed in the study. It is a blend of cranberry juice, water, and sweeteners.

By preventing E. coli from adhering to other bacteria in Petri dishes, cranberry metabolites in the juice constrained E. coli’s capacity to develop and proliferate. E. coli can create a coating, or “biofilm,” if it can link with other bacteria, such as those in the urinary system. This makes it possible for the bacteria to grow and cause an illness.

According to a news release from study author Terri Anne Camesano, Ph.D., “a number of controlled clinical trials—these are meticulously designed and carried out scientific studies done in humans— have found that cranberry juice actually is useful for reducing urinary tract infections. Given the scope of the issue and the associated financial burden on the healthcare system, that has significant ramifications.

Women have urinary tract infections more frequently than do males. One in three women, according to the study, have experienced a urinary tract infection.

Anywhere along the urinary system, which includes the bladder, urethra, and ureter, urinary tract infections can develop. Every year, these infections result in 8 million visits to the doctor’s office and a treatment budget of more than $1.6 billion.

The tablet form of cranberry extract is now accessible. For there to be any benefit, a dose of 300– 400 mg taken twice daily in tablet form must be taken for at least a month.

It is too soon to suggest it as a UTI prevention measure because research has yielded conflicting results. However, cranberry juice is usually a good choice.