By: Richard Bleuze
Cranberry and cranberry juice are the most common home/natural remedies for treating urinary tract infections. Both items contain vitiamin C and thus increase the acid in your urine so bacteria can't grow easily. In addition, cranberry juice also makes your bladder wall slippery, so bacteria can't stick to it. A large polymeric compound of unknown structure and fructose in the juice are said to be responsible for this. Whereas fructose is present in all fruits, there is a large polymeric compound found only in cranberry and blueberry juices.
Whether or not cranberry and cranberry juice is a substitute for urinary tract infection cure and bladder infection treatment is questionable and open to doubt but in conditions where treatment is ineffective, such as where asymptomatic bacteriuria exist it can prove to be of great help. When you have signs of a urinary tract infection, almost all doctors advise drinking more water, up to 8 glasses every day, to induce more urination. The increased in urination will help flush out bacteria from the bladder.
Many studies have shown that cranberry juice can help prevent UTI. Studies which purport to have been made under scientific conditions using placebos and blind testing, have produced encouraging results about cranberry juice. According to these studies the regular intake of cranberry juice is effective in reducing bacteria in infected urine.
The important thing to remember is to use 100% cranberry juice as most of the drinks or cocktails purporting to contain cranberry are most of the time flavored or contain very little of cranberry juice. A word of caution, however, is that if you are diabetic I would not suggest that you drink cranberry juice unless told to by your doctor since cranberry juice does contain alot of sugar.
The findings of cranberry juice does not mean that cranberry juice is an absolute alternate to urinary tract infection cure. Cranberry juice cannot replace bladder infection treatment on its own. However, the fact of the matter is that cranberry juice does no harm and can be taken safely. However, cranberry juice just might be of great help as the studies point out.
More research on the effects of cranberry juice on UTI and its prevention should be initiated in order to rule out any doubts about its efficacy. Until that time cranberry juice can at best be an additional home remedy along with the antibiotics used for urinary tract infection cure.
If you are in an unfortunate situation of being infected with UTI and /or face recurring UTI, you can consume as much cranberry juice as you safely can. The vitamin C and fructose in it will be of great help in complementing the effects of any antibiotic prescribed by your physician.
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