Along with family heirlooms and secret recipes, your family likely passes down some outlandish health hacks from generation to generation. As a kid, your mom might have told you that drinking water upside down can stop your hiccups, or your grandma may have mentioned that chicken noodle soup can cure a cold overnight. When you grew into a teen, you may have even heard that drinking cranberry juice can help with UTIs.
The TL;DR On Cranberry Juice for UTIs
So, does cranberry juice help UTIs? While drinking cranberry juice or taking supplements may help fend off recurrent UTIs, it's not the be-all and end-all of prevention.
Other measures you can take to potentially minimize your risk of developing a UTI include urinating at least every three to four hours and before and after sex to flush out any bacteria, wiping your genitals from front to back after using the porcelain throne, and cleaning the exterior of your nether regions each day, according to the OWH. Drinking more fluid and, for postmenopausal people, using a vaginal hormonal cream that helps restore the “good” bacteria (which fights off the “bad,” infection-causing bacteria that can ultimately reach the bladder) can also help, says Dr. Goldman. It may also be beneficial to take the oral supplement D-mannose, “which is a kind of sugar that actually has been shown to block bacteria from sticking to the wall [of the urinary tract],” he adds.
Still, no antibiotic-free technique is a sure-fire way to keep UTIs at bay. "There are some people that, even with all these healthy things, still get [recurrent] UTIs," says Dr. Goldman "We don't really have a choice but to put them on the low-dose antibiotics [to prevent them]."
Translation: If you keep developing UTIs, don't just gulp down three glasses of cranberry juice and cross your fingers; talk to your doc about the prevention measures that are best for you and your body.
