Hi, What do you think - is there any value to the Old Wives Tale use of cranberry juice in urinary tract infections? (Supposedly, it kills bacteria by acidifying the urine - downside - you have to guzzle great amounts of juice and, therefore, contract diabetes in the process.)
- But Grateful!
Bruce
There is some validity. There’s a compound in cranberry juice that makes it harder for certain types of bacteria to adhere to the bladder wall. It works best as a preventive measure. Urine acidity has less to do with it than originally thought.
QtM, MD
I had some cites somewhere, but can’t find them now. 
There is plenty of discussion and a number of contradictory cites in this previous thread on the subject.
You might also be interested in this more general thread on Guys with UTI’s.
Here is a link to an article that cites the 1994 JAMA study that QtM was probably thinking of.
Long story short…
Then again…it’s one study.
Cranberry juice has worked for me, but I switched to cranberry capsules to avoid the sugar.
Original study info here
and from another summary
I’ve found it very helpful as a preventative, and I know plenty of women with similar anecdotal experiences. Along with the usual apple, grape, and orange juices the dining hall at my school (a women’s college) also offers cranberry, and people get very upset if it runs out!
I should also mention that there are cranberry capsules sold in drugstores. My vet suggsted them for our beagle who is prone to UTIs, since they don’t apparently drink cranberry juice (although my beagle never seemed to be that discriminating in what she drinks…)
Another natural remedy for urinary tract infection is Uva Ursi tincture. I have never personally had a UTI, but have been told this works really well.
No form of cranberry has ever worked for me - capsules, pure juice, dried tablets, liquid extract - either preventatively or as treatment. This is not to say it doesn’t work for others, but sadly it never has for me.
What worked for me I believe was avoiding antibiotics the last time, suffering the fever from hell for three days of soaking-wet sweating, shivering and vomiting, and eventually getting my immune system back. I don’t think this was necessarily a wise thing to do, in fact I think I could have risked my kidneys, but I was at my wits end, and I was fed up of taking antibiotics so often.
Since doing this I’ve tried to read up on cystitis/UTI, and lo and behold, many sites do list repeated antibiotic use as a cause of recurrent cystitis.
There are some really good herbal teas you can get, and as well as Uva Ursi, myrrh tincture is supposed to be great. I have a big bottle of that and special herbal tea in the cupboard, but since the last nightmare nearly a YEAR ago (when I was getting it several times a year, almost chronically) I have needed no treatment at all. Touch wood.
Another vote for the capsules. I’ve had nothing but success with them.
My wife swears by cranberry juice. We always have a jug in the refrigerator.
Cranberry juice will stave off symptoms for me (always handly when one feels a UTI coming on a Friday night and the only other option is the E.R.), but only temporarily. Only antibiotics will kill the darn thing off for good.
You can find unsweetened cranberry juice, or cranberry juice sweetened with white grape juice instead of sugar, at health food stores. (I can’t stand all the corn syrup in Ocean Spray either. I think it’s actually only something like 27% cranberry juice.)