Does it help with Urinary or Prostate Infections?
Example here–
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UZPCMG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I swore by cranberry juice when I got them chronically. But not sure whether huge quantities of water wouldn’t have the same effect.
Evidence that cranberry juice may help prevent UTIs in women prone to them is not real strong, but meta-analysis of many such studies indicates it may help.
From the review:
" Authors’ conclusions: This update adds a further 26 studies taking the total number of studies to 50 with 8857 participants. These data support the use of cranberry products to reduce the risk of symptomatic, culture-verified UTIs in women with recurrent UTIs, in children, and in people susceptible to UTIs following interventions. The evidence currently available does not support its use in the elderly, patients with bladder emptying problems, or pregnant women."
And cranberry tea?
Cranberry yes. But I would stay away from anything with caffeine it can irritate the bladder.
Cranberry juice can lower the pH of urine (makes it more acidic) and this can impair the “sticky” ability of some UTI-causing organisms. In any event, it’s harmless.
I think it would take gallons. Cranberry gummies might be a better choice.
Lots of cranberry juice will give you a very acid-y tummy.
Problem is that actual cranberry juice is pucker mouth tart. Most people actually drink a cranberry juice blend in which the cranberry juice is greatly diluted with apple juice or sugar water. Not sure how many actually drink the advised 8 ounces of actual cranberry juice per day. And multiple glasses of the high sugar cocktails or blends probably tisn’t a great choice for most.
Unclear to me if the pill forms fall in that meta analysis.
As stated in the O-post–is cranberry tea helpful?
I love real cranberry juice. But yes, it is mouth puckering.
That’s putting it mildly.
Our one dog is 16 in a few months and she gets cranberry additive mixed into her breakfast every morning to help with bladder control. Enthusiastically suggested by two different vets. She does need to pee many, many times a day, but better outside than inside. Of course, you can take this with a grain of salt.
If you are looking for a concentrated cranberry dose to assist with urinary tract health, I have a friend who swears by D Mannose. I tried it on her recommendation during a spate of infections and don’t know if it helped or not - I did stop having infections, but it could have been coincidence as I haven’t had too much trouble with UTIs in recent years.
At the time she recommended it, I looked it up and it seemed like there MIGHT be a little evidence, largely anecdotal, that it was helpful. Certainly it seems harmless, so I gave it a try.
My only complaint, which may have been psychosomatic, was that while I was taking it my bladder area felt a bit - hard to describe - glowing. It was NOT painful or irritating, it was just odd.
I’ve found no evidence that cranberry tea has even been specifically scientifically studied in humans regarding its effects on the urinary tract. There are anecdotal reports galore in the literature however.
Some studies have been done regarding cranberry tea vs cranberry juice vs pomegranate juice regarding bacterial mobility, but that was all in vitro. https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/aem.02677-10
Do with that what you will. But such results would not make me advise patients to use cranberry tea for any purported health benefits.
Yeah, real cranberry juice not mixed with other fruit juice, is some real bitter stuff. I am of the opinion that that the cranberry/UTI benefit is mostly an industry invented “natural” medicine.
One of the non-trivial benefits to the cranberry juice cure is that, in order to get enough cranberry in you, you end up drinking a whole lot of water (and sugar, in the form of other juices). Thinning your urine and flushing it out many times is actually quite a good way to get rid of an early infection.