# Supplements once woo now recommended **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075 "2013-02-12T12:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/21 "2013-02-13T18:24:01Z")
[Ocean Spray has always been and continues to be a major advocate of scientific studies and has invested significantly in independent clinical research for more than thirty years](http://www.oceansprayitg.com/health/questions-health-benefits-cranberries.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/22 "2013-02-13T18:26:08Z")
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I mean I didn’t find any studies or references to studies that “created” the cranberry/UTI myth. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/23 "2013-02-13T18:32:03Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > I didn’t think _any_ supplement was considered “good” in the sense that it is recommended for people who do not have any specific deficiencies? Pre-natal vitamins for women who may become pregnant and calcium for all women are still pretty well accepted as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/24 "2013-02-13T18:45:11Z")
I think the former qualifies as a specific deficiency, and I think the latter only applies to menopausal-aged women. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/25 "2013-02-13T18:45:17Z")
The Ocean Spray funded study that started it: ``` Sobota, AE. Inhibition of bacterial adherence by cranberry juice: potential use for the treatment of urinary tract infections. J Urol 1984;131:1013-6 ``` ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/26 "2013-02-14T03:52:40Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > It is no secret that Ocean Spray funded the 1984 study that started the advertising campaign. Ocean Spray continues to fund research into the benefits of cranberry juice. Studies not funded by the cranberry business tend to find little to no effect. > > Some doctors have indeed gotten caught up in the woo, however, urologists deal with this stuff on a daily basis … and they do not recommend cranberry juice as a treatment or preventative. They say “It’s just juice. Drink it if you like it.” > > [Cranberry juice ‘not effective’ against cystitis](http://www.urologytoday.net/article/cranberry-juice-not-effective-against-cystitis/) > > [Cranberry Juice for Prevention of Urinary Tract Infection in Women](http://escholarship.ucop.edu/uc/item/97q108hd#page-1) > > [Cranberry Juice Fails to Prevent Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection: Results From a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial](http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/1/23.full) A friend of mine had a nasty UTI in college and the doctor recommended cranberry juice. This was in 1979, before the so-called Ocean Spray funded study. So this remedy had to have been out there for years. ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/27 "2013-02-14T04:13:24Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > 1\> Fiber supplements (Psyllium husk was used centuries ago to cure stomach ailments) Piggyback question. Are fiber supplements actually a new thing? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/28 "2013-02-14T14:15:08Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > The Ocean Spray funded study that started it: > > ``` > Sobota, AE. Inhibition of bacterial adherence by cranberry juice: potential use for the treatment of urinary tract infections. J Urol 1984;131:1013-6 > > ``` [Found it](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6368872)! Thanks ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/29 "2013-02-14T15:13:09Z")
Curse you **Turble**! You made me read a lot of boring stuff. Basically your links show that there some initial studies with small samples that did show an indication that cranberry juice was effective in preventing UTIs, based on the effect of it’s constituents in petri dishes. Then very recently a new study with a slightly larger sample and double blind methodology showed a different result in a small subset of the population. The new study used standarized juice, and a standardized placebo, provided by _dom-dom-dommmm_, Ocean Spray. This hardly turns the concept that cranberry juice has an impact on UTIs into total woo, nor does it make Ocean Spray look like the illuminati. It shows that a reasonable guess that cranberry juce could prevent UTIs, something believed before any Ocean Spray sponsored studies has not proven out in one new study. Your claims of woo and implications of conspiracy are overblown. Couldn’t you just say the the efficacy of cranberry juice in preventing the recurrence of UTIs has not been demonstrated in scientific research? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075/30 "2013-02-14T21:13:15Z")
niacin was written off in the 60s but is now used for cholesterol, and triglycerides. the fact that the evidence shows it to be ineffective doesn’t seem to phase the medical community though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supplements-once-woo-now-recommended/650075.md?page=1)