# Urine ph and health **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-ph-and-health/93123 "2001-11-13T15:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-ph-and-health/93123/1 "2001-11-13T15:32:53Z")
The SO’s sister and mother recently went to the OB/GYN and he told them that there urine ph was off and that it could be effecting there health. He gave them a list of foods to eat to get it back to 7.0 and sold one of them a bottle of something to add to water and drink. To me this reeks of new age quackery but the doctor in question seems to be reliable so I am not sure what to think. A web search has turned up a lot of contradictory opinions. Does anyone have the straightdope on this or could point me in the direction of some credible information? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-ph-and-health/93123/2 "2001-11-14T03:34:31Z")
Well, the obvious question is, “What was in the little bottle?” Tell us that, and then we’ll have a better idea whether it was “quackery” or not. [Dr. Koop–](http://umm.drkoop.com/conditions/ency/article/003583.htm) > [@](#): > > A diet high in citrus fruits or vegetables or dairy products can increase urine pH (that is, make it more alkaline). > > A diet high in meat products or cranberries can decrease urine pH (that is, make it more acidic). > > Drugs that can decrease urine pH include ammonium chloride, chlorothiazide diuretics, and methenamine mandelate. > > Drugs that can increase urine pH include acetazolamide, potassium citrate and sodium bicarbonate. ---
**Author:** ![ejrn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@ejrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejrn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-ph-and-health/93123/3 "2001-11-14T04:04:36Z")
Alkaline urine tends to predispose to bladder infections which are a staple of OB/GYN treatment. Other than that, I can see no good reason to change the pH before determining what has caused it to be abnormal. May be just diet related or ideopathic and, if it’s not causing any problems, I don’t see why the doctor would be hot to treat it. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-ph-and-health/93123/4 "2001-11-14T20:00:01Z")
Hunh. Several years ago I read that _acidic_ urine contributed to UTIs, and that alkaline urine would prevent this. I read this in a pamphlet on UTIs in a Doctor’s office. I found some pages that agreed with me, but [this page](http://www.link.med.ed.ac.uk/RIDU/uti.htm) was the most reliable site I could find that agreed with this information. I’ve made changes based on this to prevent UTIs (calcium and no Vit. C at night) and this seems to work very well for me. FTR, I was having almost constant problems; this, plus not having sugar in the evenings and keeping hydrated almost completely eliminated my problems. Oh well, I’m going to chalk this up to “It works for me”.