You may have heard that cranberry juice will help prevent bladder infections. This is true to some extent. First of all, drinking lots of any fluid will have a cleansing action on the bladder. By drinking more fluid, your body produces more urine. The more urine you make, the more frequently you will urinate. Emptying your bladder more frequently will flush out bacteria and help clear urinary infection.
While drinking lots of cranberry juice will cause increased urination, it also has some unique factors that may further help in managing UTIs. Because of its chemical composition, cranberry juice can acidify the urine. Acidic urine (low urinary pH) inhibits bacterial multiplication. More importantly, cranberry juice has chemicals in it that alter the ability of bacteria to stick to the lining of the urinary tract. If bacteria have less ability to adhere, then they flush out easier. Overall, these factors of increased urinary acidification and inhibition of bacterial adherence make cranberry juice a useful, if not limited, tool in the prevention of UTIs. Remember, it is the chemistry of actual cranberries, not just the flavor, that is helpful. Don’t be fooled by drinking cranberry flavored drinks; most of them have little, if any, real cranberry in them.
