Yahoo LifestyleCranberry juice can help prevent urine infections
The folk remedy of drinking a glass of cranberry juice to help cure urine infections might be more fact than fiction after all, according to researchers in Taiwan
Cranberry juice can help protect against urine infections, say scientists at the National Taiwan University Hospital.
Researchers there conducted ten head-to-head trials of 1,500 volunteers between participants who had cranberry juice versus those who didn’t. The research revealed that drinking cranberry juice over a sustained period helped with urinary infections.
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However, it’s not as simple as just having a glass with your salad at lunch. You’d have to drink a couple of glasses a day for months, or even years, to see an effect.
It also works better in women who have a recurring urine or bladder infection.
The reason why cranberry juice is so effective is because it contains a substance that can prevent the bacteria E.coli from sticking to the walls of the bladder. This bacteria causes 80 per cent of urine infections.
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More research needs to be done to discover the optimum dose of cranberry juice, according to the study. Though it’s thought that two or three glasses a day is ideal, as the effects of drinking it last for roughly eight hours after consumption.
"I'm not sure how many of us would want to be drinking this every day for an indeterminate amount of time. It can be costly and calorific and some people just don't like the taste of it,” said Dr Ruth Jepson of the University of Stirling, who has been carrying out a similar study into cranberry juice.
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Doctors usually recommend drinking plenty of fluids if you have a urine infection – though a course of antibiotics may help the infection, too.
What do you think? What would consider drinking cranberry juice regularly?
