Why You Shouldn’t Try To Cure A UTI With Cranberry Juice

Ob/gyns explain whether the tart stuff can really take care of that burning sensation.

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There are so many wonderful things about vaginas and all their neighboring parts. Just a sampling: The clitoris is loaded with around 8,000 pleasure-inducing nerve endings, your G-spot can add some more, and your uterus can grow to the size of a WATERMELON while housing a baby. Alas, nothing is perfect, even your magical nether regions. Because of a literal physical shortcoming, the female reproductive system makes it all too easy to get painful urinary tract infections.

"The female urethra is only between 3 and 5 centimeters long," board-certified ob/gyn Antonio Pizarro, M.D., tells SELF. That makes it a cinch for bacteria to travel from the urethra to the bladder, and voila! You have a UTI and probably hate life. While frantically Googling around for relief, you might come across rumors that cranberry juice can kick the infection to the curb. Here, two ob/gyns explain whether that's really true, and what you can do to keep these irritating infections at bay.

What exactly causes urinary tract infections?

First, let's clear up some terminology. The urinary tract refers to an entire system involving your kidneys, the tubes that drain them which are called ureters, your bladder, and your urethra, says Pizarro. But generally, when people talk about UTIs, they're referencing bladder infections, also known as cystitis. "The bladder is supposed to be sterile, so when invasive bacteria [enter it], cystitis can occur," says Pizarro. Interestingly enough, E. coli is the most common UTI-inducing bacteria. Because it exits your system via feces, it can quite easily make its way to your urethra, says Pizarro.

Cystitis is annoyingly common—around 10 in 25 women will have UTI symptoms like frequent or painful urination at least once in their lives, according to the American Urological Association. When left untreated, UTIs can potentially lead to dangerous kidney infections, which is why it's key to handle them ASAP. Even if they don't affect the kidneys, bladder infections can be painful enough on their own, says Pizarro. The usual medical treatment is a course of antibiotics, but should you be reaching for cranberry juice instead? In a word: no. Here's why.

Antibiotics are the only real solution to a UTI, full stop.

"Cranberry juice is not going to treat an established UTI," Hilda Hutcherson, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center and author of Pleasure, tells SELF. If you have symptoms, you should absolutely see a doctor. While drinking cranberry juice isn’t going to hurt you or make things worse—indeed, drinking a lot of fluids during a UTI is actually a great way to help clear it up faster by increasing outward flow (pee, that is)—relying on it won’t cut it. And if you’re trying to go all-natural and drink the pain away, all you’re doing is prolonging the misery by not getting a scrip, stat.

But! Hope is not lost, because cranberry products might be able to prevent UTIs from establishing themselves in the first place.

That is, if you have recurrent or chronic UTIs, which Pizarro defines as three or more in a year or two or more in the span of six months. "In my practice, I tell women that the studies are mixed, but some women with recurrent UTIs find that adding cranberry juice or supplements [to their diets] may decrease their incidence of infection," says Hutcherson.

She's certainly on target with the studies. For example, July 2012 research in Archives of Internal Medicine looked at 13 trials featuring 1,616 women. "Cranberry-containing products are associated with protective effect against UTIs," the study authors wrote, though they also warned that "this conclusion should be interpreted with great caution" because the trials they studied weren't homogenous enough. But then an October 2012 review in The Cochrane Library looked at 24 studies involving 4,473 women and found that "cranberry juice cannot currently be recommended for the prevention of UTIs." So, at this point, science isn't sure.

There's definitely anecdotal evidence in cranberry's favor, though. "My patients with [chronic UTIs] have found that cranberry products help them get infections less frequently," says Hutcherson. There are two potential reasons cranberry products can help prevent UTIs from rearing their ugly heads if you get them frequently. First, through your urine. "Cranberry changes [urine's] pH by acidifying it, which can make [the bladder and urethra] inhospitable to bacteria," says Pizarro. There could be another way cranberry products make it harder for bad bacteria to hang out in your bladder or urethra. "A chemical in cranberry juice or supplements may prevent bacteria from attaching to the walls of the bladder or cells of the urinary tract," says Hutcherson. Those chemicals are called proanthocyanidins, or PACs.

The main products people turn to are cranberry juice (the super-tart, 100 percent cranberry stuff) and cranberry pills. If you get recurrent UTIs and are intrigued, you can try drinking a glass of cranberry juice a day, although your tastebuds probably won't thank you, says Pizarro. (Some women have dropped out of related studies because the juice's flavor is too much to handle.) A better way might be cranberry pills, many of which claim that one pill is the equivalent of one glass of juice. Whether you choose juice or pills, be sure to check the label and make sure it's 100 percent cranberry. The more diluted the product, the less PACs it has to potentially help avoid infection. And either way, chat with your doctor first to see what they think of your plan.

Are there any other ways to prevent UTIs?

You bet, and a lot of them revolve around urine, since it can help flush out any lingering bacteria. Hutcherson recommends peeing before and after sex, and always staying hydrated so you're emptying your bladder throughout the day. When you do pee, be sure to wipe front-to-back, as going in the other direction moves bacteria from your anus directly towards your vagina. You can also gently wash your urethral area after sex (only with water—your vagina is sensitive!).

If even after your precautions, you feel that familiar burning sensation when you pee, it's time to see a doctor. "If a patient has a bladder infection, I can't look her in the eye and say we’ll treat this with cranberry," says Pizarro. "That's beneath the standard of care. Nothing will treat it but antibiotics."