Urinary tract infection (UTI),
medically known as cystitis, has been found to affect about 60% of the women
across the world during some or the other point in their lifetime. Sometimes it
can be just once solitary incident, but in a number of cases these infections
seem to recur. Almost a third of the women happen to experience the infection
again within the same year.
The conventional treatment for
these UTIs largely happens to be antibiotics. While these are known to help in
getting rid of the infection, there have been growing concerns regarding the
usage of antibiotics since it may lead to the emergence of such varieties which
may be resistant to these medications.
Therefore there have been wide
spread researches to come up with an alternative which will effectively battle
the UTIs. One of the things being researched on as a potential medicine against
them is the cranberry juice.
Certain studies have shown that
women who consumed cranberry juice or a drink containing the cranberry juice
may reduce the risk of succumbing to this disease by half. Hence, cranberry has
shown some promising qualities to help fight the UTI.
Almost always UTIs are found to
be caused by bacterial organisms. Almost 80% of the infections have been caused
due to a particular bacterium called E. coli which lives in our gut. Sometimes
it makes its way to the bladder by migrating through the tube which takes the
urine outside (urethra) from the bladder.
It manages to move using a finger
like projection (fimbriae) which can adhere or even penetrate the bladder
lining.
Cranberry juice has been known to
contain certain substances called pro – anthocyanidins. These compounds reduce
the ability of the E. coli to form the fimbriae and hence prevent the bacteria
from sticking on to the walls of the bladder. Since it cannot adhere to the
wall, it can be flushed out of the system very easily.
Studies have found that if women
consume the cranberry juice on a daily basis for about six months then they
tend to reduce the number of UTIs to half as compared to those women who do
not. It was also found that the effect remained for an additional six months,
although the reason behind it is still unclear.
Benefits Of The
Cranberry Juice For Men
While a lot of benefits of the
cranberry juice have been centred on women, it has been found to be beneficial
for men as well. Although men do not suffer from UTIs as much as women due to
their longer urethras, they do however suffer from a disease called the
‘prostatitis’. This is caused due to the inflammation of the prostate glands
and hence can result in discomfort.
Cranberry juice is known to be a
very good source of quercetin, which is known for its anti – inflammatory
properties. Studies have shown that drinking cranberry juice may help in
dealing with prostatitis.
How To Choose The Right
Cranberry Juice?
There are several varieties of
juices available in stores which contain cranberry juice in them. But most of
them contain a very small percentage of the cranberry juice while the rest of
it is made up with sweetened water which is unhealthy for the body. So always
try and go for that variety where the concentration of the cranberry juice is
high.
This might just help you in
having a clean gut and hence may help you to stay away from diseases.
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