If you have never had to suffer through the agony of a urinary tract infection (UTI), consider yourself lucky. This common infection creates a painful burning sensation with frequent urination urges. It causes millions of men and women in the U.S. to seek medical advice each year and impacts one in every three women at some time in her life.1
Once you’ve had a UTI, you are more at risk for getting another one in the future. Although antibiotics can be helpful in treating UTIs, taking them too often may build up an antibiotic resistance. Natural remedies can go a long way toward preventing UTIs in the first place. If you’re wondering what home remedies can prevent recurrent UTIs and help treat urinary tract infections, read on.
What Is A UTI?
A urinary tract infection is a common bacterial infection of the bladder. There are many factors that can cause urine to build up in the urinary system. When a blockage or obstruction happens for any reason, urine backs up and bacteria attaches to the lining where it can grow and spread.2
Thankfully a simple change to your diet can help you prevent UTIs — just add cranberries!
Eating Cranberries Can Help Prevent UTIs
Cranberries are the best food for preventing urinary tract infections. They contain an anti-adhesive substance that keeps bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urethra. Since the urethra is where urinary tract infections live, this unique cranberry substance helps to naturally prevent bacterial infection.2
While adding whole cranberries and cranberry juice to your diet when possible can have some benefits, there are drawbacks. First, eating the right amount and being consistent every day can be a challenge. Here are a few more things to consider about consuming cranberries.
Fresh Cranberries
It seems simple enough to eat a big bowl of cranberries each day to help prevent a bladder infection. But, you’d need to keep a lot of berries on hand to eat them every single day. And harvesting enough berries on your own seems pretty unrealistic. Then there’s the somewhat bitter taste of fresh cranberries to consider. Would you really want to challenge your palate with a daily serving of fresh cranberries?
Dried Cranberries
Dried fruit can help satisfy a sweet tooth but you’d need to eat a lot of dried cranberries to make this remedy a realistic option. Also, the added sugars can cause other health problems you’ll likely want to avoid.
Cranberry Juice
Watch out for the high sugar content in juices, too. Unsweetened cranberry juice is an option, but it can also taste bitter. There’s one more thing to consider about juice: The skin of the berry is removed during the process of making it, and the skin contains the most protective benefits.
Take Swisse Cranberry Supplement
There is another option to consider as effective protection against urinary tract infections. Add a cranberry supplement to your daily routine. When choosing a supplement, aim to select one which uses all parts of the cranberry, not just the juice. This, and drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, will ensure longer-lasting, more effective protection against UTIs.
Swisse Ultiboost High Strength Cranberry is a premium and unique product, with each capsule containing equivalent to 25 grams of pure cranberry fruit.
Swisse cranberry has a distinct advantage as it uses Pacran®, a registered ingredient that is exclusive to Swisse in Australia. Made from the whole cranberry, Pacran® is a proprietary cranberry product.
Cranberries contain several key compounds, which appear to be effective in supporting urinary tract health. In addition to its high PAC (proanthocyanidins) concentration, Pacran® contains other important compounds such as phenolics, organic acids, fibers, fatty acids, proteins and sugars. These key elements give Pacran® its long-lasting action and allow it to outperform other PAC-rich extracts.
Swisse sources the majority of its cranberries from the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts, where they thrive and have had the same families oversee many farms for over one hundred years. Other cranberries are grown in Canada. This partnership yields superior results and the best quality in the world.
For Swisse, using the Pacran® product means its customers know they are purchasing a high-quality, premium product based on scientific research that will deliver results.
If you have ever had a urinary tract infection, you are more likely to have one again. It’s best to be proactive about prevention. Consider a daily cranberry supplement for consistent protection. Be sure to consult your primary healthcare professional before starting a new supplement.
