Drinking cranberry juice is a well-known natural remedy to prevent urinary tract infections and, in fact, there are nutritional supplements made with cranberry concentrates that are indicated for this. However, there is controversy over the health benefits of so-called superfoods. Now, a new study has found scientific evidence showing that consuming these berries or products that contain them is effective in preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Researchers from Flinders University and Westmead Children’s Hospital in Australia have conducted a review of the 50 most recent trials on the subject involving 8,857 people and have concluded that cranberry juice and Its supplements reduce the risk of recurrent urinary tract infections by a quarter in women, more than half in children, and around 53% in individuals susceptible to developing UTIs after medical or surgical intervention. The findings have been published in Cochrane Reviews.
“This incredible result didn’t really surprise us, as it teaches us that when there is more and better evidence, the truth will finally be known. Urinary infections are horrible and very common; about a third of women will experience one, as will many older people and also people with bladder problems from spinal cord injury or other conditions,” says study lead author Dr. Gabrielle Williams.
Avoid complications of urinary infections
Most urinary tract infections are successfully treated with antibiotics, but in some people they come back frequently. In addition, as Dr. Jacqueline Stephens, an epidemiologist at Flinders University and co-author of the paper, warns, if the UTI is not eliminated with effective treatment, the infection can reach the kidneys and cause complications, including sepsis in very severe cases.
“Drinking cranberry juice or taking capsules reduced the number of UTIs in women with recurrent cases, in children, and in people susceptible to UTIs after interventions such as bladder radiotherapy”
Prevention is the best way to reduce risk, which is why health professionals began suggesting their patients take cranberries “not sure if or how it works,” says Stephens, because “it was an easy, harmless option at that time.” moment. Even centuries ago, Native Americans reputedly ate cranberries for bladder problems, which led laboratory scientists to explore what was in cranberries that helped and how it might work.”
“The studies we reviewed included a variety of methods to determine the benefits of blueberry products. The vast majority compared cranberry products to placebo or no UTI treatment and found that drinking cranberry juice or taking capsules reduced the number of UTIs in women with recurrent cases, in children, and in people susceptible to UTIs. UTI after medical interventions such as bladder radiotherapy”.
The researcher has also highlighted that “few people reported any side effects, the most common being stomach pain, according to the results”, and that they did not find enough information to allow them to determine “whether blueberry products are more or less effective in comparison with antibiotics or probiotics to prevent more UTIs”.
Lead author Professor Jonathan Craig, Vice-President and Executive Dean of the Flinders University School of Medicine and Public Health, concludes that they have “demonstrated the efficacy of cranberry products for the treatment of UTIs using all the evidence published on this topic since the mid-1990s. Previous versions of this review did not have sufficient evidence to determine efficacy and subsequent clinical trials have shown mixed results, but in this updated review the volume of data has shown this new finding.”
.
