Heal a Urinary Tract Infection Naturally

Any infection (bacterial, viral or fungal) in the urinary system is known as a urinary tract infection (UTI). Anyone can get a UTI, but women, people who struggle to control urine flow or wear catheters, and diabetics are at higher risk. A UTI can also be transmitted sexually, so alert sexual partners if you get one.[1] Though they can lead to kidney damage, high blood pressure and urination problems, UTIs aren't a serious issue for most people. A doctor can prescribe antibiotics to treat a UTI quickly, but you can investigate many natural methods available for treating and preventing UTIs.

Steps

Changing Your Diet to Treat a UTI Naturally

  1. Consider waiting out your UTI. The symptoms can range from irritating to incredibly painful, but UTIs will often heal on their own even if left untreated. One study showed that 71% of women who didn't treat their UTIs reported improvement within just one week.[2]
    • Don't ignore frequent UTI, though, as they could result in a far more dangerous kidney infection if left untreated.[1]
  2. Eat foods rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body's cells from various types of damage. They're used to treat a wide variety of medical issues, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease to UTIs.[3] Vegetables and fruits are naturally rich in antioxidants, but seek out specific foods, such as blueberries, raspberries, currants, blackberries, squash and bell peppers.
  3. Stay hydrated.[4] Drinking lots of water encourages you to urinate often. Though it's uncomfortable, urinating often will help the infection heal more quickly.
  4. Support the natural balance in your gut.[5] You shouldn't think that your body should be completely free of bacteria. In fact, for every cell in your body, there are 10 microbial organisms in your body! Your gut produces healthy, natural bacteria that help your body to perform a number of tasks — from digesting food and supporting your immune system to helping your brain function properly.[6] When you don't have a healthy "gut flora," as experts call it, your body is vulnerable to a variety of health issues ranging from cancer and diabetes to UTIs.
    • Fermented foods can help maintain a healthy balance in your body. Eat foods such as yogurt, pickles, tempeh, miso, sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha teas.
    • You can also take probiotic (healthy bacteria) supplements to promote gut health. They've been shown to help prevent recurrent UTIs and are likely useful in preventing UTIs in general.[7]
    • Many yogurt brands now include probiotics, but you can also take probiotics in pill form. Probiotics are measured in units of either "organisms" or "colony forming units" (CFU). Shoot for 5 billion organisms/CFU per day.
  5. Increase the amount of fish in your diet. Omega-3 fats are necessary for a healthy immune system that can fight off infection.[8] The best source of omega-3 fats you can find is fish, although you can also buy supplements in pill form at the grocery store.
  6. Avoid caffeine and sugar.[8] Caffeine acts as a stimulant, and the type of processed sugar found in processed or sweet food feeds bacteria. Both of these things will encourage your infection to worsen, so avoid them at all costs. Cut coffee, black teas and sodas out of your diet.

Taking Powders and Extracts to Treat a UTI Naturally

  1. Drink cranberry juice or extract. Cranberries are a well-known treatment for UTIs that make it harder for bacteria to thrive. Cranberries both make urine more acidic and introduce a chemical from a class called proanthocyanidins, that makes it harder for bacteria to stick to the bladder and urethra's cells.[9][10] Although many people use cranberries it to treat UTI, studies suggest that cranberries are better at prevention than treatment.[8]
    • Drink 300-600 mL of cranberry juice daily. The study in question studied Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice cocktail, specifically.[11][10]
    • Take cranberry capsules (400 mg twice per day).[11]
  2. Combine cranberry with lingonberry in your diet. Lingonberry is a berry in the same family as cranberry. One study suggests that drinking cranberry-lingonberry concentrate reduces the risk of UTIs in women and girls.[12] The subjects in this study drank 7.5 g of cranberry and 1.7 g of lingonberry concentrates mixed in 50 mL of water daily.
  3. Take bearberry powder.[13] Uva Ursi (bearberry) might not be available in your grocery store, but you can find it easily and cheaply online. Though uncommon in general American usage, Native American and European medicine have used it for centuries. Take 250-500 mg of powdered bearberry three times per day.
    • This might give your urine a greenish-brown tint, but this is not harmful.
    • Bearberry acts as a diuretic (rids the body of salt and water), so ask your doctor about using it if you're on other medications.[14]
  4. Take brewer's yeast. In theory, brewer’s yeast “crowds out” the bacteria that causes UTIs, but as of now there are no reliable clinical trials proving it can treat UTI. Furthermore, brewer's yeast can interact badly with certain types of medications, so talk to your doctor before considering brewer's yeast. Despite the lack of scientific studies, many people take 3g of brewer’s yeast twice per day to treat UTI.
    • Consult a doctor before taking brewer’s yeast if you're on other medications. It should NOT be taken with a class of medications called MAOIs.[15]
    • MAOIs include the drugs: Selegiline, Phenelzine, Tranylcypromine, Rasagiline, Isocarboxazid, Phenelzine Sulfate, Selegiline hydrochloride, Tranylcypromine sulfate and Rasagiline mesylate
  5. Take 1 teaspoon of D-mannose twice per day. Take each dose with cranberry juice or water. D-mannose is a type of sugar that, unlike the sugar in sweet foods, actually treats UTIs. Experts think it interferes with how bacteria “stick to” and infect cells.[16][17] Although nobody's yet studied it in the treatment of UTIs, D-mannose has proven effective at preventing recurrent UTIs.[18]
    • Be aware that D-mannose can cause loose stools and bloating.
  6. Drink teas and extracts shown to treat UTIs. A wide variety of teas and extracts can be used for UTI treatment. The best thing about this method is that you can change up the products — if you get tired of one taste, you can switch to another product. All that matters is that you increase how much of these products you drink on a daily basis. If you buy any of these products in dry form, mix one teaspoon with a cup of hot water to make a tea.
    • Pipsissewa[19]: take eight to 10 drops in a six-ounce glass of water two to three times per day.
    • Corn silk: take 400 mg twice per day.
    • Buchu[19]: take 500 mg twice per day.
    • Equisetum or Horsetail:[20][21] Do not take this if you have diabetes. Horsetail can reduce Vitamin B and thiamine levels, so make sure you're taking B-complex vitamins if you use it.[22]

Preventing a UTI Naturally

  1. Drink lots of water. Keeping hydrated is the easiest way to prevent a UTI, and it's also important for your overall health.[23] Drink at least six to eight eight-ounce glasses of water every day to help “flush out” your system and prevent UTIs.
  2. Urinate as soon as you feel the urge. The longer urine is in your bladder, the more bacteria can grow. Women should always wipe toilet paper from front to back, especially after a bowel movement. This prevents bacterial contamination from feces.
  3. Take special care after sexual activity. Women, especially, should always urinate after sex to stop bacteria from moving into the urethra.[24][25] Birth control methods that use spermicide increase the risk of UTIs. However, using non-oral contraceptives without spermicide increases the risk of unwanted pregnancy. A good compromise is to switch to oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices or contraceptive rings, if possible.
  4. Wear loose clothing on the lower half of your body. The goal is to keep your genital area as dry as possible. Loose, preferably cotton, pants and underwear let air pass better than nylon underwear or tight jeans.
  5. Maintain a high-fiber diet.[26] No conclusive research exists yet on the connection between high-fiber diets and UTIs. However, high-fiber diets will decrease the chances of constipation, which is a common cause of UTIs. Many people prevent UTIs by eating diets full of beans, lentils, whole grains and root vegetables.
  6. Do not douche or use feminine-hygiene sprays. The vagina's natural secretions should “wash away” any abnormal odors you might worry about. More importantly, these sprays, washes, wipes and deodorants often use harmful chemicals in their pleasant fragrances.[27] They often cause skin reactions and hormone problems.[28][29][30] Douching washes away normal, healthy vaginal bacteria and actually increases the risk of UTIs. Douching also affects the acid-alkaline balance of the vagina, causing dryness and irritation.[31]
    • Douching is also linked to increased risk of vaginal infections, sexually transmitted infections and infertility.[31]

Tips

  • Avoid alcoholic beverages and sugary foods and drinks, all of which can exacerbate a urinary tract infection.
  • Eat yogurt and miso or chicken soup, which are known for their antibacterial properties.
  • Keep your kidney area warm to provide relief to pelvic pain or bladder cramping. Apply a hot water bottle to keep the kidney area warm or wear long sweaters to cover the kidney area.

Warnings

  • Do not have sexual intercourse while you have a urinary tract infection.
  • If you develop a high fever, nausea, vomiting, kidney pain or blood in your urine, or if the infection lasts longer than a week, consult a health care professional right away.
  • Baking soda is often recommended as a natural cure for urinary tract infections, but it's not safe for everyone. Consult a health care professional before using baking soda to cure a UTI.

Related Articles

  • Relieve Urinary Tract Infections in Cats

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/KUDiseases/pubs/utiadult/
  2. ↑ http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/uti-treatment
  3. ↑ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/antioxidants.html
  4. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/urinary-tract-infections-in-teens-and-adults-topic-overview?page=2
  5. ↑ http://www.livescience.com/13747-good-bacteria-prevent-urinary-tract-infection.html
  6. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/news/20140820/your-gut-bacteria
  7. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16827601
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/urinary-tract-infection-in-women
  9. ↑ Wang, C. H., Fang, C. C., Chen, N. C., Liu, S. S., Yu, P. H., Wu, T. Y., Chen, W. T., Lee, C. C., and Chen, S. C. Cranberry-containing products for prevention of urinary tract infections in susceptible populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern.Med 7-9-2012;172(13):988-996
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jepson RG, Craig JC. A systematic review of the evidence for cranberries and blueberries in UTI prevention. Mol Nutr Food Res 2007;51:738-45.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Salo, J., Uhari, M., Helminen, M., Korppi, M., Nieminen, T., Pokka, T., and Kontiokari, T. Cranberry juice for the prevention of recurrences of urinary tract infections in children: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Clin.Infect.Dis. 2-1-2012;54(3):340-346.
  12. ↑ Ferrara, P., Romaniello, L., Vitelli, O., Gatto, A., Serva, M., and Cataldi, L. Cranberry juice for the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections: a randomized controlled trial in children. Scand.J Urol.Nephrol. 2009;43(5):369-372.
  13. ↑ Quintus J, Kovar KA, Link P, Hamacher H. Urinary excretion of arbutin metabolites after oral administration of bearberry leaf extracts. Planta Med. 2005;71(2):147-52.
  14. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/diuretics/art-20048129
  15. ↑ http://www.upmc.com/patients-visitors/education/nutrition/Pages/maoi-diet-facts.aspx
  16. ↑ Michaels EK, Chmiel JS, Plotkin BJ, Schaeffer AJ. Effect of D-mannose and D-glucose on Escherichia coli bacteriuria in rats. Urol Res 1983;11:97-102 .
  17. ↑ Ofek I, Goldhar J, Eshdat Y, Sharon N. The importance of mannose specific adhesins (lectins) in infections caused by Escherichia coli. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl 1982;33:61-7.
  18. ↑ https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01808755
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 21. Part 182 -- Substances Generally Recognized As Safe.
  20. ↑ Lemus I, Garcia R, Erazo S, et al. Diuretic activity of an Equisetum bogotense tea (Platero herb): evaluation in healthy volunteers. J Ethnopharmacol 1996;54:55-8.
  21. ↑ Perez Gutierrez RM, Laguna GY, Walkowski A. Diuretic activity of Mexican equisetum. J Ethnopharmacol 1985;14:269-72.
  22. ↑ Fabre B, Geay B, Beaufils P. Thiaminase activity in equisetum arvense and its extracts. Plant Med Phytother 1993;26:190-7.
  23. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/women/guide/your-guide-urinary-tract-infections
  24. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/urinary-tract-infections-in-teens-and-adults-prevention
  25. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-tract-infection/basics/prevention/con-20037892
  26. ↑ http://www.nutritionmd.org/health_care_providers/renal/uti_nutrition.html
  27. ↑ http://www.womensvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Chem-Fatale-Report.pdf
  28. ↑ O’Gorman SM, Torgerson RR. (2013) Allergic contact dermatitis of the vulva. Dermatitis. Vol. 24, No.2, pp:64-72. March/ April 2013.
  29. ↑ American Public Health Association (APHA) (2007) Vaginal Douching and Adverse Health Outcomes, Policy # 20074, November 6, 2007.
  30. ↑ Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) (1985) Final report on the safety assessment of Benzethonium Chloride and methylBenzethonium Chloride. Journal of the American College of Toxicology. Vol. 5,No.5, pp:65-106.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/douching.html
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