Replacing Cranberry Juice for UTI

SummerLovesPhil
SummerLovesPhil Posts: 242 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm chugging my usual cranberry juice trying to shake a UTI. It always works, but it is a metric butt-ton of sugar. Is there something else that works as well and doesn't have 880 calories? :noway:
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Replies

  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
    I heard yogurt helps
  • jinna86
    jinna86 Posts: 93
    I take cranberry extract supplements, and also apple cider vinegar supplements for UTIs
  • VegKate
    VegKate Posts: 55 Member
    Drink A LOT of water. Water helps flush out the infection just as well with 0 calories. Last time I started to feel a UTI coming on I drank a whole lot of water and the next morning it was gone.
  • jennkain97
    jennkain97 Posts: 290 Member
    cranberry supplements
  • kevinjb1
    kevinjb1 Posts: 233 Member
    I know I'm a guy so forgive me becuase I don't know what you are going through. But I was reading up on asparagus yesterday and apparently it can help with a UTI. Something about it makes you have to pee a lot. Sorry I don't have many details because I skimmed over that part. :wink:

    Hope you feel better soon!
  • tonightokayalright
    tonightokayalright Posts: 289 Member
    I take cranberry extract supplements, and also apple cider vinegar supplements for UTIs

    This^. I buy cranberry pills. Probably about the same cost. One pill per day while you're feeling any symptoms. Can keep taking them as preventive care, too.
  • mindyrae22
    mindyrae22 Posts: 19 Member
    Short term (just while you have the UTI) your best replacement is simply A LOT of water. Thinking long term (if you get them quite often) start taking cranberry pills. I swear by them! They are available most places that have a vitamin section. If you are not against medication I would also go to the doctor if you havn't. An antibiotic will have it completely gone in 5-7 days with symptoms gone within the day. If the pain and irritation is bad they can often give you a second medication for that (it takes it away the irritating symptoms within an hour or so). If you do not go on antibiotics it can easily turn into a Kidney infection if it doesn't clear up completely.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Antibiotics for 12 days are like 70 cents if you have health insurance... Last year with my ex we used lube for the first time on Valentines to try it out. We both got a UTI.
  • juliec33
    juliec33 Posts: 238 Member
    Lots and lots of water! You can also get unsweetened cranberry juice...no added sugars, just the ones from the berries. It's not the "light" cranberry juice. I get the Just Cranberry by R.W. Knudsen. It's in the organic section of my local grocery store. If you mix it with diet Sprite it makes a pretty good drink when you feel a UTI coming on.

    I mix about 4 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (you can mix in a little water if it's too strong) and have it pretty much every morning when I wake up. Good for the liver (supposedly) and helps keep the UTI's at bay. The first 3 days it was tough to get it down.....now I love how it tastes. You can also put in some artificial sweetener if you want.

    Edit: 8oz of the unsweetened juice is 70 calories and only 8 grams of sugar. If you could drink an entire bottle in one day, it would still only be 280 calories.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    Antibiotics for 12 days are like 70 cents if you have health insurance... Last year with my ex we used lube for the first time on Valentines to try it out. We both got a UTI.

    No!!!

    Don't take antibiotics when you can treat something naturally.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    Cranberry pills do the job.
  • mindyrae22
    mindyrae22 Posts: 19 Member
    I don't know if the doctor was correct or not (I sure hope so :( ) but she had told me that the cranberry pills take 3-4 weeks to "line your bladder", which is what prevents or helps prevent UTIs. So they might not be the best treatment when you already have a full blown infection. Definitely recommend them as a prevention though!!!
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Antibiotics for 12 days are like 70 cents if you have health insurance... Last year with my ex we used lube for the first time on Valentines to try it out. We both got a UTI.

    No!!!

    Don't take antibiotics when you can treat something naturally.
    Okay, hippie. You probably wouldn't be alive if things like penicillin were never discovered.
  • mindyrae22
    mindyrae22 Posts: 19 Member
    Antibiotics are the safest way to get rid of one that is already set in, even if there might be some natural ways to try to get rid of it. If you are just starting to get symptoms, by all means use natural ways, but once it is set in as a full blown UTI it is safest to do the five days of antibiotics. If drinking water and cranberry juice does not get rid of it completely it can EASILY turn into a Kidney infection (much more pain and worse for you) which you cannot get rid of "naturally". Kidney infection can then lead to much worse. I am not in support of going on medication for anything and everything but when it comes to UTIs you don't want to risk it once they set in. People don't realize how quickly it can become much more serious. I have had bladdar infections since I was 10 years old, multiple times a year (until I found Cranberry pills) and a few of them really threatened my health because I didn't treat them soon enough. And if you let them go, you will have to be on antibiotics for weeks instead of days.
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    Try 100% cranberry juice and water. Trader Joe's seems to be the only place that sells 100% cranberry juice @ $3.99 per bottle.
  • mindyrae22
    mindyrae22 Posts: 19 Member
    [/quote]
    They can--until they don't, and then you wind up in the hospital with a full-blown kidney infection. I'm not saying don't try to stave it off with fluids and cranberry, but if it last more than a day or two, just take the antibiotics.
    [/quote]

    Thank you!! This is the SAFEST way!
  • jinna86
    jinna86 Posts: 93
    They can--until they don't, and then you wind up in the hospital with a full-blown kidney infection. I'm not saying don't try to stave it off with fluids and cranberry, but if it last more than a day or two, just take the antibiotics.
    [/quote]

    Thank you!! This is the SAFEST way!
    [/quote]

    Yes, if the cranberry or ACV doesn't help after a couple of days, just go for the antibiotics. I've never had a kidney infection, but I've definitely had a UTI escalate into a bad fever (I'm prone to recurring UTIs)
  • Tam2oh
    Tam2oh Posts: 27
    I was reading a novel based in ancient times and barely water was mentioned. I was wondering what it was and googled it and found it was great in helping UTIs. Well, I actually got a UTI a little while later and made of the barley water (it is like a tea) and the pain was gone within a few hours. I really chugged it though and probably drank 2 quarts in that time period.I used this recipe as a base:

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/barley-water-recipe/index.html

    You can use less honey or none at all to control the sugar content. Hope this helps.
  • SummerLovesPhil
    SummerLovesPhil Posts: 242 Member
    Thanks, all, for your great suggestions! I won't get started on antibiotic overuse, just that a little UTI (rare with me) is not something I would jump to antibiotics for and I don't have insurance anyway. They definitely have less sugar though. I'll give apple cider vinegar a try.
  • MzPix
    MzPix Posts: 177 Member
    Hi. I’m not a big fan of antibiotics either, so our family uses natural remedies as a first line of attack almost every time.
    Here are a few suggestions:
    Drink a lot of water. Chew ice.
    Unsweetened herbal teas. Particularly goldenseal, orangeroot, echinacea/cornflower and dandelion.
    A tablespoon of baking soda in water several times a day.
    Avoid citrus, alcohol, caffeine, and sweets until the UTI clears up.
    Cranberries in their natural state too. Also, blueberries, huckleberry and sometimes gooseberries or bearberries. Drinking the juice is great but also throw some on your cereal or in your yogurt, or blend them with some ice.
    Some people swear by pineapple as well. We don’t do this because of the high sugar content and acid.
    Drink even more water.
    Hope that helps. Hope you get well soon.
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,953 Member
    D-mannose is an extract from cranberry and works amazingly well. I only use that now. I had a UTI, did the doctor route with antibiotics and everything and I couldn't kick it. I cut out all sugar and did D-Mannose for three days and it was gone and didn't return. To relieve the burning you can take a little baking soda in water if you don't have high blood pressure issues. It cuts the acidity in your urine so the burning goes away.
  • mrsclifton10
    mrsclifton10 Posts: 5
    antibiotics and AZO (you can get it at walgreens) is a miracle for symptoms!
  • lilithsrose
    lilithsrose Posts: 752 Member
    I used to get chronic UTI. I started taking cranberry supplements and they suddenly went away. I have since stopped taking the supplements, but I haven't had an UTI in years.

    However, cranberry supplements are only proven to help prevent and relieve SYMPTOMS of UTI. It does not cure them. Go to the doctor and get antibiotics before your organs get damaged.
  • mrswine
    mrswine Posts: 263 Member
    I have actually read that cranberry juice makes your urine more acidic which makes UTI symptoms worse and that it should only be used for prevention. Straight water (no juice, dairy, pop, etc) is the best to drink during the infection.
  • supersparklies
    supersparklies Posts: 40 Member
    There's a supplement called d-mannose that works for me. I purchase it online.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Doctor told me that it's only for prevention, not cure so if you have it see a doctor. Take cranberry supplement everyday if this becomes a common thing for you to stop it coming back.
  • plaid464
    plaid464 Posts: 1
    Grab actual cranberry juice from the store. (Not cranberry juice cocktail. Something like http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/just-juice/organic-just-cranberry .) It's super bitter, so mix down with seltzer and maybe a little OJ. (i.e. make your own cranberry juice cocktail with less sugar.)
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    cranberry supplements may help. also drink lots of water
  • Bobbie8786
    Bobbie8786 Posts: 202 Member
    Antibiotics for 12 days are like 70 cents if you have health insurance... Last year with my ex we used lube for the first time on Valentines to try it out. We both got a UTI.

    No!!!

    Don't take antibiotics when you can treat something naturally.

    That is not great advice, sorry. You do realize that an untreated UTI can lead to serious complications, especially since you have no idea which organism is responsible for the UTI. I would at least get tested to see what the organism is causing it. I had one that was E. coli and no amount of cranberry juice or "natural" remedies would have cured it.
  • hzliiz
    hzliiz Posts: 166 Member
    I got caught in the repeated cycle of uti followed by other very annoying things that resulted from taking antiobiotics for the uti :angry: so aggravating!! I started taking Azo cranberry supplements w/ probiotics -- two a day, no more problems at all since starting.

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