In March of 1994 (Journal of the American Medical Association), researchers at Harvard Medical School were able to show that women who drank 10 ounces of cranberry juice each day were 58 percent less likely to have bladder infections (urinary tract infections).
Many people thought that they had fewer bladder infections because the cranberry juice made the urine in the bladder more acidic. The acid in the bladder would kill the bacteria arriving in the bladder. Recent research has shown that this hypothesis was wrong!!
Amy B. Howell and others from Rutgers University conducted experiments to understand how cranberry juice lowers the numbers of bladder infections. The study was published as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine (Oct. 8, 1998). They found that cranberry juice's ability to prevent bladder infections had nothing to do with increasing the acid levels in the bladder. Instead they demonstrated that a compound present in the juice called tannin was able to prevent the bacteria (most commonly Escherichia coli or E. coli) from attaching to human cells that line the inside surface of the urinary tract (urinary tract= bladder, urethra (tube from the bladder to the outside), ureters (tube from the bladder to the kidneys). If the tannins were present, the bacteria could not bind to those human cells and as a result the bacteria could be washed out of the bladder during the next urination.
The researchers also found out that these tannins are only present in cranberry juice and in blueberries. Tannins were NOT present in many other foods including lemons, oranges, apples, bananas, and carrots. So if you are bothered by this infection, a glass of cranberry juice a day may well keep the bladder infection away. Please remember, cranberry juice should not be used with some medications. Check with your physician first.
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More information on preventing Urinary
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