UTIs may not be affected by cranberry juice intake, health information service finds

LONDON Contrary to popular belief, cranberry juice may not combat urinary tract infections, according to a meta-analysis put forth by Faculty of 1000 Medicine, an online health information service.

Urinary tract infections are a common complaint — between 10% and 20% of women will suffer a UTI at least once, and a third of these will experience it recurrently. Some recent studies support the use of cranberry as a preventative, but Raul Raz, director of infectious diseases at the Technion School of Medicine in Israel advise the medical community that “cranberry should no longer be considered as an effective [preventative] for recurrent UTIs”.

Raz noted that among all the clinical trials supporting use of cranberry juice for women who have a UTI, there are significant differences in clinical trial design and a lack of standardization for doses and formulation.

There is also a range of potential side-effects including stomach upsets and weight gain.

And cranberry can interact with such medicines as warfarin, commonly used to treat heart disease, Raz said.