May 22, 2008 – Cranberry juice is believed to have a preventive effect in women prone to recurrent urinary tract infections (cystitis), British study confirms1-2.
However, this efficacy has not been demonstrated in the elderly and children. The data also cannot determine whether cranberries could help in the treatment of cystitis, say the researchers who analyzed the results of ten clinical trials with more than 1,000 subjects.
Preliminary results indicate that cranberry juice may alleviate symptoms of a UTI, but more testing is needed to measure the extent of its therapeutic effects.
To take advantage of the preventative effects of cranberries, it is recommended to drink 60 ml to 170 ml of juice per day. As for cranberry cocktails, they contain 26% to 33% juice (the rest is water, sugar or fructose). You should therefore drink more (250 ml to 500 ml). People who don’t like the taste of cranberries can take capsules containing 300 mg to 400 mg of cranberry extract, twice a day.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Jepson RG, Craig JC. Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jan 23; (1): CD001321.
