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Study supports urinary tract infection protection from cranberries

July 10, 2012
Dr. Deborah Wing

IN THE NEWS: The Reuters Health news service asked Dr. Deborah Wing, director of UC Irvine’s Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, to comment on a recent study of the effect of cranberry juice on the incidence of urinary tract infections:

Recent evidence suggests certain compounds in cranberries—and maybe other berries as well—might prevent bacteria from attaching to tissue in the urinary tract, thereby warding off infections.

“What this is doing is solidifying what has been folklore for quite some time,” said Dr. Deborah Wing, who has studied urinary tract infections at the University of California, Irvine.

“Finally, the science is catching up to what our mothers have been telling us for so many decades,” she told Reuters Health.

Still, Wing noted some women have trouble drinking a lot of cranberry juice or don’t like swallowing the large capsules. There’s also a lack of data about what form of cranberries—juice versus capsules, for example—is easier to take and better for reducing UTI risk, said Wing, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Study supports urinary tract infection protection from cranberries ›