For decades, the medical establishment has relied on the use of antibiotics to conquer urinary infections. But as urinary bacteria grow resistant to these medications, researchers are pointing the way to a more natural way to make your body infection-proof.
Many folks, especially women, are prone to repeated urinary tract infections (UTSs). Until recently, antibiotics were a dependable way to stamp out these problems, case by case. But the pathogens that cause these illnesses have caught up to the chemical warfare waged against them and have found ways to survive medications. So it is becoming increasingly difficult to find drugs that can kill them off.
“Many physicians can tell you that they see patients who are particularly susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTIs),” says researcher Jeffrey P. Henderson. “We often don’t know why certain people seem to be prone to recurrent UTIs. For a long time, we had inexpensive antibiotics that worked really well for this. But over the last 10-15 years, we have seen a huge jump in bacterial infections that are resistant to many of these drugs.”
That’s where research at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis comes in. A study there shows that the best way to fight these bacterial problems is with other bacteria — the probiotic, friendly bacteria, that inhabit your digestive tract. If you can keep those bacteria well-fed with fruits and vegetables, especially cranberries, they may produce compounds that limit or eliminate the infectious bacteria that attach to the urinary tract.
The research shows that the probiotic bacteria work in concert with your immune system to deprive the undesirable bacteria of minerals and nutrients it needs to survive.
In particular, the study indicates that the gut bacteria can produce compounds that strip the pathogenic bacteria of the iron it steals from the body that it needs to spread. Consequently if you don’t have the right gut bacteria to make these types of compounds, you are more susceptible to suffering UTIs.
While the researchers haven’t identified all the steps in this process, their investigations shows that you may be able to make yourself less susceptible to UTIs by eating more fermented foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, kimchi and pickles that contain probiotic bacteria. It’s important to note that you’ll find the most probiotic-rich fermented foods in the refrigerated section where you shop. Sauerkraut and pickles found in the aisles have been pasteurized and that process kills the bacteria you need.
Supplements of probiotics may also help boost your gut bacteria.
In addition, a diet filled with fruits and vegetables improves your health by changing your urine: The research shows that a diet with a heavy emphasis on vegetarian foods makes your urine less acidic, which further strengthens the immune system’s ability to battle UTI bacteria.
One fruit, the cranberry is especially well-known for its ability to help the body fight off or avoid UTIs. There are various reports regarding the specific mechanism that makes them effective but one that seems to make the most sense is that a compound in the berry adheres to the bladder and urinary tract and makes it difficult for bacteria to stick.
Antibiotic resistance is a problem that is likely to only increase overtime. Making your body infection-proof is the best advice against this threat. The less you need to rely on conventional antibiotics the chances are higher that if you do ever absolutely need them, they should hopefully be more effective. But as always, if you can avoid the pharmaceuticals to begin with, you’re much better off in the end.
