How to Treat & Prevent UTIs Naturally!
This is the guide I wish I had while I was struggling with reoccurring UTIs for years! I got to know how to treat them effectively, but a few months or a year would go by and I would get another one! Why? This puzzled me for a very long time. After diving deep into health and nutrition I found some of the answers I was looking for. Now I can’t remember the last time I got a UTI! If you found this blog post you might currently be amid an annoying or painful UTI. Perhaps you are searching for a natural remedy to avoid taking antibiotics. Maybe you have already tried all the natural remedies the women in that crunchy moms Facebook group are recommending and nothing is working! So, let’s start with what a UTI is, how to get rid of it, and then I can tell you how to never get one ever again!
What is a UTI?
UTI stands for Urinary Tract Infection. Most commonly, a UTI affects the lower urinary tract. Bacteria comes in through the urethra and infects the bladder. Generally, at this point, you will feel very uncomfortable symptoms - the constant feeling of needing to pee(urinary frequency and urgency), pain or burning when urinating, cloudy, foul-smelling urine, pelvic pressure, or pelvic pain. If a UTI is ignored, the infection can fester in the bladder. This can worsen symptoms, even spreading the infection up the urinary tract to the ureters and kidneys. Once a UTI starts to spread up the urinary tract symptoms often worsen and additional symptoms like blood in urine, back pain(kidney pain), fever, and other flu-like symptoms can arise. It is also valuable to mention that UTI symptoms in pregnant and elderly people often present differently - agitation, confusion, and dementia-like sundowning(confusion at night).
I cannot tell you the reason for the additional strange symptoms in pregnant and elderly people. I can tell you that in my experience as a nurse working with elderly patients and my time as a birth worker, the symptoms often present differently in these populations of people.
The symptoms of a UTI are experienced differently by each person. For me, my major complaint was urinary urgency. For others, their major complaint is something completely different. This is why UTIs can occasionally disguise themselves as yeast infections, STDs, or other vaginal infections. The table below provides a helpful outline of the various UTI symptoms.
How to Treat a UTI Naturally
My secret weapon that has me symptom-free in 24 hours or less is high-dose cranberry pills! When I say high dose I mean 15,000 or 30,000 mg. 500 mg is okay for prevention, but it will not be anywhere near enough to treat an active infection. The necessary dose and length of protocol depend on your body and the severity of the infection. I take 30,000mg of cranberry 2-3 times per day until symptoms are gone. After that, I continue to take 15,000 twice a day for at least a week. Sometimes I would continue to take 15,000mg once a day for maintenance to ensure the UTI would not return. It is important to make sure that you are staying hydrated throughout this process so the water can flush the bacteria from your urinary system. It is also important to refrain from eating any refined sugars and to keep a low sugar intake overall(that includes carbs like fruits, pasta, and bread).
Some people recommend drinking cranberry juice. I highly advise against drinking cranberry juice. Cranberries are naturally very tart so most cranberry juice companies will put a ton of corn syrup and other sugars to balance the flavor. 25 grams of sugar per 8 ounces of Ocean Spray cranberry juice to be exact. You might be wondering, why is sugar so bad? Residual sugar in the urine will feed the bacteria, making a UTI worse. High sugar levels in the blood and urine can be a major cause of reoccurring UTIs.
So, can you drink unsweetened cranberry juice or eat plain cranberries? I mean, if you want. It won’t hurt but it also won’t treat your UTI. It would be impossible to get to 60,000 mg a day by eating cranberries or drinking juice. (No, that is not a challenge.)
My favorite brands of cranberry pills are
To Recap
30,000 mg cranberry pills 2-3x per day until symptoms are gone
15,000mg 2x per day for at least one week after symptoms are gone
Drink plenty of water! At least a half gallon per day, maybe more.
No sugar, pasta, bread, or other carb-heavy processed foods
Light on fruit and other natural sugars
Common Causes of UTIs
Thankfully, you can avoid getting a UTI in the first place! With some diet and lifestyle changes, you can make sure you never get a UTI ever again! Most of these recommendations are good for your overall health and wellness. You might notice after making these changes that your health improves in other ways as well!
To understand how to prevent UTIs I think it’s helpful to touch upon why we get them. The answer isn’t going to be the same for everyone. It might be difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing your UTIs. As you read through the following section the cause of your reoccurring UTIs might jump out at you and all of a sudden it all makes sense. That would be great! If not, don’t worry. You can try to make some of these lifestyle changes and see what works. Some of this advice is specific and some is good general health advice. Do what feels relevant for you and your situation.
Poor Hygiene
In most cases, our body’s microbiome can fight off harmful bacteria. Sometimes when there is an overgrowth of bacteria our body’s resources lose the battle, hents the UTI. Showering regularly with unscented soap(I recommend tallow soap) is important especially after activities that involve sweating or the body becoming dirty. Keep soap directly off the vulva(this will kill your body’s good bacteria). Peeing after sex and showering shortly after sex are also good practices to keep harmful bacteria levels low. Speaking of sex, make sure your partner is cleaning their genitals with unscented soap and washing their hands before touching your vulva. It is important to have adequate airflow and ventilation to the vulva and surrounding anatomy. Wearing natural fibers like cotton underwear can help prevent many infections, like UTIs and yeast infections. Wearing thong-style underwear is also known to carry bacteria from the anus to the vagina and urethra. So, even if you’re wiping front to back you still might be unintentionally spreading bacteria between these two places.
Disruption of pH balance
This is a very common one! The body’s microbiome is so important for our overall health! In relation to vaginal and urinary tract health, we need a healthy microbiome to keep everything running smoothly. The vagina is a self-regulating intricate system. This is why it is unnecessary and harmful to use soaps and douches on the vagina. With a healthy diet and appropriate hygiene practices, vaginas and urinary tracts can keep themselves healthy and clean. It might sound simple, but in today’s world, many things can disrupt the body’s natural balance. Laundry detergent is another common microbiome disrupter that people don’t always think about. The harsh chemicals in many laundry detergent brands can create a residue on your underwear and cause a disruption. Body deodorants applied around the vulva, scented soaps(even on other parts of the body), and bubble baths with harsh chemicals and artificial fragrances are other things that can negatively impact the feminine microbiome.
Food Sensitivities
Consuming certain foods can cause inflammation in the body. This one is highly specific per person. You might be interested in trying an elimination diet to see if you have a food sensitivity. When doing an elimination diet it is best to try one thing at a time. This will help you pinpoint exactly which food is causing a negative reaction in your body. It is important to make sure you are completely removing the food in question from your diet. Gluten, for example, is sometimes called by different names and can be in things that you don’t expect. You might want to do some research so you can conduct a sound experiment. This can be a long process because it can take up to a month to notice a change in your body. Sometimes we can notice an instant improvement in how we feel. In that case, you might feel motivated to continue to avoid that food. Common food sensitivities are wheat/gluten, dairy/lactose, soy, seed oils(these are toxic to all humans), sugar, or caffeine.
Blood Sugar Imbalances
This is a big one. You might think that blood sugar levels are only relevant for diabetics. That is incorrect! It is important for everyone to keep healthy blood sugar levels and avoid spiking blood sugar levels with high sugar foods. I could write a novel on this subject(maybe later) so to keep it brief I will start with some basic information that is easy to implement. The best advice I can give you is to remove corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and seed oils(vegetable/canola oil) from your diet. Soda and candy is doing nothing for you, I promise. Completely removing these things from your diet is extremely important for your health. Limit other refined sugars(cane sugar) and processed carbohydrates(baked goods, breads, pasta) from your diet. When eating natural sugars(maple syrup, honey, fruit) try to combine them with protein. This will prevent your blood sugar from rapidly spiking.
Female Anatomy
Did you know that it is more common for women to get UTIs? This is because of our anatomy. Our urethras are closer to our anuses than in the male anatomy. The bacteria that commonly cause UTIs, E Coli, usually comes from our anus. It is also more common for women is get UTIs during pregnancy mainly due to the growing uterus making it more difficult to fully empty the bladder. Shifting your weight (forwards, backward, and side-to-side) while on the toilet can help empty any urine leftover in the bladder.
How to Prevent UTIs
Prevention is key! Now that you know how to treat an active infection and what causes an UTI we can learn how to prevent a UTI in the first place! Have you ever heard the saying, “Once you get one you’ll get another one”? This is said regarding many things, but in my experience, it is relevant to UTIs. That is because there is most likely an imbalance in your body that is causing the UTIs to keep returning. Below are some helpful tips to avoid UTIs!
Stay hydrated throughout the day
Nourish your body with whole foods
Eat fermented foods and beverages
Limit sugars and processed foods
Wear cotton underwear and avoid thongs
Use the restroom as soon as you feel the need to pee
Pee after sex and shower shortly after
Use unscented soap (Tallow soap is wonderful)
Keep soap away from your vulva
Ditch scented lotions and perfumes
There it is! Those are my secrets! I hope that this information is helpful! UTIs are very common and I get asked about natural remedies all the time. Now all of my information on this topic is in one place. Please feel free to share this blog post with those who need it! I struggled with this for a long time(my big issues were sugar, wheat, and a weak microbiome) and I hope that this information reaches whoever needs it so they can become healthier and more comfortable in their body!
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