The role of diet in Urinary Tract Infections

Sorry friends I was out for almost a month and had no access to a computer. Here I am back again and ready to blog on my favorite topic ' the Role of Diet in our Health'. Today lets talk about how diet can help in speeding up the healing of UTIs and also prevent recurrence.

UTIs or cystitis affect the bladder and the most common symptom is an urgent need to urinate even when the bladder is not full.Urination can be accompanied by pain and burning and in severe cases small amounts of blood with fever and a back-ache.

Most urinary tract infections are caused by the E.choli bacteria which lives in the intestinal tracts but can also travel to the bladder.

Role of Diet:
Although antibiotics are needed to cure bacterial urinary infections, diet also helps.

1. Drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of fluids per day to increase the flow of urine and to flush out the
bacteria.

2. Avoid bladder irritants like tea, coffee, colas, alcoholic drinks and spicy foods.

3. Drink Canberry and Blueberry juices as they help to eliminate bacteria by not allowing them
to stick to the bladder walls.

4. Eat Citrus foods for Vitamin C which helps strengthen the immune system, fight infection and
acidify urine.

5. Consuming fermented dairy products containing probiotic bacteria ( found in some yogurts)
help as they inhibit the growth of micro organisms causing UTIs.