Why natural remedy cranberry works for a UTI
Cranberry has been a tried and true natural remedy for a UTI. As a woman, drinking cranberry juice has saved me from many UTIs. But what makes this old school, natural remedy, passed down over the ages, so effective? Let’s first dive into what a UTI is in western and eastern medicine and why it makes complete sense that cranberry is a quick and effective method!
urinary tract infections
A urinary tract infection is often characterized by pain when urinating, a frequent urge to urinate, dark or cloudy urine, abdominal pain upon relieving the bladder, pain in the bladder, itching, and pain during sex. Today, we understand that an overgrowth of candida, specifically candida albicans, in our body is often the culprit (see supporting study). If you eat sugar often, have had antibiotics, and are not adequately hydrated, you are providing the perfect set up for an overgrowth of this fungus/yeast in your microbiome.
But why does the candida overgrowth present as a UTI? This is mostly because the candida tends to occupy the microflora of our GI tract, mouth, and the vagina. So if we have a high sugar diet that feeds the candida, causing an overgrowth, then we may also have other signs of this in our digestive tract, stools, energy level, etc. When this overgrowth causes a UTI, this means we need to cleanse our body of the fungal/yeast infection and remove added sugar from our diet.
For guys, UTI symptoms rarely appear, which means once they do, it has probably been an issue for quite some time before the pain arrived. The good news? Cranberry works for them too! The bad news? A UTI in males is often linked to other issues, such as an STD, like chlamydia or gonorrhea, a bladder infection, a kidney stone, a prostate issue, or even E. coli. These can also be the cause of UTIs in women, but most of the time it is just an imbalanced vaginal microflora that needs corrected. Check out all of the common causes for UTIs here.
a UTI in TCM
In TCM, a UTI is diagnosed as ‘damp-heat’ of the kidney and/or bladder. There may also be more in depth diagnosis for patients with other symptoms and conditions that coincide with the UTI. But in a general sense, it is considered damp heat invading the body. The solution would be to expel the damp heat pathogen so that the qi of the bladder and kidney can flow smoothly without blockage, thus relieving the pain, discomfort, and imbalance. We can think of damp heat as a sticky, stagnant substance that generates heat because it interrupts the proper flow of our energy/networks/pathways. This ‘backup’ generates heat.
When dampness and heat combine, you get a heavy sensation, burning pain, discomfort, dark or cloudy urine, and itching. A high sugar diet, dairy, stress, and other lifestyle factors can cause a UTI. The degree of severity for this infection, or ’damp heat invasion’, will vary from person to person. But since we have to remove the dampness and the heat to rebalance the body, then it makes sense that cranberry works so well, so fast!
so why the cranberry?!
Cranberry in TCM is characterized by its temperature, the meridians it directly effects, the flavor, and the indications. In TCM, everything we put in our bodies is considered medicinal. The food, herbs, supplement, and overall energy we take in all contribute to our imbalances in our body, mind and spirit.
Interestingly, cranberry in TCM is considered to be cold and sour. It is also known to effect the bladder and kidney organs/meridians. The indications of cranberry used medicinally are to ‘clear heat and clear damp’. This is exactly what the body needs to clear out the damp heat accumulation effecting the bladder and potentially kidneys. Cranberry can also help with dissolving the actual stones in the bladder or kidney as well.
So there you have it - an age old remedy confirmed and explained in TCM!
