You may have been told to drink cranberry juice (or take cranberry supplements) to prevent UTIs, but is it really helping?
A new study, just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in April 2025, gives us the answer that: yes, it’s truly helping… slashing your UTI risk in half!
That’s pretty signifiant for a completely natural way to avoid repeated use of antibiotics, with zero side effects.
In this study researchers used cranberry supplements (instead of drinking cranberry juice) so that this could be a medically rigorous study that was double blinded and placebo based, so that we could have confidence in the results. Taking cranberry powder in capsules allowed researchers to have participants randomly assigned to take either cranberry capsules or a placebo capsule for a 6 month study period, and neither the patients nor the medical evaluators would know who was taking which intervention.
Following 150 healthy females taking either placebo or cranberry supplements for six months, researchers evaluated their urine cultures at baseline, at 3 months, and at 6 months… as well as whenever UTI symptoms arose throughout the study period. What they found was significant:
Cranberry supplements reduced culture confirmed UTI risk by 52%!
On top of reducing the incidence of UTIs, it also:
- reduced symptoms of urinary frequency and urgency
- prolonged UTI free time between UTIs
- reduced the total number of UTIs per participant (by almost 60%!) compared to placebo
- and there were zero side effects from taking the cranberry capsules.
How much cranberry powder did they take to get these awesome, all natural results? Just 500 mg of cranberry powder a day — just one capsule of the cranberry supplement I recommend here.
In addition to consuming cranberry supplements in order to prevent UTI risk, you can also begin to treat early UTI’s naturally as well, using D-Mannose.
D-mannose is a simple sugar that coats the lining of your bladder, reducing the amount of bacteria that can cling to the bladder and allowing you instead to just urinate the bacteria out. This study found that taking D-mannose completely cleared bacteria from the urine. Other studies find that D-mannose helpful in the prevention of UTIs, studies like this one and this one and this one and this one.
At the first sign of a UTI, the moment you notice urgency to urinate or increased urinary frequency, taking D-mannose throughout the day (to keep the bacteria suspended in your urine) and drinking large volumes of water throughout the day (to allow you to urinate it out and keep flushing it through until cleared) can be incredibly helpful… potentially eliminating the need to take an antibiotic altogether.
So what cranberry supplement do I recommend for prevention, and what d-mannose supplement to I recommend for early treatment? My full urinary health protocol is waiting for you right here, along with my favorite probiotic for urinary tract health and exactly how and when to take each:
Of course, if taking D-mannose in large amounts several times a day does not lead to full resolution of UTI symptoms, if symptoms worsen or if fever or other symptoms develop, see your in person physician for an evaluation for prescription treatments.
Want to read more articles I’ve written for you on female health? I’ve got you:
- How Grounding Can Boost Intimacy & Sex
- 7 Longevity Tips To Consider As You Head Into The Second Half Of Life
- A Few Self Care Ideas For Today
- Heart Disease In Women As A Response To Trauma
- How To Keep The Sugar You Eat From Aging Your Skin
Meanwhile, consider adding cranberry supplements to your daily wellness plan and have D-Mannose on hand to take at the very first sign of UTI symptoms, and let’s protect our health and reduce the consumption of antibiotics whenever possible!
To your natural, resilient health!
xoxox, Laura Koniver, MD
