Cranberry Juice for Bladder/Urinary Tract Infections

It has been recommended for years that drinking cranberry juice may assist in preventing urinary tract infections.  A fresh study has established the precise physical mechanism affected, proving that cranberry juice actually works.

Nearly all urinary tract infections are induced by a particular strain of E. coli, which is wrapped in little hair-like protrusions, commonly known as fimbriae. This acts as Velcro hooks to permit the bacteria to bond themselves to the cells that line the urinary tract.

As opposed to most studies looking into the health attributes of foods, this study centered on detailing and evaluating the exact physical mechanism yielded by the cranberry juice. When E. coli is exposed to the juice, the fimbriae actually curled up, cutting their ability to bond themselves to human cells.

By utilising a small molecular probe, the scientists were capable of mimicking the activity of the E. coli attaching to the cells. This also took into account the measurement of the force required to draw the bacteria away.

The trails were then repeated with various concentrations of cranberry juice. This demonstrated that the power of the bacteria to bind to the cells was reduced, as the concentration was increased.

Eventually, more experiments indicated that strains of E. coli without the fimbriae, didn't attach well to the human cells.

This trail, printed in the journal of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, indicated that the presence of cranberry juice in the urine could assist in displacing any E. coli present in the urinary tract.