When it comes to the most annoying and inconvenient infections, UTI’s are up there. If you’re like me, once you get one, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it. From gallons of cranberry juice to tons of probiotics, copious amounts of water, and even antibiotics–sometimes, UTIs are impossible to treat.
But, I know I’m not alone. When it comes to UTIs, 50% of women experience them in their lifetime and, 70% of women get more than one in the same year. That means burning pee and absolutely no sex–what fun!
While websites all over the Internet will give you “home remedies” and tips for preventing UTIs–like wiping front to back–there has yet to be a true, hard study on UTIs. Why? Well, most doctors don’t take UTIs all that seriously. In fact, women often complain that when they visit their doctors due to chronic UTIs, they hardly get the treatment (or attention) they need.
After years of women complaining, one medical journal decided to actually do a study on how to prevent UTIs–finally. JAMA Internal Medicine conducted a study to find out if there was an actual, proven way to prevent UTIs from coming back and, they found out it’s much easier than you think.
The 12-month study tracked 140 women who suffered from chronic UTIs. As it turns out, most women had reported that they drink less than 6 cups of water a day. When people say drinking water to prevent and cure UTIs, we hardly believe them. But, researchers decided to look into it further. Half of the women were asked to drink an extra 6 cups of water per day (totalling 12 cups), while the other half stayed drinking their normal 6-ish cups.
The results?
Drinking more water does prevent UTIs from coming back.
According to the study’s findings, the women who drank their usual 6-ish cups reported 216 UTIs (about 3 per person), while the women who drank 12 cups per day only reported 111 UTIs (about 1-2 per person). While it may seem like a small difference, if drinking more water can prevent all of us from having burning, irritated underbits–I’m 100% sold.
The study’s authors claim:
“Increased water intake is an effective antimicrobial-sparing strategy to prevent recurrent cystitis in premenopausal women at high risk for recurrence who drink low volumes of fluid daily.”
So, there you have it. Forget the garlic, the coconut oil, the 15 cranberry pills per day. Instead, grab a bottle of water and keep refilling that sucker until water starts coming out of your ears.
