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Natural Foods That Heal Urinary Tract Infection

Natural Foods That Heal Urinary Tract Infection: What you eat and certain foods can heal urinary tract infection and ease symptoms. Most people including me have suffered from urinary tract infection at some time or the other. I have found certain foods do ease symptoms and relieve the condition . Again, as I advocate with all my natural health remedies I am not asking you to toss your antibiotics or drugs out of the window. Nope!! But leaning towards natural foods to ease symptoms is safe and builds your immune health. In a lot of cases, easing the symptoms as they start prevents a full-blown infection. Most of these are common foods that you probably have in your pantry right now.

What causes Urinary Tract Infection?

Your urinary tract is the system that makes urine and carries it out of your body. It includes your bladder and kidneys and the tubes that connect them. When bacteria via germs get into this system, they can cause an infection. Women tend to get more bladder infections than men. This is probably because women have shorter urethras, so it is easier for the germs to move up to their bladders.

Symptoms of UTI

Mild

Burning or pain when you urinate
You feel like you have to urinate often, but not much urine comes out when you do.

Severe

Nausea and vomiting followed by fever
Pain in one side of your back under your ribs.
Urine is cloudy or smells bad

When the symptoms get to severe, you need to call your doctor, but here are some natural remedies that can be used to manage mild symptoms and which can be preventive in nature.

Foods that heal Urinary Tract Infection.

Cranberry juice: This is probably the oldest remedy in the book and is a popular one. Some studies have found that cranberries contain compounds that seem to inhibit bacteria from setting-up-shop and infecting the lining of the urinary tract. In order to get benefit of this you must consume pure unsweetened cranberry juice, easily available at health food stores. 1 ounce diluted with 7 ounces water drunk 3-4 times a day helps clear infection. Drinking Cran water regularly to ward off or prevent urinary tract infection is not a bad idea for those prone to UTI. Cran water is a regular part of my diet. It also helps remove water retention.

Pineapple: Pineapple contains an enzyme called bromelain that may decrease inflammation from infection and may even kill bacteria and viruses, which would make it effective to heal UTI. Adding pineapple to a smoothie or juice is a delish easy way to get pineapple in your diet.

Probiotics: Flush your digestive tract with healthy bacteria which strengthen your immune system and help ward off infection. Eating fermented yogurt or yogurt with live cultures will give you a dose of healthy robotics. You can also take a course of natural probiotic pills when you feel UTI symptoms coming on. My favorite way to get probiotics is by drinking a kefir smoothie! Make it a pineapple kefir smoothie to get a double dose of goodness !

Vitamin C: Keeps your bladder and urethra healthy and working well, It also makes your urine more acidic, which helps to prevent bacteria from growing and causing UTIs, she says. Popping a Vitamin C pill or getting good food sources of Vitamin C via food is great for many other conditions as well.

Lemon juice: Works the same way as Vitamin C in keeping the urine acidic. Conversely this makes the body more alkaline which is again the best state for the body to be in to ward off infection. Drinking water spiked with fresh lemon juice or organic pure lemon juice is a good practice for those prone to UTI.

Baking soda: Baking soda may help with the burning pain of UTIs and helps create an alkaline PH which is optimum for any infection. Stir in ¼ or ½ tsp of baking soda in a glass of warm water first thing in the morning. Since baking soda is high in sodium, this is not recommended for those who have high blood pressure.

Water : Flushing you system with water when you have UTI should be common sense, but bears repeating. Water helps flush bacteria and germs away and when the bacteria gets flushed away, the burning sensation that often accompanies UTI is lessened. Drink at least 8 cups of water on a regular basis and at least 12 cups when you have UTI. While a lot of liquids can constitute a fluid, when you have UTI plain water, non sugared herbal teas or Cran Water are the best ! Drinking water everyday should be a must for everyone to prevent UTI. Water helps with so many other functions as well, not a bad idea to chug it down!

Foods to avoid when you have UTI!

On the flip side, sugar, refined foods like white bread, pasta and simple carbs like soft drinks, junk food are best avoided when you have UTI. These contribute to yeast overgrowth and can aggravate the condition. It is also recommended that spicy foods, alcohol, diary which are considered bladder irritants be avoided when infection is at its peak. These may be included back once infection is out of the body. Avoiding these foods for a short period could speed healing.

Cranberry Juice

Pineapple

Probiotics

Vitamin C

Lemon

Baking Soda

Water

Do you have any natural remedies you use for urinary tract infection. Do share ! Would love to hear from you !

Probiotic Friendly Kefir Smoothies

Sunithi Selvaraj, RD @ 23.04.2012 Dairy Free 2 comments

I love kefir and I have a kefir smoothie everyday. Mmm … mangoes mixed with kefir are my absolute favorite. Kiwi, berries, bananas any fruit you like , just mix it up with kefir and get a healthy dose of probiotic power in a super yummy drink !! Kefir a cousin of yogurt has a higher concentration of probiotic cultures than yogurt or greek yogurt.

For some yummy, nutritious recipes with kefir, just click the link ! Go on ! You won’t be disappointed !

What are you waiting for ? Click Click !

My guest post on DC Ladies and your smoothies will look like these !

Probiotic Power ! Tap Into It With Yogurt

Sunithi Selvaraj, RD @ 16.02.2012 Natural Health 55 comments

Yogurt, Greek yogurt, Kefir are just some delish ways to get probiotics into your system. I LOVE LOVE probiotics and incorporated them into my daily routine a decade back and believe they have done so much for my gut and health. Probiotics are nothing but ‘Good Bacteria’. You can get them in a pill, but getting a healthy dose through foods is far more effective, not to mention satisfying. Yogurt and kefir made with active, live bacterial cultures are good sources of calcium for many people with lactose intolerance. When yogurt enters the intestine, the bacterial cultures convert lactose to lactic acid, so the yogurt may be well-tolerated due to a lower lactose content than milk. Our body is filled with bacteria, both good and bad ! When the bad overpowers the good you may have symptoms of occasional bloating, poor digestion, irregularity, occasional diarrhea. This is where the power of probiotics comes in to heal and replace conditions existing due to bad bacteria overload. Probiotics have other uses as well.

Probiotic foods

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Yogurt- is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as “yogurt cultures”. It is a great source of calcium, Vitamin D and probiotics. You can make your own yogurt using a yogurt maker or the good old-fashioned way. Heat milk to about 80 °C (176 °F) to kill any undesirable bacteria. Cool to about 45 °C (112 °F). Add bacteria culture and try to maintain temperature for 4 to 7 hours to allow fermentation. Works well in the summer, but winter time you may want to try the yogurt maker. Plain yogurt has more active cultures than flavored yogurt. Read labels for terms like live active cultures, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidus etc.

Greek yogurt – Greek yogurt is a blend of cream and milk, so it has a much higher percentage of milk fat (butterfat)anywhere from 4% to 10%, compared to regular whole milk yogurts that generally don’t exceed 3.5% milk fat. Greek yogurt is also strained, so less water than yogurt, making it more dense, firm and creamy. For health benefits get 2% or fat-free as regular Greek style yogurt has more calories and more fat than regular yogurt; I love Greek yogurt and find the 2% does not taste very different from the whole variety. Creamy delicious, whats not to love about it ! I eat it plain with fruit , nuts and honey. You can substitute it for cream in most desserts.

Kefir- is your best bet for probiotics. It is a fermented milk drink made with Kefir Grains that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region, who discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into a drinkable carbonated milk beverage . It is made by injecting cow, goat, or sheep‘s milk with kefir grains. I used to make my own kefir untill my DH ( Dear Husband ) threw it away thinking it was leftover rice It is easy to make since you have no heat requirements like yogurt. I havent gotten around to ordering some yet, so buying store-bought until then. The kefir grains multiply over time so you can pass some on to friends when yours multiply. I love kefir but can only drink it plain or incorporate it into a smoothie. My breakfast for years has been a kefir based smoothie with flax oil and frozen fruit and I sometimes think it is my healthiest meal of the day. Will be sharing my smoothie recipe in my next post.

Reasons to tap into Probiotic Power

They restore the disrupted balance of the intestinal tract.

They stimulate the growth of antibodies and lymphocytes thus improving your immune system.

They produce huge pools of extra anti-bodies, ready to protect and defend against infection.

Fungal and yeast infections can be prevented. They also help decrease the symptoms of yeast infection and improve healing.

Cleansing the colon, which means that bad breath and body odor are also reduced.

Produce many important enzymes and increase absorption of vitamins and nutrients, especially Vitamin B, Vitamin K, lactase, fatty acids and calcium.

People taking probiotics have experienced lowered cholesterol.

Studies have demonstrated that probiotics can prevent the onset of eczema in children and provide relief to adults suffering from eczema !

Minimizes Lactose Intolerance : Probiotics are made up of lactic acid bacteria which help in the conversion of lactose into lactic acid. That means that less lactose gets into your system, meaning that people with lactose intolerance can ingest more lactose if they are taking probiotics.

Go Probiotic !! Whether you blend the versatile kefir into a delicious mango smoothie or eat greek yogurt with a spoonful of honey and some berries , add some probiotics to your diet and feel the power !

If you like this post and would like some probiotic friendly smoothies and desserts , stay tuned: will be posting some in two days time !