Art (California) on 08/16/2020

The active component against UTIs in cranberry/cranberry juice is D-Mannose, a common supplement. D-Mannose is much more potent and works by binding to the E.coli bacteria preventing the bacteria from sticking to the urinary tract surfaces and bladder interior surface, allowing the bacteria to be safely flushed away when urinating, preventing the infection from spreading or continuing to exist. Because of this method of action, bacterial resistance to D-Mannose does not occur because D-Mannose is not attacking the virus, but rather just binding to it. This can become a major problem with antibiotics which the bacteria become resistant to.

Another issue with antibiotics is that they tend to destroy the gut bacteria both good and bad and this can contribute to more UTIs in the long run if good gut bacteria is destroyed that would normally keep E.coli controlled. Here is a link to a study where they show that D-Mannose can be used as a preventative for frequent UTIs in women who are prone to these infections, but my experience is that it is also effective in men, but women get significantly more UTIs than men :

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32597599/

Many people who have frequent UTIs develop bacterial resistance and then stronger and stronger antibiotics are needed to try and fight the UTI, but these more potent antibiotics can bring a myriad of side effects that nobody wants or needs! For example, one highly potent antibiotic that can be used for UTIs is Ciprofloxacin / Cipro and this particular antibiotic has the well known side effect of causing torn tendons and ligaments and blown achilles tendons (OUCH!). I wrote about this serious issue in another EC post and explained how to help repair some of this ligament and tendon damage.

D-Mannose is thought to be effective only against E.coli based UTIs which means it will not likely work for all UTIs, but it will work for the majority because E.coli is the most common cause of UTIs at approximately as high as 90% of cases.

https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/urinary-tract-infections#:~:text=The most common bacteria found, 90 percent of the time

D-Mannose can also be used as a preventative against UTIs when traveling to help prevent a UTI from getting started in the first place. Here is a link to typical D-Mannose supplements and powder :

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=D-mannose&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

All you need to do is mix the powder with water and drink it down or take the capsules, all per label directions.

Two other simple preventatives is to void as soon as the urge is felt so that the urine does not sit in the bladder longer than it has to in an environment that can be conducive to bacterial growth. The second preventative is the use of probiotics such as L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri and L. casei shirota.

Art