Cranberry Juice and Urinary Tract Infections (2024)

Overview

For years, people have used cranberry juice to prevent and help cure urinary tract infections (UTIs). There is limited proof that this is worth trying.

Pure cranberry juice, cranberry extract, or cranberry supplements may help prevent repeated UTIs in women, but the benefit is small. Using cranberry products to prevent UTIs may be expensive, and some people don't like the taste. No single concentration of cranberry juice, extract, or supplement has been studied, so it's hard to know which product to choose.

If you do want to try cranberry juice to prevent UTIs, it's better to drink pure, unsweetened cranberry juice (rather than cranberry juice co*cktail). Drinking cranberry juice co*cktail doesn't seem to prevent UTIs better than drinking any other fruit juice.^{footnote 1}

There is no proof that cranberry can cure a UTI. Cranberry is not well tested as a UTI treatment.

Related Information

• Urinary Problems and Injuries, Age 11 and Younger
• Urinary Problems and Injuries, Age 12 and Older
• Urinary Tract Infections in Teenagers and Adults

References

Citations

1. Barbosa-Cesnik C, et al. (2011). Cranberry juice fails to prevent recurrent urinary tract infection: Results from a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 52(1): 23–30.

Credits

Author: Healthwise Staff

Clinical Review Board
All Healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.