--- title: Cranberries Not Effective in Treating Urinary Tract Infections description: The latest study shows that cranberry components aren’t effective in preventing urinary tract infections, at least among elderly women in whom they are common canonical: https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-27T15:21:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:42.681Z og:title: Stop Using Cranberry Juice to Treat Urinary Tract Infections og:description: The latest study says you should save your cash og:url: https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2fd6829c490c837/6988abb35f570f35b7b2309f/gettyimages-135578499.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cranberries against white background og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stop Using Cranberry Juice to Treat Urinary Tract Infections twitter:description: The latest study says you should save your cash twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2fd6829c490c837/6988abb35f570f35b7b2309f/gettyimages-135578499.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stop Trying to Fix Your UTI With Cranberry Juice (27 Oct 2016)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 27, 2016 3:21 PM UTC  Cranberries CranberriesJames A. Guilliam—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Oct 27, 2016 3:21 PM UTC There’s a certain conventional wisdom that has emerged about [urinary tract infections (UTI)](http://time.com/3941807/diet-uti-cranberry/) that says using cranberry products to treat urinary tract and bladder problems can work. It dates back to the native Americans, and in modern days, has been picked up by naturopaths—and the cranberry industry. But the science supporting the role [cranberries](http://time.com/4105252/urinary-tract-infection-uti/) can play in fighting off bacteria in the urethra is less than conclusive. Some studies, (one sponsored by cranberry juice maker Ocean Spray) supported the role that 10 oz of cranberry cocktail can play in lowering rates of UTIs, especially among older nursing home residents who often experience infections. Some research also pointed to a tannin found in cranberries that can inhibit certain bacteria from attaching to the bladder and establishing an infection, but other studies haven’t shown any benefit. The studies among younger women are equally conflicting, but many women still think that drinking cranberry juice can treat their UTI. In the latest [study, published in _JAMA_](http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2016.16141), researchers led by Dr. Manisha Juthani-Mehta, an associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and her colleagues, wanted to address some of the limitations of the previous studies that might have contributed to their conflicting results. For her study, Juthani-Mehta used cranberry’s most potent components in capsule form, which would allow half of them women to take the equivalent of 20 oz of cranberry juice a day. The other half took a placebo. The two were followed over a year, and had their blood and urine tested every two months for presence of bacteria associated with UTI. The capsules did not seem to do much for either reducing the amount of bacteria in the women’s urine, or for lowering the number of UTIs during the study; both the women taking the cranberry capsules and the placebo had similar rates of both. The findings should, says Juthani-Mehta, put to rest whether cranberry products should be part of medical strategies for lowering UTI rates. “My findings point in the direction that cranberry products, when studied scientifically, are not able to show real benefit for UTI.” She acknowledges, however, that some women may feel it helps lower their risk of symptoms or infection, and says “I don’t see much down side, even if I don’t think the scientific evidence is convincing.” Juthani-Mehta says that the results should prevent people on fixed incomes from spending money on cranberry products that may not help them; antibiotics are effective in treating UTIs, and ensuring that their resources are spent in seeing a doctor and getting the proper tests to verify a UTI would be more useful. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/"},"headline":"Stop Trying to Fix Your UTI With Cranberry Juice (27 Oct 2016)","datePublished":"2016-10-27T15:21:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:42.681Z","description":"The latest study says you should save your cash","url":"https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/","keywords":["motto","medicine","Diet & Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2fd6829c490c837/6988abb35f570f35b7b2309f/gettyimages-135578499.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2fd6829c490c837/6988abb35f570f35b7b2309f/gettyimages-135578499.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cranberries against white background","caption":"Cranberries against white background","creditText":"James A. Guilliam—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4547840/cranberry-juice-uti-myth/","name":"Stop Trying to Fix Your UTI With Cranberry Juice (27 Oct 2016)"}}]}] ```