What to Eat & Avoid During a UTI

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common and notoriously uncomfortable bacterial infection that often results in several days of painful symptoms. If you’ve developed a UTI, you may be wondering if certain foods or beverages can help you feel better—or make your infection worse.

Contrary to popular belief, no type of cranberry juice, healthy snack, or special tonic can cure a UTI. Antibiotic medication is necessary to completely clear bacteria from the urinary tract and eliminate symptoms. A UTI can spread to the kidneys and cause potentially serious complications—in addition to more pain—without proper and timely treatment from a medical professional.

Nevertheless, it’s true that certain foods and beverages can promote a strong immune response and enhance urinary health, while other options can irritate the bladder and exacerbate UTI symptoms. Let’s take a closer look.

What to Eat (And Drink!)

First and foremost, it’s important to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated if you’re battling UTI symptoms. Drinking six to eight glasses of water (about 48 to 64 ounces) per day can help flush some bacteria out of the urinary tract and streamline the recovery process.

It’s also a good idea to consume foods that contain probiotics, such as sauerkraut, pickles, and kefir or probiotic yogurt. Probiotics contain good bacteria that aid the immune system, support digestive health, and can help the body fight off infections like UTIs. Eating non-acidic foods that contain plenty of immune-boosting vitamin C, including bell peppers and broccoli, can also be helpful when dealing with a UTI.

What to Avoid

Unfortunately, there’s a relatively long list of foods and beverages to avoid if you have a UTI. Try to steer clear of the following items, which can cause bladder irritation, until your infection has cleared and you’re feeling better:

• Alcohol
• Coffee
• Sugary or caffeinated sodas
• Fruit juices that contain high amounts of sugar (including most cranberry juices!)
• Citrus-based beverages such as lemonade
• Acidic fruits like oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and tomatoes
• Desserts and candy
• Sugary breakfast cereals
• Artificial sweeteners
• Spicy foods such as hot peppers and chilies

Same-Day UTI Treatment From PhysicianOne Urgent Care

PhysicianOne Urgent Care’s experienced medical practitioners can’t do your grocery shopping, but we can provide the fast and effective UTI treatment you need to find relief. UTI treatment plans typically involve a regimen of antibiotics, which will be tailored to your specific needs, as well as recommendations that can help ease symptoms as your infection clears.

Visit a PhysicianOne Urgent Care location in Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New York to receive timely treatment for a UTI. Our urgent care centers are open 365 days per year during convenient hours and welcome patients on a walk-in basis. Appointment scheduling is available for those who’d rather reserve an appointment time, and patients who’d like to consult with a medical professional from home can take advantage of our 24/7 telemedicine service.

What Foods to Avoid With a UTI

pelvisawareness_admin February 10, 2023 UTI

Nobody likes having a urinary tract infection, but they do happen from time to time.

If you’ve got a urinary tract infection (UTI) or you’re prone to having UTIs, you’ll receive a lot of advice: what causes them, whether you should have sex with a UTI, what you should eat to treat or prevent them, and other pointers.

But there’s more. Let’s look at what foods to avoid with a UTI. 

Do I Have a UTI?

If you’re a woman, there’s a good chance you have had a UTI at some time, since women are at a greater risk than men. A UTI is an infection in any part of the urinary system, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. Most infections involve the lower urinary tract—the bladder and the urethra.¹

An infection limited to the bladder is mostly annoying, although it can be painful. Serious health problems can occur if the infection spreads to the kidneys.¹

If you have a UTI, you may not have any symptoms, but these are the most common side effects:¹

• A strong urge to urinate that doesn’t go away
• A burning feeling when urinating
• Urinating often, and passing small amounts of urine
• Urine that looks cloudy, smells strong, or is red, bright pink or cola-colored

Occasionally a UTI can cause pelvic pain.

What Foods to Avoid with a UTI

You’ll often hear that cranberry juice is a good option for preventing and treating UTIs. That’s because it can flush bacteria from your system without irritating the urinary tract.²

But in terms of what you should not eat when you have a UTI, urologists suggest avoiding:²

• Acidic fruits: like lemons, oranges, grapefruits, apples, and peaches, as well as juices from these fruits. These fruits are loaded with acids which can greatly irritate the bladder. 
• Spicy foods: for the same reasons as acidic fruit, since the extra heat may also add irritation.
• Sugar and starch: in foods such as cookies, soda, chips, candy, and cake, since they are a good food source for bacteria.

Other foods to avoid include alcohol and artificial sweeteners.³

Doctors also warn against drinking caffeine (think coffee and soda pop) for a number of reasons:²

1. It can increase the rate at which you urinate, which can lead to slight dehydration.
2. Dehydration can add salt to your urine, and salt can irritate your bladder, which will make the symptoms of UTI worse. 
3. It may cause you to hold back the desire to urinate, which in turn increases the risk of bacteria in your bladder. 

The best thing to consume with a UTI is a lot of water. Up to eight glasses a day will help flush some bacteria out of your urinary tract. While cranberry juice and other healthy items like the probiotics in sauerkraut, pickles, kefir and probiotic yogurt can help your body fight infections, they can’t cure a UTI once you have one.⁴

It’s best to see a doctor and receive medicine to eliminate the infection and avoid the danger of the infection spreading to your kidneys.⁴

Seek Medical Attention 

A proper diagnosis and treatment is vital if you suspect you have a UTI. A healthcare provider will perform tests to identify the type of UTI, and then you may receive an antibiotic. Left untreated, a urinary tract infection can cause serious health problems, such as permanent kidney damage, or sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. ¹

Use our Physician Finder to seek out a women’s health specialist if you suspect you have any type of UTI.

Click for References

¹https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-tract-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20353447

²https://www.orlandourologistmd.com/blog/foods-to-avoid-when-treating-a-urinary-tract-infection

³https://www.arobgyn.com/5-things-to-avoid-when-you-have-a-uti/

⁴https://physicianoneurgentcare.com/blog/what-to-eat-and-what-to-avoid-during-a-uti/

Foods that you should never eat with a cold

Are there any foods that can worsen an already unimportant condition with a cold? It turns out yes. And if you’re looking for an alternative to chicken broth or milk with honey, both of which are considered traditional “cold” foods, here’s a list of what not to eat if you’ve got a cold. Take note!

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Coffee

Sweets

cold

Flu

Health

You are ill: fever, runny nose, cough, weakness. All these symptoms or some of them can be characteristic of a variety of diseases – flu, colds, coronavirus. But it doesn’t matter what kind of diagnosis you have, now the main thing is to help the body cope with the infection so that you start to feel better.

Do not self-medicate! In our articles, we collect the latest scientific data and the opinions of authoritative health experts. But remember: only a doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment.

If you have a temperature, then bring it down correctly if it rises above 38.5. Determine what dose of the drug is right for you, and take it according to the instructions – you should not drink medicines or tablets too often, as well as take them if the temperature has barely exceeded the threshold of 37 degrees. If the temperature is very high and does not go astray, then call an ambulance or consult a doctor.

But what about other symptoms? We will not touch on the treatment – it is prescribed by a doctor, but we will talk about foods that you definitely should not eat so as not to feel worse. Some of them do more harm than good.

Sweet

When you lie in bed with a fever, you want to feel sorry for yourself and eat something tasty. Sweets, desserts, chocolate – the first thing that comes to mind. But this is not the right choice for those who get sick.

The fact is that sugar can cause and intensify inflammatory processes in the body, the presence of which will further undermine the immune system. When the body is fighting a disease, an extra weakening of the immune system is completely inopportune.

Cheese

Cheese varieties are a convenient and easy snack food loved by many. We do not forbid eating cheese (and how can we do it!), but during a cold it is better to refuse it. In the period of illness, it is better to give preference to products that fight inflammation, and cheese is not one of them.

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Coffee

Even if you are an avid coffee drinker, it is better to give up your favorite drink when you are sick. Coffee contributes to dehydration, and you can already lose fluid due to temperature and excessive sweating. Dehydration of the body will become an additional factor that worsens your condition: for example, muscle pain may increase, and along with it, weakness.

Bananas

Although these fruits are considered extremely healthy because of their composition, rich in vitamins and minerals, it is better to eat them when you are healthy, and not when you are sick. This product enhances the production of histamine, and this is best avoided during the period of illness – histamine can provoke inflammatory reactions. In addition, there is quite a lot of sugar in bananas, and, as we have already written, it is also harmful during a cold.

Energy

During the period of illness, we feel weakness and loss of strength: this is quite normal, because the body spends all its strength on fighting the infection. You don’t need to forcefully stay in bed, but if you feel that you don’t have enough strength, then it’s better to really lie down – our grandmothers and mothers knew what to advise and were right about bed rest.

In general, if you have the idea to cheer up with the help of caffeinated energy drinks, then don’t even think about using it. Such drinks will increase dehydration and weaken the immune system, but they definitely won’t add vigor to you.

Photo: Shutterstock

Not only garlic: what to eat and drink during colds and SARS | Articles

In Russia, the season of colds and SARS is in full swing. Z you can get sick not only with coronavirus, the statistics for which are likely to grow for several more weeks, but also with the more familiar flu or other viral infection. It is impossible to exclude a simple cold against the background of hypothermia in a snowy winter. Izvestia collected recommendations from experts on how to eat better in order to reduce the risk of developing the disease or alleviate its course, and found out how long it takes the body to recover, which fish is considered the most useful, and why it is better for patients with ARVI to avoid sweets and pastries.

Preventive measures against SARS

In their recommendations, Rospotrebnadzor specialists point out the importance of a balanced diet during the “cold” period . So, the department notes, it is best to divide meals into a full breakfast, lunch and dinner and two snacks. It is desirable that they fall at the same time. The minimum set for those who find it inconvenient to have a snack during the day because of the schedule is a full breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It is important that the food contains enough proteins, fats, carbohydrates and trace elements. These norms are calculated based on the age of a person . Drink at this time you need about 1.5-2 liters of water.

Preference at this time should be fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as foods containing vitamins A and C, zinc and calcium . This includes citrus fruits, currants, kiwi fruit, apples, sweet peppers, fresh or sauerkraut (it is rich in vitamin C ), parsley and green onions .

Photo: Depositphotos/Syda_Productions

Low-fat dairy and sour-milk products (for example, cottage cheese, yogurt or kefir), hard cheeses and boiled fatty fish will also be useful.

It is better to include chicken or veal as a source of protein in the diet. Hearty and warming cereals, as well as various vegetable oils, will well complement the menu.

— In other words, [you need] to use those products that will not overload the body with their energy intensity and support the immune system. Viruses do not tolerate an alkaline environment, so it is worth including mineral water in the water balance, the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor say.

Vegetables, berries, fruits and herbs will also help create an alkaline environment in the body.

How fermented probiotics can help with SARS

In the cold season, fish rich in vitamin D should be included in the diet, emphasizes physician Fallahi Nurzhahan. These are, in particular, salmon, tuna, sockeye salmon and sardines .

Animal protein is able to provide the body with a large number of amino acids that are necessary for immunity , so in winter it is especially important to include it in your diet.

Photo: TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

It is also important that the diet contains a sufficient amount of probiotics . The list of their sources, by the way, is not limited to one milk.

“Sour-milk products are rich in probiotics and lactobacilli. Sauerkraut must also be on the winter menu, since with natural sourdough it produces a large amount of vitamins, in particular ascorbic acid and probiotics, ”the doctor said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Why sugar is bad for ARVI

During the period of the illness itself, you can rely on products recommended for the prevention of ARVI and colds , but subject to additional conditions, explain in Rospotrebnadzor.

So, it is advisable to eat at least 4 – 5 times a day, at about the same time and preferably in small portions .

– In the acute period of the disease, it is recommended to eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible, use walnuts, honey, increase the daily amount of fluid consumed up to 3 liters per day, – experts of the department say.

All other food should be well cooked: other cooking methods are not recommended at this time.

Photo: Depositphotos/NewAfrica

Experts advise foods rich in sugar to be excluded from the diet. This is not only confectionery, pure sugar itself, cakes, sweets or pastries, but also, for example, grapes.

Keeping away from sweets is important because sugar reduces the activity of white blood cells, namely they are responsible for fighting viruses. In addition, sugar, settling on the walls of the throat and in the oral cavity, can become an extra source of nutrition for pathogens .

By the way, the same applies to baked goods made from refined wheat flour. The yeast contained in it can “help” the virus in your body by improving cell permeability, so it is better to refrain from them during illness .

What foods should be limited in case of SARS

In addition, stay away from fatty and fried foods rich in cholesterol, as they increase the load on an already weakened body . And also from salty, spicy and fermented foods, such as spicy snacks, pickled dishes and just hot spices and seasonings. They can also become a source of nutrition for the virus and increase the inflammatory process.

Coffee, strong tea and alcohol can lead to dehydration, which makes it very difficult to recover from colds or viral infections , so it is better not to use them during illness.

Also on the forbidden list, among other things, were fruits with a thick skin, beans, peas and all fast food, which can disrupt the metabolic processes in the body.