Cranberries - in urinary tract disease prevention and treatment

Better Nutrition, June, 2001 by Kathi Keville

The natural way to keep on "tract" with urinary health

Traditional Chinese Medicine considers kidneys the source of health and longevity and pays special attention to keeping them strong. It's no wonder; the kidneys contain a million tiny filters designed to remove waste products from the blood. It is all part of an elaborate filtration and disposal system in which refuse is sent to a holding tank--the bladder--where it is diluted in a watery bath to make it less toxic before being discarded as urine. Filtering waste from the body is an important job, but kidneys have other responsibilities. They control blood pressure, balance electrolytes and acid/alkaline, signal when more red blood cells need to be produced, and recycle vital nutrients like glucose and amino acids from the urine back into the blood.

Unfortunately, the urinary tract is a victim of civilization. It must eliminate not only waste products from body metabolism, but all sorts of modern toxins that you breathe, eat, and absorb through skin. Solvents, gasoline, paint, synthetic fragrances and colors, and preservatives all stress the kidneys. In addition, any infection, even tooth decay, and by-products such as nitrogen waste from a high-protein diet can tax them. A puffy face, dark circles under the eyes, pale complexion, and dizziness point to kidney weakness. While bladder problems are fairly easy to self-treat, kidney inflammation or infection can lead to serious complications. These include anemia, electrolyte imbalance, high blood pressure, heart problems, poor circulation, and water retention. Since kidney infection often begins in the bladder, play it safe by seeing your doctor at any hint of trouble, and especially if you have a fever or dull aching pain in your middle back.

Berry good idea

Infection is the most common problem facing the urinary system. Although it's designed as a one-way street, the pathway (the urethra) that urine uses to reach the outside world also serves as a gateway for bacteria to enter the bladder. The culprit that causes most bladder infections is E. coli, a bacteria normally found in the bowel. Another increasing source of bladder infection is the sexually transmitted disease, chlamydia. Early signs of infection are cloudy urine, a burning sensation when urinating, and a heavy feeling or pain in the bladder, especially when it is full or just emptied. Eventually, irritated nerves relay false alarms that send you running to the bathroom unnecessarily.

Several herbs work well to prevent bladder infection. The best known is cranberry. Studies show that cranberry juice drinkers get far fewer infections than do people who don't use it. This popular folk remedy creates an inhospitable environment for the alkaline-loving bacteria by making urine more acidic. Israeli researchers at the Weizman Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University have discovered that cranberries do much more than slightly acidifying urine. They prevent bacteria from attaching to the bladder's wall so infection can't take hold. That's good news for people prone to repeated infections since cranberries can be taken for a while without fear of side effects.

Since commercial cranberry juice is loaded with sugar, use unsweetened concentrate or cranberry capsules from the natural food store. The recommended daily dose to treat or prevent bladder infection is about six ounces a day of pure cranberry juice.

Kidney stones

Be careful when attempting to eliminate kidney stones with herbs. You can run into big trouble if a stone gets stuck on its way out. It can block the duct and is extremely painful. Considering that stones return in about half the people who get them, a better idea is to use herbs to avoid further episodes. Theories abound as to why stones form. Kidney stones are composed of mineral deposits. Most often, they consist of calcium with phosphate or oxalic acid but they can also be uric acid or the amino acid cystine. These deposits seem to form around debris left over after a kidney infection. Being overweight, a history of kidney stones in your family, and possibly lack of exercise and taking steroid drugs increase your chances of developing them, but diet seems the biggest factor. The occurrence of stones in vegetarians, and anyone that eats plenty in vegetarians, and anyone that eats plenty of fresh vegetables, is half that of others and also less in those who eat a high magnesium diet with lots of green, leafy vegetables.

Cranberry and other foods and herbs that encourage an acid environment, come to the rescue once again. They reduce the excessive amounts of calcium, uric acid or the enzyme urease, typically found in the urinary tracts of people with kidney stones. Cranberry was shown to cut calcium levels by more than half. Yellow dock root and an herb appropriately named bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) also reduce the chances of getting calcium stones, although science hasn't discovered exactly why. If you tend to get calcium stones, play it safe by avoiding foods rich in oxalic acid, such as black tea, chocolate, spinach, beet greens, rhubarb, sorrel, and yellow dock leaves (not roots), especially with a high calcium food like milk. Fruits and herbs to specifically reduce uric acid kidney stones are cherries, meadowsweet, sarsaparilla, Joe Pye weed, and plantain, which is widely used by the Chinese to treat kidney problems. Studies from Paraguay, where rosemary is an important folk medicine, found it almost completely inhibits the enzyme, urease.