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NEW
YORK (Reuters Health), 2003-03-07
Investigators
based in Finland discovered that women who regularly drink
fresh juices and eat yogurt and
cheese may be less likely than others to develop
urinary tract infections (UTI).
The authors found that women who drank at least one
daily glass of fresh juice -- either freshly squeezed
or from concentrate, with no additional sweeteners
-- were 34% less likely to have experienced a recent UTI.
Women appeared especially protected from UTIs if they
drank juices made from berries, the report notes.
Women who reported eating milk products that contain
helpful microbes known as probiotic bacteria -- such
as yogurt and cheese -- at least three times
each week were almost 80% less likely to have recently developed a UTI than
women who ate similar foods less than once per week.
These findings may help explain why some women often
develop UTIs, while others do not, the authors note.
"
Dietary habits seem to be an important risk factor
for UTI recurrence in fertile women, and dietary guidance
could be a first step toward prevention," Tero
Kontiokari of the University of Oulu in Finland and
colleagues write.
Kontiokari and colleagues base their findings on
surveys of the eating habits of 139 women who had
developed a UTI within two weeks prior, and 185 women
who had not experienced UTIs within the past five years. Study participants'
average age was 30.
Reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
the authors found that women who had not suffered
a recent UTI reported higher consumption of
fresh fruit juices and milk products containing probiotic bacteria.
In terms of why certain food and drink may ward off
UTIs, Kontiokari and colleagues note that UTIs can
be caused by bacteria that migrate from the stool.
Foods
that modify the stool's bacterial content may therefore influence the risk
of UTIs, they write.
Popular in Europe and increasingly in the US, probiotics
are foods that contain living cultures of "good" bacteria.
People have ascribed many benefits to eating or drinking
these foods, including the ability to prevent urinary
tract infections.
Previous research has also shown that drinking cranberry
juice helps ward off repeat episodes of UTIs, the
researchers note.
Plants contain certain antioxidants that may help
protect them against bacterial infections; these
substances may also shield people who eat certain
fruits
and vegetables from infection as well, Kontiokari and colleagues write.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition 2003;77:600-604.
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