For people who suffer from UTI, especially those who keep getting UTIs, telling them not to consume fresh fruit juice, like apple juice, is one of the pieces of advice that has caused the most damage for them.
Many UTI patients around the world are now deprived of the great health benefits that fresh apple juice and similar fruit juices can provide for their UTI conditions because of such pieces of advice.
If you want to get rid of UTI as quickly and as smoothly as possible and ensure that it never comes back to haunt you in the future, then one of the best things you can do to achieve that goal besides seeking professional medical help is to incorporate fresh apple juice into your diet.
If you have a UTI, fresh apple juice can be an extremely healthy nutritional option for you as it has extremely beneficial anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and rehydrating properties that can help you defeat this infection and prevent it from coming back.
Here, you will also see how fresh apple juice can be used to improve the health of your urinary system and your immune system so that you can have a shorter and smoother time getting rid of UTI, and so that you can lower your chance of acquiring this infection and related kinds of conditions in the future.
Benefits of drinking fresh apple juice for UTI
1) If you have a UTI and drink fresh apple juice with no added sugar, you could have a benefit or advantage you may not get otherwise from eating whole apples, which is getting more vitamin C, potassium, polyphenolic compounds and other nutrients into your body.
Studies show that the high fiber content of apples and fruits in general can interfere with the absorption of potassium, vitamin C, polyphenolic compounds and other apple nutrients, making them less available for absorption or assimilation by the body.
For example, if you eat whole or raw apples, they would be very healthy for your UTI of course, but you wouldn’t be able to take the whole benefit out of them for your UTI condition because they contain too much fiber, which will hamper the absorption of the vitamins, minerals and polyphenolic compounds found in them.
While, if you put these apples in a blender with some water and turn them into apple juice and you don’t add any refined sugar, the fiber content would be reduced, and this would allow the other nutrients in the juice to be absorbed into your body (the bloodstream) and exert their beneficial effects on UTI and the body in general.
your body will be in extreme need of these nutrients when it wants to recover from UTI as they come heavily packed with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immune-supporting and rehydrating properties.
So, people who drink apple juice would assimilate more or have more access to these healthy vitamins, minerals and polyphenolic compounds and their beneficial effects than those who eat whole apples (raw apples).
This is mainly due to two reasons:
One: Because in apple juice there would be less fiber to interfere with the absorption of the minerals, vitamins, polyphenolic compounds and other nutrients found in the juice.
Two: Apple juice naturally has more water in its composition, which means that it is more diluted, and this dilution will make it easier for the body to absorb and extract the nutrients that it needs from the juice.
So, all in all, you would benefit from a very high nutrient absorption rate when you drink apple juice, and that will reflect positively on your UTI.
Even if you do not have a UTI at the time of speaking this will help you prevent this infection from happening in the first place.
2) You will be able to rehydrate your body more after drinking fresh apple juice because your body will be able to absorb more minerals, like potassium, more vitamins, like vitamin C and vitamin E, and more polyphenolic compounds, like proanthocyanidins and flavonols.
Your body will be in extreme need of rehydration at the time of UTI as a proper level of hydration is vital for supporting the urinary system and the immune system and helping them get rid of the bacteria.
Maintaining a proper hydration level will make it easier for your urinary system to be able to flush out the bacteria that may be sticking to the inner walls of your bladder.
So, you should always opt to drink more rehydrating and refreshing fluids, like fresh apple juice, without any added sugar because any extra amount of refined sugar can actually do the opposite and dehydrate your body.
A proper hydration level also means that your blood pressure will remain within optimal range, and that will ensure that enough blood supply will reach your bladder, which in turn will ensure that your bladder will remain in the best condition to fight off UTI.
Just like your brain, if your bladder and your urinary system do not receive enough blood supply and nutrition from the blood circulation, they will not function properly nor will they be able to fight infections, like the UTI, in the best way possible.
3) when you drink fresh apple juice, you would still be left with some amount of fiber because the fiber content of the original apple from which you have made the juice is still going to be there and will not be completely gone.
So, you would still get some amount of fiber when you drink apple juice and that amount of fiber can exert its beneficial effects on the body in terms of reducing and slowing down the absorption of sugar.
So, there is a very strong case to be made that fresh apple juice can actually be a healthy dietary option for you if you are a UTI patient who also happens to have diabetes.
For UTI patients and even for healthy people, spiking up the blood sugar levels in the body is not healthy at all, and junk foods are one of the worst examples of foods that can do that. Fresh apple juice is definitely not one of those foods.
Try to avoid commercial kinds of apple juice and opt for the fresh homemade and unfiltered version because with commercial apple juices, companies filter out the pomace which contains most of the fiber and polyphenolic content of apples and only leave out the clear portion of the juice, which has much less nutritional value.
4) For people who have UTI, anything that can have antioxidant activity can be beneficial for them as it can improve their immune defenses against bacteria and other pathogens that cause UTI.
Antioxidant activity will result in a reduced inflammation in the body and vice versa, so you can see that both of these activities are interrelated, and they are both very healthy for the body.
When there is a UTI, the bacteria that has caused the infection will cause oxidative damage (oxidation) in the baldder, kidneys or the urinary system in general as this is one of their mechanisms (ways) to protect themselves and to make it harder for us to cure the infection.
If you drink fresh apple juice, its antioxidant activity will protect your urinary system from the oxidative damage caused by the bacteria, and that same antioxidant activity will reduce inflammation there.
All of these effects collectively will improve your symptoms, and make your UTI much easier to treat.
The less oxidation and inflammation you have in your urinary system, the less damage you will have in there and the less UTI symptoms you will experience.
Fresh or homemade apple juice is a drink which is full of antioxidant nutrients, like vitamin C, polyphenolic compounds, B vitamins and vitamin E.
These nutrients can protect you from the oxidative damage that can be done to your urinary system by the UTI bacteria, and that can help you recover from UTI more easily and properly.
This study shows the great antioxidant potential of apple juice which is a quality that can be extremely beneficial for people who suffer from UTI as we said.
Oxidative damage (oxidation) may actually end up causing irreversible damage to the urinary system if not dealt with properly and as soon as possible.
Drinking fresh apple juice is one of the ways to help mitigate this problem.
5) When you have a UTI, one of the best things you can do is to try and reduce inflammation in your urinary system and body as much as you can because it’s the body’s response to infection, which is called inflammation, is the one responsible for most of the symptoms you experience when you have UTI and for a lot of the damage as well.
When there is bacteria in your bladder or in any part of your urinary system or body, your body will send the white blood cells (WBCs) over to the site of infection.
These white blood cells with their secretions (inflammatory cytokines, leukotrienes and so on) and with the existing bacteria will form a mixture or complex, which is called an inflammatory complex, and this process is called inflammation.
For the body that inflammation can be extremely taxing, so wherever it happens if it continues or stays for a long time, it can cause a lot of damage to the organ or the part of the body in which it is located or found.
It’s like when someone overreacts to a piece of bad news or information. Their overreaction is the thing that ends up causing the most damage and not the piece of bad news itself.
You must try to reduce that inflammation as soon as possible in order to prevent or stop the damage that is being caused to the walls of your urinary bladder and the blood vessels, nerves and muscles in there as well and to any other part of your urinary tract, like the kidneys or ureters.
One of the best ways to help you reduce inflammation in your urinary system is by drinking fresh homemade apple juice because this juice has alot of compounds in its composition that have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
This study show the great anti-inflammatory properties of apple juice, and it also shows that the antioxidant properties of apple juice play a very important role in reducing inflammation in the body in general.
People who have interstitial cystitis can also benefit from the anti-inflammatory effects of fresh apple juice as interstitial cystitis is a condition that is highly interlinked with inflammation in the bladder and the less inflammation you have in their the better off you will be.
6) If you have a UTI, it’s likely that your UTI has been caused or influenced by issues in your digestive system or gut.
Science points out the fact that over 80% of UTIs are caused by the E. coli bacteria migrating from the colon through the anus and into the perennial region, which is the area between the anus and the urethra, and then these bacteria will try to climb up the urethra and reach the bladder to cause a UTI.
This mostly happens to women because they have short urethra’s, but it can also happen to men, although not in exactly the same way but in a similar enough fashion.
So, if you could improve the health condition of your digestive system, you will greatly improve your chances of treating your UTI or preventing it from happening in the first place.
Have you ever heard the doctor’s advice about how to improve the health and well-being of your digestive system or gut?
It would be something like this: eat a lot of fiber-containing foods and drinks, like fruits and vegetables, and as a pharmacist I’m here to tell you that that piece of advice couldn’t be more accurate or correct.
Although fresh apple juice contains a third of the amount of fiber found in whole apples, that amount is still enough to induce beneficial and healthy effects on the gut microbiome or the beneficial bacteria living in your gut.
Many studies have shown that drinking apple juice is associated with a reduced risk of irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer and that risk reduction is mainly due to the presence of the fiber and polyphenolic content in apple juice.
Your gut microbiome or the beneficial bacteria living in your gut can digest or ferment the fiber and some of the polyphenolic compounds found in fresh apple juice turning them into different kinds of compounds that get absorbed into the body eventually.
These compounds can also exert a lot of important beneficial health effects on the body from improving the immunity to fighting cancerous cells in the colon and body, to mood stabilization.
So, if you drink fresh apple juice when you have a UTI you will not only benefit from the direct antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of apple juice on the urinary system for example, but you will also benefit from an indirect effect of apple juice, which is improving the health of your gut probiotic bacteria or the beneficial bacteria living in your gut.
These beneficial bacteria can play an important immune-supporting role in terms of preventing harmful bacteria from settling in your gut and potentially exploiting it and using it as a base to launch their attacks on other parts of the body, for example the urinary system, which is exactly what happens in the case of most UTIs.
7) A lot of the time, people would have their urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused or worsened by the presence of kidney stones in their kidneys, ureters, bladder or any other part of their urinary system.
In fact, a UTI would be much harder to treat if there was a kidney stone worsening or complicating it.
Drinking apple juice can highly reduce the risk of kidney stones happening in the first place, and it can also help in dissolving them or preventing them from getting any worse if there is any kind of them in your urinary system.
When you drink fresh apple juice, it would not only help with your UTI in a direct manner, but it would also help you in an indirect way by helping you get rid of kidney stones.
8) Studies show that drinking fresh apple juice on a regular basis made the people who consumed this healthy beverage more relaxed and less agitated, and it significantly reduced their anxiety levels and put them in a better mood.
So, if you would be put in a better mood after drinking the juice and your stress hormone levels (like cortisol) would be lowered in your body, then that would reduce inflammation and irritation in your urinary system as well.
This would give you a relief from UTI symptoms or it may at least attenuate the symptoms a little bit.
Additionally, your immune system would be put in a much better position to fight the UTI bacteria and fend them off if your body becomes more relaxed and less agitated.
People who have interstitial cystitis can also benefit from this mood-improving quality of apple juice as interstitial cystitis is a condition that is directly linked with inflammation and fresh apple juice can lower inflammation in the body in general through its mood-improving properties.
Is apple juice good for UTI?
If you have a urinary tract infection or bladder infection (some people may refer to it as cystitis), you will greatly benefit from the healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties fresh, unfiltered apple juice has.
You can increase your chances of defeating UTI more efficiently and completely if you drink fresh apple juice on a regular basis, and in that way you will be able to possibly prevent UTIs from coming back to you in the future.
Moreover, women who suffer from recurrent UTIs can drink fresh, homemade apple juice on a regular basis or even before an imminent UTI attack to increase their chances of not having that UTI attack in the first place.
If you have a kidney stone and this condition has caused you to be more susceptible to UTIs, then drinking fresh apple juice will help you get rid of both of these issues at the same time because of its hydrating, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
UTIs can be worsened by irritable bowel syndrome or issues in the digestive system, but the fiber content of apples can help in the treatment of these issues, therefore it can indirectly help with UTI’s treatment too.
And, the vitamins, minerals and polyphenolic compounds in that juice will also help you get rid of both the UTI and the bowel issues.
Even if you have diabetes or you struggle with weight management issues and you have a UTI at the same time, then drinking fresh apple juice will not affect any of these conditions negatively, especially if you don’t add any sugar to the juice.
The reason for this is that this juice does not have high amounts of calories to begin with and the amount of fiber and other nutrients it has will also help your body metabolize the sugar content of the juice with almost zero issues.
A great number of pieces of research show that vitamins, polyphenolic compounds, minerals and other nutrients can help the body better metabolize and process the sugars and carbohydrates in foods and reduce or attenuate any negative effects that might come out from consuming them.
last but not least, if you do not have a UTI at the moment, but you want to prevent it from happening in the first place, then one of the best ways to do that is to drink a vitamin, mineral and nutrient-rich drink, like apple juice.
The rehydration and nutrition that this juice is going to offer to your urinary system and body is the reason why I believe that this drink is going to be extremely healthy for you if you have a UTI or if you want to prevent one.
So, the conclusion that we can draw from this is that, of course, drinking fresh, unfiltered apple juice is extremely healthy and beneficial for people who suffer from UTI.
But, note that this juice can only offer you help in terms of treating and managing your UTI condition, but it should not be considered as a replacement for medical and professional treatment in any way, shape or form.
You might also be interested in our orange juice for UTI article.
What are the components of fresh apple juice and how do they relate to UTI?
Fresh apple juice contains the same components as whole apples except for the fiber content, which would be reduced to approximately the third after you blend apples and turn them into apple juice.
Vitamin C
If you drink a cup of fresh apple juice, you would be supplying your body with approximately half of its daily need for vitamin C. This is how healthy apple juice can be.
Vitamin C is extremely important and vital for the proper functioning of our immune system and for reducing oxidation and inflammation in the body, which are all processes heavily involved and interlinked with UTI.
B vitamins
A glass of fresh apple juice contains approximately 9%, 6%, 5% and 4% of the recommended daily intake values of vitamins B1, B6, B7 and B2 consecutively.
The B vitamins in the body are called B complex vitamins, and these vitamins work hand in hand in the body to protect our nerves from any kind of damage.
Our bodies also use the help of B complex vitamins for energy production and for improving the functionality of our immune system and for hundreds of other functions.
So, if you have a UTI, you could pretty much use the help of the B vitamins found in apple juice in protecting the nerves of your bladder muscle and your urinary system from any damage they might receive because of the infection.
A kind of damage that might end up causing you to have chronic conditions related to UTI, like interstitial cystitis.
Potassium and other minerals
A glass of fresh apple juice approximately contains 4% and 3% of the recommended daily intake values of Potassium and Zinc respectively. It also has 2% of the recommended daily intake values of Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, phosphate and selenium.
Our kidneys and urinary system need proper blood pressure and blood supply to be able to filter out urine properly, and all of these aforementioned minerals, especially potassium, calcium and magnesium, are not only important for maintaining proper blood pressure, but without any of them we might die actually.
In addition, if you have a UTI, you would benefit from all of these minerals because these minerals help keep the nerves and muscles of our body functioning well, including our bladder muscle and the nerves that supply it.
Fiber
Fresh apple juice contains approximately 3.5% of our daily need for fiber, and that fiber, which is mostly pectin, is an important food source for our gut microflora or the beneficial bacteria that live in our digestive system.
Our bowels, immune system and surprisingly enough our mental health will improve because of the metabolites (compounds) that will come out after our gut microflora ferments or digest the fiber content of apple juice.
Polyphonic compounds
Polyphenolic compounds are a set of newly discovered compounds, which are found mainly in plant-based foods, like fruits and vegetables and their juices.
These compounds turned out to be extremely healthy and beneficial for our immune system and body because of their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulating and cancer preventing properties.
If you have a UTI, you would have a much higher chance of recovering from the infection if you drink fresh apple juice because of the abundance of polyphenolic compounds this juice has.
The risk of having UTIs or worsening (complicating) them can be reduced because of these apple juice compounds.
Also, these compounds can lower the oxidative damage in the urinary system and help our immune system better fight the UTI-causing bacteria.
Examples of the polyphenolic compounds fresh apple juice has (with their daily recommended intake values) are Quercetin (12%), Flavonoids (8%) and Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins.
Carotenoids (lutein)
Mainly lutein. These compounds are powerful antioxidants, and a glass of apple juice contains approximately 6% of the daily recommended intake value of lutein.
Carbohydrates and calories
Your body won’t be suffering from any great or sudden increases in blood sugar levels when you drink fresh apple juice, and it won’t react in an inflammatory way to the sugar content of the juice just like it does when you eat or drink junk food or even when you drink commercial apple juice.
To know more about the dangers of consuming junk food for people who have UTI, see our junk food for UTI article.
In other words, your blood sugar levels won’t be raised too highly or too suddenly after drinking apple juice because this juice does not have a lot of sugar to begin with and because of the fiber content.
Scientifically speaking, fresh apple juice has a very low and healthy glycemic index.
To put this in concrete terms, a glass of fresh apple juice only has 94 Calories.
This is a table that shows the composition (components) of apple juice.
The values in percentage reflect the daily recommended intake values, although these may vary from one person to another.
| Composition | Concentration |
|---|---|
| Calories | 94cal (5%) |
| Fiber | 0.8g (3.5%) |
| Vitamin C | 52mg (48%) |
| Vitamin B1 | 0.1mg (9%) |
| Vitamin B5 | 0.1mg (2%) |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.1mg (6%) |
| Vitamin B7 | 2µg (5%) |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.04mg (4%) |
| Vitamin B3 | 0.4mg (3%) |
| Iron | 0.2mg (2%) |
| Potassium | 178mg (4%) |
| Zinc | 0.26mg (3%) |
| Magnesium | 8mg (2%) |
| Manganese | 0.06mg (2%) |
| Copper | 0.02 (2%) |
| Calcium | 12mg (2%) |
| Quercetin | 1.16mg (12%) |
| Flavonoids | 36mg (8%) |
| Lutein | 114µg (6%) |
Can you drink apple juice if you have a UTI?
I guess by now it has become redundant to answer this question. Absolutely you can and you actually should drink fresh, unfiltered apple juice if you have a UTI. (I’ve become redundant)
The only thing I might add here is if you have an illness like diabetes or if you struggle with weight management issues then it can also be absolutely healthy for you to drink apple juice from time to time.
The best approach here is to diversify or alternate between eating whole apples or other kinds of fruit and drinking apple juice (the fresh unfiltered version of course).
If you have really poor control over your blood sugar, then you might want to check your blood sugar levels after you drink the juice and see how your body reacts to it.
In rare cases, people who have some kind of blockage in their urinary system may not be advised to drink water or any kind of fluid, especially those who have a complete blockage in their urinary system due to a large kidney stone or an anatomical abnormality.
In these cases, surgical intervention is often required.
In most cases, it should be absolutely fine and extremely healthy for you and for your UTI condition to drink up on fresh apple juice.
Commercial apple juice or the apple juice you find in the supermarket and its effects on UTI
UTIs are negatively affected by sugars and the foods or drinks that raise or spike up the blood sugar levels. So, anything that contains carbohydrates or sugars or any kind of high amounts of calories can negatively impact people who have UTI.
Our bodies respond in a negative way to sudden spikes in the blood sugar or we may say that they respond in an inflammatory way to those spikes in blood sugar.
Studies show that high amounts of sugar can lower the immunity and put the body in a state of low-grade inflammation to say the least.
This can irritate and agitate the bladder and the urinary tract and can further contribute to causing or exacerbating UTIs.
So, you’ll end up having more symptoms and worsening your UTI if you drink commercial apple juice because it contains a lot of refined sugar and because it has little to no fiber content to slow down and decrease the absorption of that sugar.
The more sugar you intake, the less hydrated your body is going to be. Decreasing or lowering the level of hydration in your urinary system and body is the last thing you want to have when you have a UTI.
If you drink fresh apple juice, you will be rehydrating your body because fresh apple juice has a lot of water first of all, and second of all because it has a lot of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients that will support the healthy rehydration of your kidneys, urinary system and your circulatory system.
On the other hand, commercial apple juice lacks for all of these things as it doesn’t have any significant amount of vitamins, minerals or polyphenolic compounds because all of them are lost during processing.
It will also drain your urinary system and body from the water they desperately need during, before and even after UTI because of all of the sugar it will introduce into your body.
See our Pocari Sweat article as it has more information on how dehydration negatively impacts UTI.
Does apple juice affect the bladder?
Fresh apple juice will not irritate or agitate the bladder because it does not contain any compounds or constituents that are known to irritate the bladder.
Also, because there has been not one scientific study or research that shows that fresh apple juice has any kind of negative effect on the bladder, the urinary system or even the body for that matter.
For example, research shows that sodas and caffeine-containing beverages have a lot of negative effects on the bladder and the urinary system, especially if the person who drinks them has a urinary tract infection.
But, this is not the case with fresh apple juice.
Is the acidity of apples and apple juice good or bad for UTI ?
Fresh apple juice, also, is only slightly acidic, so that acidity will not affect the bladder in any bad way.
On the contrary, this acidity may be a good thing because the compounds that have participated in making this juice acidic, like vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or citric acid, can make the bladder a little bit more difficult of an environment for the bacteria to live in, although this has not been proven by research.
In conclusion
If you suffer from UTI, then drinking fresh apple juice can be a very healthy option for you, that can help you say goodbye to UTI in the best way possible.
Just note that you should not filter the juice or add any refined sugar to it when you make it at home. You should also refrain from drinking any supermarket kind of apple juice because these kinds of apple juice can be the opposite of healthy for your UTI condition.