I'm going to present you with a more than one Home Remedy UTI - first we'll talk diet and western herbs, and then I'll tell you about a Chinese medicine Home Remedy UTI that you probably haven't heard of.

Dietary Home Remedy UTI Options:

• Reduce your sugar intake - there is evidence that sugar can reduce the effectiveness of the immune response.
• Reduce your intake of carbonated beverages - In one adult study the use of carbonated beverages was associated with more than twice the risk of developing UTIs.
• A vegetarian diet reduces the growth of certain bacteria in the urine.

Herbal Home Remedy UTI Options:

• Cranberry juice or its extract can prevent the adherence of bacteria to the bladder and reduce how many urinary tract infections you get. Drink one cup per 60 pounds of body weight daily. For those who don't like cranberry juice, or would rather avoid the sugar, there are concentrated cranberry extracts available in capsule form.
• Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), an immune stimulant which also has some antibacterial properties, can be s helpful Home Remedy UTI. A typical dose in children is 125 milligrams per 60 pounds of body weight three times daily of an extract standardized to 8% alkaloid.
• Uva-Ursi (Arctostaphylus) has a mild diuretic effect and antibacterial properties, which may be helpful in urinary tract infections. A reasonable dosage in children is 125 milligrams per 60 pounds of body weight three times daily of an extract standardized to 10% arbutin.
  

Nutritional Supplement Home Remedy UTI Options:

• Digestive enzymes may help break down the proteins that allow bacteria to adhere to the bladder.
• Mannose inhibits bacterial adherence.
• Probiotics ("friendly bacteria" like lactobacillus) displace the bacteria which are likely to cause UTIs and thus can help prevent UTIs (6,12,13). A reasonable dosage in children is 500 milligrams per fifty pounds of body weight twice daily.

Chinese Herbal Home Remedy UTI:

The traditional remedy here is ba zheng san, also known as the 8 Rectification Powder, and Dianthus Formula.

It contains 8 herbs (surprise, surprise): talcum (hua shi), dianthus (qu mai), akebia (mu tong), polygonum (bian xu), juncus (deng xin cao), gardenia (zhi zi), plantago (che qian zi), and licorice (gan cao).

Altogether, they restore the bladder to its normal, unblocked, bacteria-free state.

It's traditionally indicated for these symptoms: fever, abdominal pain, small amounts of dark burning urination, dry mouth, and thirst. It shouldn't be used long-term, because it can cause light-headedness, palpitations, and reduced appetite. Do not take if pregnant.

For more information on the Dianthus Formula, click here.

"Food Cure" Home Remedy UTI:

The following are suggestions from Chinese medicine's tradition of "food cures."

For urinary tract infection, Dr. Henry Lu suggests watermelon, cucumber, mung bean, and radish.

References:

1. Anon: PDR for Herbal Medicines. Montvale, New Jersey: Medical Economics Company, Inc., 1998; 657-659.
2. Beaux D, Fleurentin J, Mortier F: Effect of extracts of Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, Hieracium pilosella L., Sambucus nigra L. and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. in rats. Phytother Res 1999 May;13(3):222-5.
3. Foxman B, Geiger AM, Palin K, Gillespie B, Koopman JS: First-time urinary tract infection and sexual behavior. Epidemiology 1995 Mar;6(2):162-8.
4. Gupta K, Stapleton AE, Hooton TM, Roberts PL, Fennell CL, Stamm WE: Inverse association of H2O2-producing lactobacilli and vaginal Escherichia coli colonization in women with recurrent urinary tract infections. J Infect Dis 1998 Aug;178(2):446-50.
5. Hacker J, Schrettenbrunner A, Schroter G, Duvel H, Schmidt G, Goebel W: Characterization of Escherichia coli wild-type strains by means of agglutination with antisera raised against cloned P-, S-, and MS-fimbriae antigens, hemagglutination, serotyping and hemolysin production. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg [A] 1986 Apr;261(2):219-31
6. Kjeldsen-Kragh J, Kvaavik E, Bottolfs M Lingaas E: Inhibition of growth of Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli in urine in response to fasting and vegetarian diet. APMIS 1995 Nov;103(11):818-22.
7. Pizzorno JE and Murray MT: Textbook of Natural Medicine. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1999; 1186-1188
8. Reid G, Bruce AW, McGroarty JA, Cheng KJ, Costerton JW: Is there a role for lactobacilli in prevention of urogenital and intestinal infections? Clin Microbiol Rev 1990 Oct;3(4):335-44.
9. Reid G, McGroarty JA, Angotti R, Cook RL: Lactobacillus inhibitor production against Escherichia coli and coaggregation ability with uropathogens. Can J Microbiol 1988 Mar;34(3):344-51.
10. Schmidt DR, Sobota AE: An examination of the anti-adherence activity of cranberry juice on urinary and nonurinary bacterial isolates. Microbios 1988;55(224-225):173-81.
11. Zafriri D, Ofek I, Adar R, Pocino M, Sharon N: Inhibitory activity of cranberry juice on adherence of type 1 and type P fimbriated Escherichia coli to eucaryotic cells. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1989 Jan;33(1):92-8.
12. Lu. Chinese Herbs with Common Foods: Recipes for Health and Healing.
13. Hobbs, Chace, Babcock. Far East Summit Chinese Classics Formulas.