Natural UTI & Bladder Infection Remedies

UTI and bladder infections can be horribly painful and the symptoms can be horribly hard to shift, can’t they?

And unfortunately, it’s very easy to get locked in a cycle where our go to remedies are actually making our UTI symptoms worse in the long run and making it more likely that our infections will keep coming back.

The thing is antibiotics – our go to remedy for UTI and bladder infections – are incredibly powerful for getting rid of the bacteria that cause UTI and bladder infections but they can also get rid of the good bacteria in our gut that help us fight off low level infections before they get serious.

And as we’re all constantly exposed to the bacteria that cause UTI, we become more and more likely to get severe UTI symptoms, the more antibiotics we take, as our gut gets weaker and weaker at fighting back.

So what on earth should we do to relieve bladder infections?

Well, I am not a doctor so absolutely cannot give medical advice, but what we’ve been trying to do in our family is:

Eat a diet that helps our gut fight infection
Use simple natural remedies, especially the natural antibiotics in herbs and food, for minor UTI and bladder infections as soon as the first symptoms appear
Reserve full scale antibiotics for more serious infections
Make sure we feed our gut with good bacteria if we do have to take any prescribed antibiotics.

And this simple natural approach and remedies does seem to help break the cycle of recurrent infections.

I’ve shared previously a big list of food that can help improve our gut health and replace good bacteria after antibiotics and a general list of natural antibiotics but now I’ve got for you a big list of specific natural remedies for UTI and bladder infections.

And yes, it does include cranberry but also lots, lots more as cranberry on its own, may not – as you might have discovered – do the trick.

I do help these natural remedies for UTI and bladder infections help you and your family manage minor symptoms and break the cycle of recurrent infections. Do let me know how you get on.

And for more simple natural remedies for common health problems do follow me on Pinterest and check out my other natural health posts.

BUT PLEASE REMEMBER THIS INFORMATION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT.

45 Natural Remedies For UTI & Bladder Infections

Just before we go through the list of natural remedies it’s worth knowing a few more things about UTI and bladder infections and their symptoms, as this can help us use natural remedies most effectively :

UTIs can be caused by different bacteria
They tend to be a problem at different stages of our life when our bodies are undergoing big change e.g. puberty, menopause, old age
Different bacteria can cause infections at different times of our life
So it makes sense to adjust remedies for different stages of our life and different members of the family
Delirium and explosive anger can be a big symptom of UTIs in old age, so is really important to watch our for in elderly members of the family who may not be communicating other symptoms.

Now onto the lists of natural remedies. I’ve divided them into:

Foods that can give relief to UTI symptoms
Herbs that get rid of UTI & bladder infections

Different food and herbs attack the bacteria in different ways. The acid in cranberry for example, has anti-adhering properties that prevent the bacteria from clinging to the lining of our urinary tract and bladder. Other foods and herbs attack the bacteria themselves. So it would seem to make sense to make use of a range of remedies rather than just rely on one such as cranberry.

1. Food That Give Relief To UTI & Bladder Infection Symptoms

These foods can all give relief to the symptoms of minor UTI & bladder infections:

Water: OK so this goes without saying but drinking plenty of water every day is the best simple way to prevent and relieve UTI and bladder infections.
Cranberry: drinking 200ml twice a day for 5 weeks has been found to relieve UTIs and bladder infections, however you need to be careful the juice doesn’t include sugar as this will make infections worse.
Pineapple: contains bromelain which is a natural antihistamine and anti-inflammatory and can relieve infection.
Celery: the salt in celery attaches itself to bacteria in the gut so they can be easily flushed out when we drink water.
Chicory: is a natural prebiotic that feeds the good bacteria in our gut and helps us to release waste from our digestive system.
Cheddar: good quality cheddar includes the good bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri that can ease infections.
Parmesan: ditto
Gruyere: ditto
Cucumber: can help ease a range of stomach & gut infections
Green tea: is another natural antihistamine that can reduce inflammation
Okra: another natural antihistamine
Mung beans: vigna mungo or black gram
Pomegranate: the whole of the pomegranate fruit has antimicrobial properties
Anise or aniseed: has a range of antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties.

2. Herbs That Help Get Rid Of UTI & Bladder Infections

A number of common herbs can help us get rid of UTI and bladder infections. They can all be simply included in a DIY homemade tea or broth and are good to include in our every day cooking as they can improve our overall gut health and help to prevent infections:

Cinnamon
Garlic
Ginger
Peppermint
Sage
Carom seeds also known as ajwain
Juniper berries
Greater burdock
Dandelion
Nettle

There are also a wide range of other herbs and plants that have traditionally been used in Chinese and Indian medicine for treating UTI and bladder infections that can now be bought as teas, tinctures and powder from lots of health stores.

As we now need to reserve antibiotics for more serious infections to prevent the rise of superbugs there is more research going on into their effectiveness. Quite how much they can help as a remedy, and how, isn’t yet clear but if you’re struggling with recurrent minor bladder infections you might want to try some of these.

Obviously, if you’re taking any other medication you should check with your doctor before trying these natural remedies :

Self heal – prunella vulgaris
Common mallow – malva sylvestris
Golden seal – hydrastis canadensis
Chinese cinnamon – cinnamomum cassia
Bindi – tribulus terrestris
Haritaki – terminalia chebula
Green chiretta – andrographis paniculata
Purple cone flower – echinacea purpurea
Butterfly pea flowers – clitoria ternatea
Black jack daisy – bidens pilosa
Black mustard – brassica nigra
Chinese hibiscus – hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Java or malabar plum – syzygium cumini
Bear berry – arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Chinese date – ziziphus jujuba
Gale of the wind – hyllanthus amarus
Neem – azadirachta indica
Holy basil / tulsi – ocimum sanctum
Punarnava – boerhavia diffusa
India mallow – abutilon indicum

I do hope this big list of natural remedies for urinary tract infections can help you and your family find relief from the horrible symptoms of bladder infections and break the cycle of recurrent UTI.

Please do share the list.

And for more simple health remedies follow me on Pinterest and have a read of my other posts: