In our daily lives, we take many steps to optimize our health and well-being. For starters, you integrate that new mindfulness meditation practice into your mornings to revitalize your nervous system, and invest in quality serums and lotions for your best skin health and natural glow. Still, you rarely stop to think about urinary health—except when you’re struck down with a urinary tract infection, or UTI.
Most women will experience a UTI at least once in their lives, but for many others, urinary tract infections happen on the regular. The great news is that you can curb your UTI risk naturally by following some simple daily habits, and when you do get a urinary tract infection, you can turn to natural remedies for symptom relief and treatment.
How? Read on for our top tips to harness your best urinary health yet.
What is a UTI?
A urinary tract infection, or UTI, is a bacterial infection that commonly affects the urethra and bladder. The main symptoms of UTI include painful urination, a burning sensation while peeing, pressure in the lower abdomen and above the pubic bone, and frequent urge to pee, even though little comes out when you do.
When you have a UTI, you might be tired and need more rest than usual. What’s more, frequent and painful peeing might make you anxious about your daily activities, like going to work and playing sports.
What causes UTIs?
A urinary tract infection is usually caused by bacteria. But other factors are also involved. For example, being a woman is a risk factor for UTI. And once you’ve had a urinary tract infection, you become more prone to a recurring one in the future.
Finally, pregnancy can up your UTI risk, too.
Lifestyle habits linked with a higher UTI risk include sexual activity (from pressure on the urinary tract during sex, and more bacteria exposure post-intercourse), some forms of birth control (namely spermicides, and friction from condoms), and also wearing a diaphragm (for some women, it can slow urinary flow).
With proper treatment, a UTI will usually subside without further complications. But if you get regular urinary tract infections, you’ll definitely want to tweak your daily habits to hit reset on your urinary health. Read on for our healthful tips.
Daily tips to curb your UTI risk
Hydrate more
To kick your risk of getting a urinary tract infection and to support better urinary health, up your daily intake of fluids. Drinking lots of pure water is the ultimate urinary health action plan because it helps flush out toxins and bacteria and maintain a healthy urine flow. Keep hydrated by drinking pure water while also avoiding too much coffee, tea, and soda, which can be dehydrating.
Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes
While wearing tight-fitting jeans and nylon undies is fine for most people, if you’re prone to UTIs, you’ll want to swap them for cotton underwear and comfy clothes that let you breathe and don’t trap moisture. What’s more, you’ll want to avoid irritating, scented bath products and feminine hygiene sprays.
Boost your immune system
Supporting better immune health is your go-to approach to better urinary health and lower UTI risk. Fill nutritional deficiencies with a high-quality Adult Multi providing essential vitamins and minerals. Add an antioxidant Vitamin C boost to enhance immune function.
Diet-wise, choose natural and minimally processed nutrient-rich foods.
Address UTI symptoms with these natural remedies
Try herbs
Snag some herbal remedies to help alleviate UTI symptoms. Try dandelion leaf tea as a beneficial diuretic to help increase urine flow and flushing of bacteria and toxins. Find an Uva ursi extract as a urinary antiseptic, combined with mineral-rich horsetail. Another favourite plant remedy for UTI is pure, unsweetened cranberry juice.
Build your microflora
Restore optimal urogenital flora with probiotics, especially lactobacilli. Loading up on healthful probiotics helps lower risk of UTI while also helping you bounce back faster post-infection.
What’s more, probiotics are essential to restore optimal flora if you decide to take a round of antibiotics for your urinary tract infection.
To increase your probiotic intake, opt for live fermented and cultured foods like saurkraut, kefir, or kombucha or try a supplement such as Women’s Everyday Probiotic.
Rest and recover
When you’re fighting an infection, getting enough rest is crucial. Lower stress and anxiety by indulging in lots of quiet downtime, restorative baths, and enough sleep.
Don’t overbook your schedule, and give yourself time to heal. Learning to manage stress and be more mindful of your body’s needs will also help nix the chance of recurring infections in the long-term.
A holistic approach to preventing UTIs is the surest way path to optimal urinary health.
We do always recommend you work with a qualified healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement or herbal medicine regime.
