Your Guide to Cranberry for UTI Management

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there about how to address urinary tract infections (UTIs). After all, UTIs affect over 3 million American women each year, making them a common infection that most women will experience at least once in their lifetime. 

You probably already know the dreaded symptoms of a UTI—frequent, painful urinating, discomfort, and even blood in the urine. Cranberry pills for vaginal health may actually be beneficial, but it’s important to know what goes into your cranberry pill. 

You may think turning to cranberry juice or cranberry pills is your best bet, but we’re debunking popular myths about cranberry. When UTIs strike, you need the fastest, best resources available. In this guide, you’ll discover the juicy details of Pacran®, a cranberry blend that utilizes the entire cranberry fruit and designed to enable optimal urinary tract health and what we feel is the optimal ingredient to make the best cranberry pill to prevent UTI in the market, with evidence to prove its efficacy.

We at Happy V are here to help you understand which forms of cranberry are most effective for vaginal health. Let’s dive in. 

Cranberry Juice UTI Evidence – Why Cranberry Juice Isn’t Enough 

You probably grew up in a household where it was well-known that cranberry juice may help you feel better when you have a UTI. You should know that the kind of cranberry you’re putting in your body matters, and cranberry juice is usually high in sugar and missing most natural components of the whole fruit that come with compelling health benefits.

These components include the fibers, organic acids, and antioxidants that get lost in the juicing process. According to Dr. Barry Peskin, OBGYN of the Cleveland Clinic, the juices available at the grocery store aren’t strong enough to address UTI symptoms due to the lack of nutritious compounds. 

“When it comes to juices from the mass producers we see in grocery stores, it’s too diluted to get the active ingredients we want to help address UTIs and comes with added sugar to cover their natural bitter, taste. And it doesn’t really matter what kind of cranberry juice for UTI prevention”, says Peskin.  

Let’s Talk Cranberry Capsules, An Alternative to Cranberry Juice for UTI Prevention

Cranberry capsules, or cranberry pills, are popularly available at your local grocery store and pharmacy. However, capsules come with many of the same limitations as cranberry juice when we look at cranberry concentrates of juices that have been spray-dried into powder.

What cranberry juice and cranberry capsules may have in common when they are made from filtered sources is that they are both unstandardized concentrates, meaning the potencies of their active molecules varies from batch to batch instead of being consistent.

When cranberry pill producers don’t standardize their capsules, it means the quality and quantity of the contents isn’t guaranteed. In our eyes, that’s simply not good enough when you’re dealing with pain and discomfort from a UTI. Especially when it comes to Urinary Tract Infections – When you have a recurring issue, you want a consistent product that yields the results you are looking for.

What’s a PAC? And Is It A UTI Treatment?

“Proanthocyanidins” (PACs) were touted as the latest and greatest in the field of urinary tract infection treatment. Claims have been categorically debunked about the effectiveness of certain dosages of PACs.

Claims about PACs being the active phytonutrient in Cranberries to look for began when The French Food Safety Authority (FFSA) published a urinary tract health claim based on 36 mg of North American Cranberry PACs.

The health claim was reached as a result of North American Cranberry (Vaccinium Macrocarpon) measuring a total of 36mg DMAC PACs in a 300ml glass of 27% cranberry juice cocktail.

However, the French Food Authority rejected the claim on December 17th, 2012 when proof arose of Method, or testing, manipulation, adulteration, new inconclusive evidence published and new negative opinions regarding the AFFSA claim.

To put it simply, different methods measuring the same juice yielded different results.

The results showed that a glass of Cranberry Juice Concentrate contained 36 mg of PACs only when measured via BL DMAC. However Using other methods and reporting tools, 36 mg of PACs were delivered in different volumes of the same exact juice! This proved the claim to be false and caused the FFSA to reject the claim.

So, with that knowledge about cranberry capsules, PACs, and cranberry juice under your belt, what should you be looking for in a cranberry supplement? How can you find a supplement you can trust to lessen UTI symptoms and promote vaginal wellness? 

What Are The Best Cranberry Pills To Help Prevent UTI? 

Here are two secrets most cranberry supplement companies aren’t sharing enough— (1) the way to truly reduce the occurrence of urinary tract infections is to minimize the adhesion of bacteria to the vaginal wall and (2) you should be caring more about the ingredients inside the product rather than the marketing itself – Yes this includes Happy V as well, but it’s okay, we pride ourselves on using world-class ingredients anyways.

Anti-adhesion in the urinary tract is a good thing! When bacteria can’t stick to the surface, it can’t conglomerate, or group together, create a biofilm, and persist. 

Ultimately, cranberry capsules, PACs, and cranberry juice don’t provide consistent proof that they inhibit adhesion in a standardized, reliable way. That’s where PaCran^® comes in. 

What is PaCran^® ? 

PaCran^®  is a proprietary cranberry blend that uses the ENTIRE cranberry fruit—including the skin, pulp, juice, and seeds—to pack a punch in natural properties that support anti-adhesion of bacteria. Specifically, we use North American Cranberries. 

The dosage needed is 500 mg/day (the same amount in Happy V Immune Boost!) and has been clinically shown to deliver E. coli anti-adhesion, reduce E. coli in vivo, and reduce recurrent UTI.

How does Pacran® work?

Studies show that Pacran^® uses the mechanism of anti-adhesion to prevent Urinary Tract Infections, which are most commonly caused by E.coli. It’s quite simple really – If bacteria can’t attach to the vaginal wall and grow, there won’t be adhesion or bacterial growth! Cranberry at this potency interferes with bacterial growth and prevents future infection.   

Another way in which cranberry might prevent UTIs is by the acidification of urine, which the E.coli cannot survive. But there’s not much scientific evidence on this.

Benefits of PaCran^®  

• Fight Urinary Tract Infections: Pacran^®  is well-known for its potential effects against various bacteria which may cause infections in your urinary tract. Pacran^® has strong anti-oxidative properties that combat bacterial infection. 
• Boost the Immune System: Pacran^® is loaded with nutrients like phytonutrients and vitamins C, K, and E. These nutrients may help to promote your immune system and ward off the bad bacteria from your gut.
• Stay Healthy: Vaginal wellness is so important. The cranberry is loaded with acidic compounds that may provide relief against vaginal infections and balance the pH of the vagina.

Results and Evidence: Making Pacran^® The Best Cranberry For UTI Prevention

In a study putting 500 mg capsule of Pacran^® (2 mg BL-DMAC PACs) vs. 10 ounce serving cranberry juice concentrate of 27% (38 mg of BL DMAC PACs), Pacran^® exhibited superior anti-adhesion at hour 24. 

Another study was conducted over 180 days with 176 female participants. Each woman was between the ages of 18-60 and had at least one UTI within the past twelve months. 500 Mg of Pacran^® reduced UTI recurrence rate by 58%! 

[product_text]