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Do you suffer from recurring UTIs? Your gut health may be the cause
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Irish pharmacist Oonagh O’Hagan breaks down everything we need to know about UTIs – causes, symptoms and treatments. It turns out, one of the best ways to prevent them is by minding your gut health.
If you have ever suffered from a urinary tract infection (UTI), you understand the pain and discomfort they can cause. Urinary tract infections are one of the world’s most common types of infection and, as you can imagine, when these bacterial infections are reoccurring it can truly affect a person’s quality of life.
As women, we experience UTIs more frequently, especially as we enter our peri-menopause journey. And while we’ve heard the usual preventative tips like ‘drink plenty of water’, did you know that UTIs can be caused by poor gut health?
This link between gut health and UTIs is often overlooked, says Irish pharmacist Oonagh O’Hagan, but it can be a common cause of infection. Here, she explains this crucial connection, and how we can prevent UTIs and practice good gut health.
What is a Urinary Tract Infection?
A UTI most often occurs when bacteria infect the urinary tract, which can lead to uncomfortable symptoms. When bad bacteria bypass the body’s immune response, it can lead to infections in the bladder and urinary tract. What most people do not know is that a common source of infection comes from bad bacteria in the gut, another reason to take good care of our gut health.
The common symptoms of a UTI include:
- Increased need to urinate
- A feeling of not fully emptying your bladder
- Cloudy urine
- Feeling tired, sluggish, unwell
- A pain or burning when you urinate
How to speed up your recovery, according to a pharmacist
- Drink plenty of water
- Avoid caffeinated drinks, sugary foods/drinks and citrus, as these can cause further irritation
- Get plenty of rest and good-quality sleep
- Visit your GP if necessary
UTIs and gut health
Remember if you need to use an antibiotic treatment to deal with a UTI, it is a good idea to replenish the good bacteria in the gut to restore a healthy balance of gut bacteria.
Taking an antibiotic can kill harmful and beneficial bacteria and unfortunately, this can cause bacterial imbalance in your gut. Therefore, it’s important to build up beneficial gut bacteria after taking an antibiotic.
Research suggests that a healthy gut could actually prevent reoccurring UTIs and that the gut microbiome has a protective effect on urinary tract health. The gut microbiome contains a wide range of live bacteria, and keeping this ecosystem of bacteria balanced and diverse is key to supporting a healthy gut.
How to support a healthy gut
Paying attention to diet is essential when it comes to supporting the gut and it is recommended to increase fibre intake as this is a prebiotic that will help the bacteria in the gut to thrive.
You can get fibre from plant foods and always remember diversity is key in order to support the many different types of bacteria that reside in the gut. Some good sources of fibre include root vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, bananas, broccoli and beans.
Support the gut by introducing live and active bacteria with a food supplement such as Symprove. Symprove works to help restore and re-balance the bacteria in the gut using four strains of live and active bacteria.
Replenishing the gut bacteria with this water-based formula means the beneficial bacteria can survive the stomach acid and reach the gut alive where it survives and thrives. Restoring good gut health may help to reduce the likelihood of reoccurring UTIs.
To learn more or for more advice on how to support a healthy gut, visit Meagher’s Pharmacy website.
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