Women's Health

UTIs: A Common Woe

Taking It Into the Kitchen

Supplement these precautions with a few home remedies. Many doctors recommend drinking unsweetened cranberry juice, which may prevent bacteria from adhering to the wall of your bladder, making them easier to flush.

Cranberry juice too sour for you? Try 1,000 to 2,000 mg of vitamin C every day. It has the same effect, Northrup says. It's a good reason to drink vitamin C-rich orange juice or other citrus juices instead of coffee, soda pop, or other beverages containing caffeine, which may irritate your bladder lining. Doctors also recommend avoiding alcohol and spicy foods for similar reasons.

These precautions may sound like a lot of work, but not for Sander, who has weaved UTI prevention into her lifestyle. After quelling two full-blown infections with antibiotics, she began to drink copious amounts of water and cranberry juice. She says she believes that her precautionary attitude has kept another infection -- with its excruciating pain -- at bay.