Are there any dietary taboos for urinary tract infection?

Of course, there are, and there are many examples of people who clearly take medication for the symptoms but fail to keep their mouth shut, leading to repeated relapses.

A while ago, I met a young girl who had just graduated during a follow-up visit in the Nephrology Department. She was diagnosed with acute cystitis and took antibiotics for two days. The symptoms of urgency and pain in urination were basically gone. It was just in time for a friend's birthday. I drank spicy skewers, drank cold beer, and showed off half a bowl of thirteen-spice crayfish. In the middle of the night, she went to the emergency room because of blood in her urine and pain. The white blood cells in the urine were higher than the first time. She was supposed to be cured after taking medicine for another three days, but it was delayed for an extra week.

In fact, the logic of what to avoid in urinary tract infections is very easy to understand. You can think of the damaged urethral mucosa as inflamed and swollen tonsils, which are in a state of congestion and wounds. If you eat something that is too irritating, it will eventually be metabolized into urine and flow through the wound. Isn’t it just adding salt to the wound? Spicy, alcoholic, strong coffee, too-sweet milk tea and cola, and heavily salted pickled products will either aggravate mucosal congestion and edema, or increase the osmotic pressure of urine. Even a high-sugar environment will provide "nutrients" for bacteria to multiply. Eating them during an attack will only aggravate the discomfort.

However, not everyone has to be so strict that they can't even touch "heavy foods". I know an aunt who has suffered from chronic urinary tract infections for five or six years. She is from Sichuan and can't live without spicy food. The rule she found out by herself is that as long as it doesn't cause blood in the urine or makes urination painful, add less spicy millet when cooking, and drink two glasses of water after eating.

By the way, there is also cranberry juice that many people have asked about. Some people around me did feel that the symptoms of frequent urination were a little lighter after drinking it. Some people drank the commercial version that was mostly added with sugar. The more they drank, the worse the inflammation. If you really want to try it, choose the sugar-free version. Don’t drink it as water. Stop drinking it if you feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, when I was sick before, I basically ate stir-fried winter melon and boiled vegetables for the first two days, and drank plenty of warm water. The pain was not so painful when urinating. After stopping the medicine for 3 days, the urine routine was normal, and then I dared to slowly eat something with a flavor. It is better to be greedy for a few days than to suffer repeatedly, right?