Recurrent UTI: preventing infections by addressing root causes

Recurrent UTI treatment – the functional medicine approach

Chronic UTI natural treatment with a functional medicine practitioner starts with an in-depth and comprehensive investigation to identify the root cause and contributing factors of your UTIs, and why it is recurrent.

In an in-depth initial consultation, we investigate:

• Your lifetime medical history
• Medications and supplements
• Surgeries and accidents
• Family and genetic history
• Environmental exposures
• Symptom history
• Nutrition, diet and absorption
• Lifestyle factors and stress
• Your sleep history, symptoms and sleep hygiene practices

Your natural UTI practitioner may recommend functional testing to help determine the cause of your UTI, or to investigate baseline health, with tests such as:

• Microbiome and stool testing – looking for gut flora dysbiosis, or parasites
• Specific markers for inflammation, digestive function & nutrient absorption
• Food sensitivities and allergy testing
• Heavy metal or environmental toxin exposure
• Hormone levels
• Mineral analysis
• Urine metabolite testing

Depending on your results and symptoms, a personalised recurrent UTI functional medicine treatment may target the following causes of recurrent UTIs:

• Removing causative factors such as food intolerances/allergies, or make dietary changes to a more alkaline diet to alter urinary pH
• Improve pain and discomfort of urination, or inflammation to urinary tract
• Restoring a healthy microbiome – many conditions are related to poor digestion and dysbiosis and can precipitate UTIs. Chronic use of antibiotics can disrupt the types and numbers of species of your gut flora, allowing UTIs to occur. Candida infections can also contribute to this dysbiosis
• Improve stress resilience, depression and anxiety which can inhibit the ability of the immune system to adequately fight infections
• Regulating blood sugar and insulin levels – unregulated blood sugar can contribute to altering the pH of the bladder, contributing to the infection
• Nutrient absorption and vitamin deficiencies – due to poor diet or, digestive dysfunction (or stress) may mean insufficient levels of important vitamins and minerals required for healthy immune function, healthy linings of the urinary system, and resolving inflammation, such as magnesium, iron, vitamin D, zinc and selenium
• Intestinal hyperpermeability (leaky gut) – can allow foreign particles to cross over from the intestines and into circulation, causing inflammation and triggering the immune system to overreact, creating gastrointestinal disturbances such as indigestion that can contribute to recurrent infections‍
• Reduce the impact of medications and other health conditions – with holistic functional medicine treatment strategies

Natural remedies for a recurrent UTI including dietary, lifestyle, herbal and supplemental strategies may include (depending on your condition):

• Dietary recommendations may include an anti-inflammatory diet, or a specific diet plan personalised to your body’s needs – eliminating any food intolerances, allergies or sensitivities e.g. gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and sugar
• Eliminate environmental toxins such as heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, mould which can interfere with digestive function, pH, and hormone balance
• Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption, which can impair gut microbiome health
• Reducing/eliminating coffee
• Ensure healthy hydration – a minimum of 2L of water per day can prevent stagnation/concentration of urine in the bladder, and promote healthy urination
• Improve vitamin status with dietary changes and supplemental medicines, e.g. vitamin C increases acidity of urine, which inhibits bacterial growth
• Precision probiotic treatment to assist in increasing microbiota species diversity and make-up, which has multiple beneficial effects, including reducing bacterial overgrowth, reducing fungal overgrowth (e.g. candida) and byproducts of some species provide support for endothelial cells that line the urinary tract
• Supplements such as D-mannose (a naturally occurring sugar found in fruits which can reduce recurrence and symptoms of UTIs) in combination with cranberry extract, vitamin A, zinc (both essential for immune health), magnesium citrate (for alkalinity of the urine), L-arginine (a naturally occurring amino acid required for healthy urinary tract function), N-acetyl cysteine (prevents bacterial biofilm) and quercetin can heal and restore urinary tract health to prevent recurrent UTIs

Herbal medicines for a recurrent UTI include:

• Antimicrobials/urinary antiseptics such as berberine, cranberry, garlic (garlic specifically exhibits anti E.coli activity), uva-ursi, gotu kola, goldenseal, thyme
• Urinary demulcents that soothe the urinary tract such as couch grass, licorice, marshmallow, corn silk
• Anti-inflammatories such as garlic, turmeric (curcumin), bilberry, yarrow, and  boswellia
• The herb gravel root that helps to prevent stone formation in the bladder

These are some of the strategies that our functional medicine practitioners may use to resolve recurrent UTIs. Treatment is personalised to each person, and in our unique program, you’ll have the support of your functional medicine practitioner to guide and direct your treatment, and a health coach to help you navigate the journey back to good health with ease.