Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are incredibly common — in fact, UTIs result in 10 million doctor visits per year and affect 1 in 2 women. Despite its prevalence, recommendations for managing UTIs have remained stagnant.

If you suffer from UTIs (and especially chronic UTIs), it’s likely you’ve heard the usual recommendations of “drink cranberry juice,” “wipe front-to-back,” and “pee after sex.” Or, have been advised to take antibiotics prophylactically if you’re prone to UTIs from sexual intercourse.

Cranberry juice first emerged as a preventative mechanism in the 1920s, alleged to affect the acidity level in the bladder to help fend off infection. Since then, other theories that cranberry can hinder the formation of a UTI, pointing to the fact that cranberry juice and extracts include A-type proanthocyanidins (PACs). However, there is a ton of conflicting studies on cranberry efficacy for UTIs. In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) released findings naming cranberry as ineffective for proactive care. CNN Health summarized these results, coining the findings as "The Cranberry Myth.”

As for prophylactic antibiotics, it's difficult to say exactly when recommending antibiotics after sex to prevent UTIs became common practice, but it could have started around the 1970s. Over 45 years later, prophylactic antibiotics are still a common response to recurrent UTIs. While antibiotics are life-saving drugs and are required to treat an active UTI, there are also dangers with long-term and consistent use with antibiotic resistance. In fact, antibiotic-resistant UTIs have nearly doubled in the last 10 years.

Meet Uqora

Managing UTIs can turn into a long and frustrating battle. Jenna Ryan knew this struggle all too well. In 2014 she experienced 8 UTIs in one year and despite trying everything including cranberry juice, she could never get ahead. Her experience inspired her and her husband to create Uqora.

Uqora creates UTI relief products including at-home UTI test strips, UTI pain relief and UTI infection control to slow the progression of the infection until you’re able to see a doctor. In addition to its products, it has a UTI Learning Center with articles written by doctors and experts on UTI prevention.

Outside of UTIs, Uqora provides proactive urinary tract health

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Uqora Complete System Uqora

Uqora’s proactive urinary tract health supplements are a new approach to take control of your urinary tract health. It’s known for its Complete System which includes 3 unique products:

Uqora Target: flush your urinary tract

The ingredients in Target include d-mannose, citric acid, and other compounds to flush the urinary tract. Despite being acidic, Target actually has an alkalizing effect on the urine. An alkaline environment is optimal for d-mannose to function at its best.

Uqora Control: cleanse biofilm and strengthen the bladder wall

Control contains curcumin, green tea extract, d-mannose, black pepper powder and vitamin D3 to cleanse biofilm and strengthen the bladder wall. 4 2% of all adult women in the U.S. are Vitamin D deficient. New research shows that Vitamin D3 supplementation increases tight junction proteins in the bladder. Essentially, these proteins connect cells that are next to each other to strengthen the bladder wall.

Uqora Promote: balance the vaginal microbiome

Promote includes three specific strains of bacteria, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus Reuteri, which live naturally in a healthy vagina and release acids to help maintain healthy bacteria in the vagina. When the vaginal microbiome is not in balance with healthy populations of lactobacillus, it can impact the urinary microbiome. To maximally support urinary health, vaginal health needs to be taken into consideration.

You can learn more about how Uqora is different than cranberry or just d-mannose here.