Bladder

Nutrients connected to Bladder

A link means the body needs the nutrient for this, or that low intake is linked to it. It does not mean extra supplements help if your intake is already adequate; each link shows how strong the evidence is.

• CranberryPreliminary or mixed

  Its PACs are thought to stop bacteria sticking to the bladder wall; this is the proposed mechanism behind the UTI trials.

• Wild ginger (Canadian)Documented risk

  NCI reports bladder and upper urinary tract cancers in people whose kidney damage followed products containing aristolochic acids, which occur in wild ginger. This is a risk, not a benefit.

• Nasturtium (garden)Preliminary or mixed

  Two placebo-controlled trials of a nasturtium-horseradish combination found fewer bladder-infection recurrences; the newer effect faded by one year and the makers were involved. Not tested for nasturtium alone.

• Stephania (fang ji)Documented risk

  In the Belgian patients, urinary lining cancer (mostly ureter and renal pelvis, one bladder) followed use of the substituted pills; 18 of 39 tested patients had it.

• Cranberry JuiceClinically supported

  Cranberry proanthocyanidins are thought to stop E. coli sticking to the bladder wall; pooled trials show fewer repeat UTIs in some groups.

• HorseradishPreliminary or mixed

  Fewer cystitis recurrences were seen with the combination in one manufacturer-linked trial.

• Pumpkin seedPreliminary or mixed

  The EU traditional-use wording includes an overactive bladder; we found no controlled trial for it in the sources read.

• Imperata (bai mao gen)Preliminary or mixed

  Traditionally used for painful urination (the Bladder channel in Chinese medicine). No good human trial evidence was found.

• Birch leafPreliminary or mixed

  Traditionally used to flush the urinary tract in minor complaints; the evidence is traditional use only.

• Alpinia oxyphylla (yi zhi ren)Lab or animal research only

  Rodent and cell studies on bladder activity are described; no human trials were found.

• LovagePreliminary or mixed

  The tea is traditionally used to flush the urinary tract in minor complaints; no trials found.

• BeetsDocumented risk

  Pink or red urine (beeturia) after eating beets is common and usually harmless, but red urine can have other causes.

• Heather (ling)Lab or animal research only

  Traditionally used for the bladder and urinary tract; evidence is test-tube only.

• Decaf CoffeePreliminary or mixed

  Higher bladder cancer risk in men who never smoked in one cohort; authors call for further study.

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