Its known that drinking more water can help lower the likelihood of urinary tract infections (UTIs) by flushing out bacteria present in the urinary tract. But what about the food we consume? Can what we eat (or avoid) help reduce the risk of a UTI?

The answer is yes, according to new research, published January 30 in Scientific Reports, which found that the overall risk of developing a UTI was lower in vegetarians compared with meat eaters.

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The study took place in Taiwan, where investigators recruited participants from among volunteers of Tzu Chi, an organization of Buddhists who participate in a variety of charity and disaster-relief efforts. About one-third of the members are vegetarians, and all volunteers must agree to swear off alcohol and smoking to join the group.

Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, which included whether they identified as a vegetarian. Individuals who said they were vegetarian but reported eating meat or fish as part of their diet were classified as non-vegetarians. After researchers excluded people under 20, those with incomplete questionnaires, and those with a history of UTI, 9,724 subjects remained: 3,257 vegetarians and 6,467 non-vegetarians.

Investigators followed participants from 2005 to 2014 through the National Health Insurance Program, which covers nearly 100 percent of the population, to identify any diagnosis of a UTI. At the end of the study period, 217 people in the vegetarian group had been diagnosed with a UTI compared with 444 people in the non-vegetarian group.

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That difference translated into a 16 percent lower overall risk of UTI for vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians. In a further subgroup analysis, a vegetarian diet was significantly associated with a reduced risk of UTI mainly in females, according to the authors.

After adjusting for various chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, the vegetarian diet seemed to have a protective effect against UTIs for women, but no distinct difference was found in males, the authors write. The risk reduction was also present in nonsmokers for uncomplicated UTIs which are those that crop up in otherwise healthy people.

Women are more likely than men to get a UTI; 60 percent of women will have at least one UTI in their lifetime compared with only 12 percent of men. This is because women have shorter urethras than men, meaning that bacteria has a shorter distance to travel to get to the bladder, according to the Urology Care Foundation.

Because vegetarian diets are associated with different bacteria flora in the gastrointestinal system, it isnt surprising that the risk of UTI was lower in this group, says Chin-Lon Lin, MD, the lead author and a professor at Tzu Chi University in Taiwan.

Dr. Lin suspects that the risk reduction is due to the combination of more vegetables and the elimination of meat. But we do think meat plays a more important role because it changes the intestinal flora, says Lin.

The strains of E. coli that cause the majority of UTIs are known as extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC), and they can colonize and infect normally sterile body sites. Researchers theorize that by eliminating meat, particularly pork and poultry, which are known to contain these strains of E. coli bacteria, people are less likely to introduce the bacteria into their bowel and therefore lower the risk that the bacteria will travel to the urethra.

Another potential contributor could be the high fiber content in vegetarian diets. Because of the way fiber is metabolized, it decreases the pH in the gut, which in turn may inhibit the growth of E. coli, the authors write.

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Although these findings are intriguing, there are a number of other factors in the Buddhist lifestyle beyond dietary ones, says Yufang Lin, MD, an integrative internal medicine doctor at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who was not involved in this research. This makes it difficult to attribute the reductions in urinary tract infections to the effects of diet alone, she says. While I dont think this study provides conclusive evidence that a vegetarian diet reduces UTI risk, there are a number of things about the vegetarian diet that can support the reduction of UTI, says Dr. Lin.

The study authors acknowledge their findings have a few key limitations. They based the presence (or absence) of a UTI on the coding of the healthcare provider (ICD-9) rather than the gold standard, which would have been clinical symptoms and lab tests, including a urine culture. Factors that are known to influence UTIs, such as water intake and sexual activity, were not measured or accounted for in the findings.

According to Dr. Chin-Lon Lin, further research should include more analysis of the strains of bacteria that are responsible for UTI, which will shed light on the mechanism of the apparent protective effect of vegetarian diets.

In addition to reducing exposure to E. coli by eliminating meat, there are ways that eating more vegetables can reduce the risk of UTI, according to Dr. Yufang Lin. Many plant-based foods, particularly herbs or bitter foods, have antimicrobial properties and are also antioxidants, she says.

A vegetarian diet is often rich in components that are antimicrobial, says Lin. Antimicrobial means it has the ability to fight the presence of microbes, including bacteria. These work to suppress bacterial growth in the food that we eat as well as suppress bacterial growth in the gut, she says.

This is combination reduces the amount of bacteria in our intestinal environment, which in turn reduces the possibility of bacteria going to our bladder, she explains. This is how a vegetarian diet that has a lot of antimicrobials can be very beneficial, says Lin.

As part of the vegetarian diet youre also going to get a lot of foods that are antioxidants, says Lin. They are also supportive of our own immune system and as a result can also promote our ability to fight off infection, she says.

Finally, fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients, which help support the bodys functions in general, says Lin. There are a lot of factors that support having a plant-based diet. You dont necessarily have to be a vegan for better health, she adds.

I absolutely think when you eat lots of whole foods, vegetables, fresh fruits, things of that nature, youre going to get multiple benefits and the potential to reduce UTIs, Lin says. For someone whose immune system is a little bit weaker, she recommends cooking with lots of spices such as garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, oregano, ginger, all of which are antimicrobials and antioxidants, she says.

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Urinary Track Infection (UTI) Risk Reduced With Vegetarian Diet - Everyday Health