What’s all the fuss about cranberry juice!?!?
On a regular basis I have patients tell me they drink cranberry juice in order to prevent UTI’s ( urinary tract infections/ bladder infections). When questioned further about who told them to do so, it is usually a friend or family member. I decided to see what the research actually says about cranberry consumption for prevention of UTI’s.
I did a quick lit review and found two systematic reviews that were less than 5 years old that I think will shed some light on the topic. Below is a quick analysis of both of them.
The Journal of Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology published an article in 2017 where they analyzed 7 randomized control trials (pretty high level of evidence for those non science people). They did a meta-analysis (fancy way to compute numbers between the studies) of about 1500 people and found that consuming cranberries reduced the risk of UTIs by 26% in healthy cis gender women.
The Journal of Urology also published an article in 2017. They analyzed 25 studies and did a meta-analysis of about 5,000 patients and found that people at risks for UTIs were more susceptible tot he effects of cranberry ingestion
So basically what I found was ingesting cranberry may be helpful in combating urinary tract infections in people. With that being said we aren’t talking about ingesting the delicious tasting cranberry juice that we grew up on or treat ourselves to when we have the hotel continental breakfast. I am talking about pure 100% cranberry juice that isn’t very pleasant to drink. I hope this helps!
Happy breathing!!
PS: Do yourself a favor and drink your water. Our bodies love water!
1:Fu et al. "Cranberry Reduces the Risk of Urinary Tract Infection Recurrence in Otherwise Healthy Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" The Journal of Nutrition, October 20172: Luis, Domingues, and Perira, "Can Cranberries Contribute to Reduce the Incidence of Urinary Tract Infections? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis of Clinical Trials" The Journal of Urology , September 2017Post Partum Pain resources
With my adventure theme I have gone on a very scary adventure of cleaning out my inbox! I stumbled upon a blog from one of my favorite pelvic PT resources. I could spend hours typing up my own blog with my wit and flare but why reinvent the wheel. Below are two links to great resources on pelvic pain post partum.
One thing I will say is, it is VERY common to have pain post partum. I would honestly say it is actually uncommon not to have pain. I’ve never seen that and I’ve treated A LOT of new parents over the past 6 years. After birthing a baby give your body grace and time to recover. Everyone recovers in the their own time and in their own way. I think social media has tainted post partum recovery a little bit showing a lot of ideas that after 6 weeks your body is back to normal and you should be able to do everything you did before. This is a dangerous assumption and not the truth for most people. ( If you did recover to 100% at 6 weeks please reach out and tell me your secrets :) ) Remember it took you about 9 months to grow that beautiful creation and it will take time for you to recover. When you get frustrated remember to just breathe and thank your body for the amazing, incredible, spectacular thing it did!
much love and happy breathing!
Sarahann
Let the adventure begin!
Thanks Arthurs plaid pants for the great sticker!
It’s January right?!?! We all know what that means…. it’s time to try and “get healthy” I’ll be honest I have NEVER kept a New Year’s Resolution. I’m not kidding you… NEVER! This year I decided to let go of that need to have something I had to resolve and instead I set an intention. My intention this year is ADVENTURE. Adventure in whatever way that may occur. This business has been quite the exciting adventure and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next year. I am having a blast educating the masses ( or my definition of the masses 200+ followers and moving on up!) about good pelvic health and everything that it entails. I’m excited for you to go along this journey with me this year. Here is a sneak peak of what is to come!
An adventure into HIIT workouts ( if I can ever get the damn video to upload correctly!)
More guided relaxation opportunities… seriously this is happening on a regular basis this year. I think we all need it!
Lots of good content on how to have good pelvic floor health
Many more “minute”s of breathing with me!
So what are your intentions for the year? Have you even thought about it? No worries if you haven’t! It’s only January 17th! I hope you will figure out what speaks to you and try and live it out in the upcoming year. Keep an eye out for all the fun things coming at you this year and LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN!!!
xoxoxo,
SA
An introduction to Guided relaxation!
Breathing is so important to every facet of our lives. I would argue that breathing is the most important thing that we do, period. Many times we get going with the hustle and bustle of the day and aren’t even realizing if we are truly taking good purposeful breaths. I was very serious and intentional when naming my business, Just Breathe Physical Therapy for that very reason. Sometimes what we really need is to stop and focus and “just breathe”.
Guided relaxation is a great way to do just this especially now in the year 2020, when most of our bodies are constantly sending signals to our sympathetic nervous system which keeps us in “fight or flight” mode. Research shows that as a little as 2-5 minutes of intentional breathing can calm this and help us tap into the rest, digest, relax part of our nervous systems. The scientific word for this is our parasympathetic nervous system.
Below is a guided relaxation I created that ANYONE can use to “just breathe” a little easier! Happy Breathing!
Episode 4! It’s a quick one!
This really is a quick episode but it’s a great posture correction movement you can do throughout the day as you are living that “work from home” life. Do 3-5 at a time. If it doesn’t feel good or it hurts, don’t do it. ( It should feel really good I promise!)
It’s time to Stretch!
On Episode 3 of “A minute of breathing with Sarahann” learn a quick and easy stretch to help combat all that work from home sitting! Try about 5-10 reps especially after you have been sitting for a while. Happy Breathing… I mean stretching!!
Let’s Breathe!
LeT’s Talk About the F-WORD!
My second favorite F-word!
No, it isn’t the F-word you think. In this video you will learn all about fiber, my second favorite F-word :) We hear all the time about fiber but what exactly is it. This video quickly explains what fiber is, how much you need, and gives a few examples of how to incorporate it into our diets. Check it out and make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss an episode!
To Kegel or Not to Kegel: That is the Question!
A while back I wrote a blog for Woman Lab. Woman Lab is a platform where every woman – and everyone who loves and cares for women – can learn truths about sex. Check out the my guest blog post to learn more about that infamous word: KEGEL!
https://womanlab.org/to-kegel-or-not-to-kegel-that-is-the-question/