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Most people are aware that cranberries are well documented to treat urinary tract infections. The only caution here is that the diluted processed processed cranberry juice available in most commercial grocery stores is not your best bet to treat the infections. Whole fresh cranberries, the raw juice in health food stores, or capsules of cranberry extract are far better options.
It has recently come to my attention that blueberries also have similar compounds as cranberries and can also be used to treat UTIs. Epicatechin is a bioflavanoid found both in cranberries and in blueberries and it is believed to inhibit the attachment of the bacteria to the lining of the bladder thus causing the bacteria to be eliminated in the urine rather than attaching to the bladder wall, multiplying and causing an infection.
The study below just documents that the bioflavanoid content of blueberries is similar to that of cranberries. I have not seen any study directly comparing to the two fruits, but it seems reasonable to conclude that it might be helpful. If it doesn't work for the UTI at least you can be comforted by the fact that you are reliably reducing the aging of your brain. This is not the season for blueberries so if you are interested in using them for this purpose you can either purchase frozen organic blueberries in your local health food store or for your convenience we offer wild blueberry concentrates in our store.
Interestingly the study below also found that the frequent use of fermented milk products containing probiotics was associated with a low incidence of UTI recurrence, whereas no such association was found for fresh milk products. Without question fermented raw milk would be superior and the use of kefir to ferment the raw milk would greatly enhance its effect.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition March 2003 Vol 77(3):600-604 Free Full Text Article