Cranberry Powder VS Cranberry Pills for UTI

You wake up in the middle of the night with the unmistakable sharp pain of a UTI.

The urgent feeling of needing to urinate and the burning of your urinary tract being infected and irritated wash over you. You know sleep will be destroyed by this persistent pain flaring back up more frequently and the urgent need to head back to the bathroom for the remainder of the night.

The infection makes your body tired, you want to sleep but are awakened constantly by the pain. You consider for a moment trying to sleep on the toilet until you do something about it in the morning.

The pain… your next couple of days may be ruled by it.

So, what do you do?

Maybe you chug water all day and order a couple of vodka cranberry cocktails later that evening. Fun, but you’re still probably going to have to deal with it the next day.

Maybe you head to the drug store and stare at the over the counter UTI cranberry supplements, pick one, grab some ibuprofen for the pain and hope for the best.

It may be one of those really painful ones and you decide to head off to see the doctor, if you can get in. Antibiotics, yay.

Perhaps you scold yourself for running out of your favorite cranberry supplement in the first place so you could have taken some in the middle of that first night…

Here’s the thing

There are many good products to treat a urinary tract infection. If you find yourself in that position, there are a lot of options to help clear up a UTI. You can find some options in your local stores but that selection is hit and miss from area to area and may not provide the correct option for you. It can also get expensive if you have to buy supplements frequently.

There are a lot of good cranberry pills, cranberry capsules, cranberry gummies and softgels. Some have added ingredients to help with pain or aid in fighting the UTI. Of course, It’s also more convenient to take cranberry supplements in pill form rather than trying to drink enough cranberry juice to be effective.

This is why I believe in featuring a variety of types of products for urinary tract infections. I have personally used many different types of cranberry and d-mannose products over the years. Everyone is looking for something different in treating their own UTIs, whether it be convenience, ingredient type or even where it’s available for purchase, maybe you have a holiday gift card you want to use.

As you can see though, waiting until you get a UTI, while it does happen, is not ideal. I went through that routine many times.

I decided to get serious.
Prevention is the best way to “treat” a Urinary Tract Infection.

I set about to make prevention a part of my regular life routine. Having an infection in your body is not something you want to take lightly. And it hurts.

I knew adding a supplement to my regular budget could get expensive. I regularly buy several supplements like multi-vitamins and such and wasn’t super excited to add another one to the everyday routine. But I knew I had to. This is what eventually led me to using cranberry powder vs. cranberry pills. I also like using d-mannose powder and have had good results with both but I will get into the pros and cons of d-mannose later.

Using high potency cranberry powder works very well to help me in preventing a UTI.

I had to take a few things into consideration when narrowing down the best product for everyday use. Of course, one of the biggest factors was price. I don’t mean the actual product price at the time of purchase. I mean the long-term price. It was now a part of my budget. I realized running down to the local drugstore wasn’t going to be the best option when it came to getting the best price. A single pack of cranberry pills may only be $5-$15 and that doesn’t seem terrible, but for everyday use to prevent UTI or for stocking up, that was going to add up quickly.

I also realized, many products have added vitamin c and other supplements. This might be perfect for someone else, but I already get vitamin c in my multi-vitamin and other supplements. I wanted to be able to take extra cranberry as needed without getting too much of other additional supplements. This made it even more difficult to locate the products I wanted locally as most have added vitamins and supplements.

I managed to find some good cranberry capsules and softgels at a store in the area for a decent price that I now order online sometimes just for convenience but still not the best everyday option. Like the d-mannose powder, I will go through the benefits and downsides to cranberry pills as well.

However, it became clear to me, that the best way for me to buy cranberry or d-mannose supplements for daily use to prevent urinary tract infections, was to buy pure powder in bulk.

The two main benefits for me are:

• Buying pure powder without added vitamins allows me to consume extra cranberry powder as needed while still controlling the amount of other supplements I get in my daily intake.

• Buying pure powder is also easier on the budget. And as with anything, buying bulk cranberry powder when you can saves even more money in the long run. While you may spend more at once to buy a larger package, when you decide to make a supplement a part of your regular routine it is helpful to know your options.

These are the reasons that led me to Nutra Naturals Cranberry Powder. It is worth it to me to add cranberry and d-mannose into my budget and find the best options.

Unfortunately, Nutra Naturals is not currently available. Other high potency cranberry powders I recommend are:

I chose a cranberry powder with a higher potency concentration because I wanted a product I didn’t have to take extra servings of to prevent a UTI from creeping up. I wanted something I knew would work. The price point was accessible for me to try a high potency cranberry powder and it came in slightly larger packages so I didn’t have to think about buying it as often.

I was pleased when I first started using a high potency cranberry powder, that I can follow the recommended dosage, get on with my day and it works really well for me. I worked it into my daily routine and was able to prevent getting a UTI with as little hassle as possible.

How do you take Cranberry Powder without it being a hassle?

That’s a fair question. I tried several ways. Most were a hassle.

As you can see in the pictures cranberry powder comes loose in a bag (my bag in the picture is getting close to empty, time for an order! Also that’s my own teaspoon scoop, it’s not included).

What do you do with it from there?

Whole fruit cranberry powder does not dissolve. I went about trying to stir it into some water and found myself with a clumpy mess. I drank it down as best as possible and wished I bought capsules.

Next, I tried dumping the spoonful of cranberry powder in my mouth and then drinking the water. It’s not any more of a good idea than it sounds.

I then put my portion of powder into a little bowl and mixed it with honey or maple syrup. This isn’t so bad, but it takes forever to mix it up and I didn’t want the additional sugar in my daily routine. On the upside, if you like tart fruit candies this can actually be a treat. Once the cranberry powder and honey are mixed up it forms a sticky ball of tart berry sweetness. It tastes like a very berry candy, so that’s fun. It’s not practical though.

You may incorporate cranberry powder into smoothies and that’s definitely a good way to get it in. That’s still more work than I wanted and had to figure out an easy way to get my daily portion of powder in without it being an event.

As it turns out, I like it shaken, not stirred.

I dug a glass jar with a lid out of the back of my cupboard and assigned it as my daily cranberry powder glass. Again, whole fruit cranberry powder does not dissolve but if you put it in the water and shake it really well, it mixes well enough to get it down. It will separate after a few minutes but just shake it again and drink it down. Sometimes I still add honey as cranberry powder is not sweet and can be a bit off putting in taste by itself.

This method has also ensured that I get at least one more glass of water per day than I was getting. We can all benefit from getting more water and even more so in trying to prevent a UTI.

This is the best way I have found to get my daily cranberry in without breaking my bank or being too inconvenient. I have continued to use cranberry powder when needed, and have had good results. It may cost a bit more upfront to buy larger quantities but overall buying loose powder or in bulk gets the best value for your money in the long run. There are good high potency cranberry powders or cranberry powder blends that can be easily added to your routine if you are looking to prevent recurring UTI or to have on hand to treat a UTI if one sneaks up on you.

I hope this helps you in deciding your approach to managing recurring UTIs or having a good product on hand for UTI at home treatment. You can visit the product page to find and sort the powder and bulk products to easily find the best option for you. I will update and add to this frequently so check back for new additions.

What changes have you made to make it easier to manage urinary tract infections? Please feel welcome to leave a comment or question below.

I wish you a lovely day and take care of yourself!

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*The information in this article is not meant to provide medical information or be a substitute for medical advice. It is also not intended to provide diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and all medical decisions should be made with your personal physician. Read more here.

Images by: Shea

Written by Shea