SCI Rep: vegetarianism can reduce urinary tract infection

February 2, 2020 / BIOON / -- a study recently published in scientific reports suggests that a vegetarian diet may reduce the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) UTI is usually caused by intestinal bacteria (e.g Escherichia coli), which enter the urinary tract through the urethra and affect the kidney and bladder Previous studies have shown that meat is the main repository of known strains of Escherichia coli that cause UTI, but it is not clear whether avoiding eating meat will reduce the risk of UTI (image source: www Pixabay Com) in this study, researchers from Taiwan analyzed the UTI incidence of 9724 local Buddhists The authors found that the overall risk of urinary tract infection in vegetarians was 16% lower than in non vegetarians Of the 3040 vegetarians in the study, 217 developed urinary tract infections, while of the 6684 non vegetarians, 444 developed urinary tract infections Although the overall UTI risk of men was 79% lower than that of women, the risk of reduced urinary tract infection associated with vegetarianism was higher than that of women Based on the above results, the authors suggest that vegetarians can avoid infection with pathogens such as Escherichia coli, which may cause UTI, by avoiding eating meat products rich in Escherichia coli, such as domestic poultry and pork They also suggest that many vegetarians on a high fiber diet can prevent the growth of E.coli in the gut and reduce the risk of UTI by increasing the acidity of the gut Source of information: vegetarian diet linked with lower risk of urinary trace influences original source: Yen Chang Chen et al, the risk of urinary trace influence in vegetarians and non vegetarians: a prospective study, scientific reports (2020) Doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58006-6