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Drinking black chokeberry juice may reduce incidences of urinary tract infections among nursing home residents, a pilot study suggests.

More than 200 residents from six nursing homes were split into two groups and were offered black chokeberry juice or a placebo drink during the six-month study. Participants in group A drank a placebo drink during the first 3 months and chokeberry juice during the next 3 months; vice versa for group B. Group A had 110 residents and group B had 126.

Group A drank a daily intake of 156 mL of chokeberry juice while group B drank 89 mL. The juice contained a high content of total phenolics, which is a substance associated with reduced UTI risk.

During the study period, 55% of medically treated infections were UTIs; however, during the 3-month period after juice administration, the incidence of UTI was reduced for both groups: 55% (group A) and 38% (group B).

Results were published June 4 in the online version of Nutrition Research.