The Maddening Divide Between English and Legal English

[rinue]

Since I was told by my doctor to drink a lot of cranberry juice, I've been drinking about a liter a day of Ocean Spray Light Cranberry, which is made with Spenda instead of sugar and consequently doesn't make me feel intoxicated. (I usually drink juice in shot glasses and avoid soda, because although I can swallow down tequila with very little effect, a screwdriver or rum and coke will floor me almost immediately, including if you take out the liquor. No idea why I have this reaction to liquid sugar. Blood tests have been run but have turned up nothing conclusive.)

Anyway, on the side of the jug, it says "no artificial colors and flavors." And I know what they mean in a food-labeling sense, which is only tenuously connected to what words are used to represent it. However, if Splenda isn't a way of adding the flavor of sugar without adding sugar, an artifice of sugar, the edges of reality have to collapse a little. Unless, of course, the insistence is that "sweet" is not a flavor, in which case there is a threat to more than just the edges of reality.

Comments

[movingfinger]

Unfortunately, your doctor hasn't been keeping up with the field. Cranberry juice and cranberry extract have not been shown to have any therapeutic effect on an existing UTI; there is some small possibility that a compound in cranberries may help prevent recurring infections, but even this has been disproven in a recent study.

Note that sugar consumption itself is implicated in recurring urinary tract infections; Splenda is sugar with a chlorine atom added. It may have an effect on pH even if you don't metabolize it (you are, after all, sending it through your kidneys and bladder), so I would, myself, avoid it and stick to plain water if you want to drink more.

[rinue]

I've seen studies that go both ways, and interrogated my doctor on this very point, because my suspicion is it doesn't do anything. (I'm not avoiding sugar because of PH issues, but because it is food for bacteria.)

I am also definitely drinking a lot of water, and on a usual basis drink more water than it's really healthy to drink, so that's contributing to my sort of "drink something with maybe electrolites so you don't get hyponatermia, which you are always on the edge of anyway" strategy. (I drink water compulsively for reasons probably related to low blood pressure.)

[(Anonymous)]

If it weren't for my bladder-lining-fucked-upedness, I would take cranberry pills all the time. I tend to think of them as a nice middle ground between juice and nothing - giving it a whirl without having to drink a liter. My understanding the is the mechanics behind cranberry juice is simply that it's acidic; it exfoliates the bladder and increases the turnover of the bacteria which is clinging to the bladder walls. Perhaps that may be of help?

[rinue]

To be honest, I'm pretty deeply suspicious of almost all food-based treatment regimens (unless it's because of, for instance, a nutritional deficiency or digestive problem) because they always sound a bit like magic potions to me. And I mean I do go too far in the other direction and get mad at, like, nutritionists. My mom keeps cranberry pills around, though, and they certainly seem more likely to work (which I still think is very unlikely, being overly skeptical in this way) than juice which is usually only like 27% juice anyway.

Mostly I'm sticking with my grand "every five years get very strong antibiotics" plan. And otherwise, of course, drink a lot of water, not because it helps but because that is what I do. And I drank some juice this time around to humor my doctor to the extent I can stand it.