Kidneys & urinary comfort

Folk advice for the urinary tract says 'flush it through': drink a lot, plus an infusion meant to carry the fluid on. This is where the popularity of lingonberry and field horsetail comes from, which the catalogue lists under this topic with eight other species.

The frame is therefore supportive and short-term. It was never about treating an infection, but about a sense of relief and a higher fluid intake.

Urinary tract infections are caused by bacteria and are treated with antibiotics. Delaying treatment with tea is the main risk of this topic, because the infection can climb to the kidneys, and that is a different diagnosis.

The documented part of the folk advice is the dull one: enough fluids. For preventing recurrent infections the trial results with cranberry and lingonberry are inconsistent and differ by product — a blanket claim would distort them.

Fever with pain in the flank, shivering and vomiting mean a possible kidney infection — that belongs with a doctor the same day.

Have blood in the urine and any urinary complaint in pregnancy, in children, in men and in people with diabetes or a weakened immune system assessed without delay. Recurrent infections need the cause examined, not another tea.