Does this juice recipe "cleanse" a person's kidneys and liver and "get rid of urinary tract infections"? No, that's not true: A dietician and professor both told Lead Stories that the kidney and liver are self-cleaning organs and "once you have a UTI - which is a bacterial infection, you need to take an antibiotic" to treat it. A urology professor said that while some urinary tract infections (UTIs) clear on their own, this juice recipe does not treat UTIs.
The claim appeared in a Facebook reel published on August 5, 2022. The caption opened:
Juice that helps Cleanse the KIDNEYS and LIVER!
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Image source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thur Sept 08 16:13:23 2022 UTC)
The juice recipe displayed in the video consists of a "sanitized" carrot, "sanitized" cucumber and lemon (which in the video is actually a lime).
Lead Stories reached out to Dana Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She responded in a September 7, 2022, email, saying that the juice prescribed in the post will not cure a urinary tract infection and does not affect the kidneys or liver:
If only it were that simple.
Once you have a UTI - which is a bacterial infection, you need to take an antibiotic for it, you are very unlikely to clear it on your own.
As for whether or not this recipe cleanses your kidney or liver, that is also a NO.
Our kidneys and liver are the cleansing/filtration system of our body and clear out toxins on their own, this recipe is simply food/nutrients that too will be filtered through the kidneys and liver, which on their own do the cleansing, NOT the food.
Dr. Anthony J. Schaeffer, urology professor at Northwestern University, responded to Lead Stories on September 7, 2022, also saying that this claim was false. While UTIs can spontaneously clear, it would not be due to any juice recipe, he said: "If you clap your hands every day, a UTI will eventually clear, and you could falsely claim that clapping hands works. Antibiotics accelerate clearance."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Mayo Clinic also say antibiotics are the primary treatment for UTIs. "Soft drinks containing citrus juices" can adversely irritate the bladder once infected, the CDC writes. The National Kidney Foundation adds that there are general disadvantages to and cautions about juicing.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about juice recipe claims can be found here.
