Get frequent UTIs? Upping your daily water intake by *this* much could cut your risk in half

The struggle of having frequent urinary tract infections is real. Not only are UTIs incredibly disruptive—who wants to have to pee 24/7?—but they’re also straight-up painful. If you want to stop them in their tracks, ditch the cranberry juice: According to new research, the real solution might just be upping your daily water intake.

In a study published in JAMA of 140 participants—all with recurring UTIs and a typical daily water intake of less than 1.5 liters—researchers had one portion of the women stick to their normal routines and the other portion increase their daily water intake by 1.5 liters a day for 12 months.

It might not seem like upping their amount of fluids would make that big of a difference, but the women who drank the extra water—which comes down to around six 8-ounce glasses a day—were 50 percent less likely to experience another UTI compared to those who stuck with their old habits.

The women who drank an extra 1.5 liters a day were 50 percent less likely to experience another UTI compared to those who stuck with their old habits.

Cutting your chances of another UTI in half is a pretty solid accomplishment, especially since drinking more water is pretty easily achievable. But how does it work so well in diminishing the infections? According to the study’s authors, the extra fluids simply make you pee more throughout the day, which flushes all the UTI-causing bacteria out of your body. So sure, eat cranberries to give your immune system a boost. When it comes to keeping your urinary system in top-notch condition, though, nothing beats good ol’ H2O.

Women worry a lot about peeing during sex—but how often does that even happen? Also, here’s why you should never drink your dog’s urine as an acne solution—because, yes, that’s a thing.