I know, I know…I threw some heavy shade on it in the Emergency Relief post. That’s because the vast majority of UTI’s are caused by the gram negative bacteria E. coli, which as I cover in The pH Connection, is highly acid-adaptive. Ascorbic acid Vitamin C, the most common form, is highly acidifying in the urine, meaning it’ll hurt more than it will help with an E. coli infection.
In E. coli, ascorbic acid is taken up and metabolized by a specific phosphotransferase system and a series of enzymatic reactions
There’s Vitamin C in the lemon juice you’re using to keep your bladder flushed out, so it’s not like you’re not getting any, you’re just not taking the acidic form.
While even alkaline forms of Vitamin C seem to have limited effect on most UTI bacteria, if you’ve had your UTI cultured and it’s caused by staphylococcus or strep, you should drop everything and go directly to ascorbic acid. In large doses it slaughters antibiotic-resistant gram positive infections with an enthusiasm that puts Mongol hordes to shame. I fell over this fact while I was searching for a cure for a serious cat bite infection.