2024 Uqora Review: Is It Effective Against UTIs?

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Whether you’ve had many urinary tract infections (UTIs) or just one, you might be interested in securing a proactive solution you can use and keep in your medicine cabinet to prevent the painful, uncomfortable symptoms that come with them.

UTIs occur when bacteria are pushed inside your urethra, causing an infection. The cause is often unknown, but common reasons include:

• diet
• hormones
• gut imbalance
• hygiene
• travel
• working out

About 50% to 60% of adult women experience them, yet most of the options out there focus on treatment, not prevention. 

Enter Uqora, a natural supplements brand that works to prevent UTIs before they begin.

Pros and cons of Uqora

How does Uqora work?

Uqora products target infections caused by E. coli, the bacteria responsible for about 80% of uncomplicated UTIs.

The main ingredient in Uqora products is D-mannose, a sugar that works by binding with the bacteria that can cause UTIs and helping sweep them out with your urine.

If the source of your UTI is caused by bacterial biofilm that is already lodged in the bladder, D-mannose won’t work. It only targets free-floating bacteria. 

You can purchase D-mannose supplements from other sources, but Uqora products also contain ingredients that can help flush everything out quicker, like vitamins, antioxidants, electrolytes, and natural diuretics.

Who is Uqora good for?

If you regularly get UTIs, it’s important to see a doctor so they can help you determine the root cause.

If the source is E. coli, Uqora could be helpful. If it’s not, you may need to try another method, such as focusing on your gut microbiome and vaginal health. 

Uqora’s products aren’t guaranteed to prevent all UTIs, and they don’t target bacterial or hormonal imbalances that can make you prone to them. 

The ingredients in Uqora products are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA, so they will likely be safe for most adults. However, it’s best to talk with a doctor before trying these products, especially if you take other supplements or medications.

Uqora products

Flush

• Price: $30
• What it’s best for: flushing your urinary tract

Flush, formerly known as Target, is Uqora’s first and most popular product. It’s a powdered drink mix — just mix Flush into an 8- to 12-ounce glass of water and drink it every few days. The company recommends consuming it every 3 days to flush your urinary tract, after sex, and other times you may need support.

The main active ingredient in this powder is D-mannose. Research from 2022 involving 43 women with UTIs found most had improved symptoms after taking D-mannose. However, this product is intended to be taken for UTI prevention, so it’s important to still see a doctor if you experience symptoms.

Flush also contains vitamin C, which helps support the immune system, and vitamin B6, a natural diuretic that helps increase urinary flow. 

Defend

• Price: $30
• What it’s best for: maintaining a clear urinary tract each day

While Flush clears the urinary tract when you need support, like after intercourse, Defend (formerly known as Control) is designed to keep the urinary tract clear on a daily basis.

Defend is a set of vegan capsules that are meant to continually cleanse biofilm and strengthen your bladder wall. Biofilm is a tool bacteria use to protect themselves and stay hidden. Microbial biofilms make it hard to treat UTIs, so Defend works to break down existing biofilm and prevent it from recurring. 

If you’re unsure what’s causing your UTIs, Defend may be a good choice because it “helps keep your bladder clean in the face of hard-to-pinpoint things like stress, hormonal changes, and holding your bladder,” according to the company.

This product’s active ingredients are black pepper powder, D-mannose, green tea extract, vitamin D3, and curcumin, which has been found to help reduce bladder infections in rats. Each bottle comes with a 30-day supply.

Promote

• Price: $30
• What it’s best for: vaginal health through an antibiotic alternative

Typically, when you get a UTI, you’re prescribed an antibiotic, as it’s currently the most effective treatment. Antibiotics tend to kill helpful bacteria in the process, which then allows bacteria like E. coli to flourish. 

Probiotics can allow good bacteria — and sometimes bad bacteria — to return. One such probiotic is Promote, a daily vegan probiotic for vaginal and urinary health. It’s not a digestive probiotic. Rather, it focuses on restoring and maintaining the good bacteria that balance the vaginal microbiome and prevent future UTIs. You can take it along with your digestive probiotic.

Research is lacking when it comes to how effective oral probiotics are on the vaginal microbiome. A 2022 study found that oral probiotics didn’t affect vaginal health.

Promote consists of three strains of good bacteria to maintain a healthy vagina:

• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus
• Lactobacillus reuteri

Each bottle comes with a 30-day supply, and you’re instructed to take 1 capsule with water daily. 

Bundles 

• Price: starting at $55 for a one-time purchase

When you bundle two or more products in one order, you can save up to 20% off the cost of buying individual products without a subscription.

If you want all three Uqora products, you may want to purchase the Complete Regimen, which contains Flush, Defend, and Promote, for $80.

You can take all three products on the same day for maximum urinary support: Flush flushes the urinary tract, Defend cleanses biofilm from the urinary tract and cleanses the bladder wall, and Promotes balances the vaginal microbiome.

The only con with the bundles is that if you successfully prevent future UTIs, it’s nearly impossible to isolate which product made the biggest impact. 

A little background on Uqora

Uqora is a natural supplements company that focuses on developing supplements for UTI prevention.

The brand was co-founded by Jenna Ryan and Spencer Gordon, her partner. Gordon has a background in biochemistry, so the two, alongside a team of urologists, began to research natural ways to prevent UTIs. 

The company launched in 2018 with Uqora Target, a preventive drink mix that helps flush the urinary tract. It has since been renamed Flush.

Uqora focuses on UTI prevention rather than treatment, which is helpful, as constant trips to the doctor are often expensive and time consuming. Not to mention, UTIs are painful and can lead to other concerns, like yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis. 

Uqora products are available on the company’s e-commerce website, the Uqora Amazon store, and select CVS and Walgreens stores, which are listed on the Uqora product locator map.

On the Uqora website, you can purchase products in three ways:

• individually
• in a bundle
• through a subscription plan

Subscription

We include the one-time purchase price for Uqora products in this article. But you can save up to 35% off one-time purchase prices by signing up for a month-to-month subscription on the Uqora website. There is no separate subscription fee associated with your subscription.

If you choose to go with a subscription plan, you’ll first take a quiz on the website to figure out your needs. You’ll then decide what products you want to bundle and how much you need. Flush allows you to choose among 10, 20, or 30 packets, and you can change this amount at any time.

If you choose the Complete Regimen subscription, you can order either a 1-month supply or a 3-month supply of both Defend and Promote and select your preferred number of Flush packets.

Your subscription renews every 4 weeks, and you have the flexibility to manage your shipment dates, renewal frequency, and products. Uqora sends you renewal notification emails a few days before your order renews. There are no penalties for canceling your subscription.

Uqora pricing and insurance

Flush retails at $30 for 10 packets, $55 for 20 packets, and $75 for 30 packets.

A month’s supply of Defend or Promote costs $30.

Signing up for a subscription plan allows you to save 15% for individual products, and 35% if you bundle all three items together. 

Uqora offers a student discount program. Reach out to its support team at support@uqora.com using your school email address.

The brand doesn’t currently offer any free trials, but all of its products have a no-questions-asked free-return policy in the United States. Returns of Canadian orders cost $8.

Uqora’s products are health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) approved, which means that you can use your HSA or FSA card at checkout. 

To use your HSA dollars on the supplements, you’ll need a doctor to fill out this one-page form, which validates that they consider Uqora’s products to be medically necessary for your health. 

Uqora’s reputation

At the time of writing, Uqora doesn’t appear to have any pending lawsuits.

Uqora has an A rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but it isn’t BBB accredited. It only has one customer review. The customer notes they had a hard time canceling their subscription.

Uqora has a 3.6 rating on Trustpilot, with three reviews, two of which are positive and one negative.

Although the FDA classifies all the ingredients in Uqora products as GRAS, the FDA doesn’t approve Uqora products to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This is because Uqora products are classified as supplements, not drugs, and are therefore not subject to the same strict FDA approval process as drugs.

Safety of Uqora products

The ingredients in Uqora products are recognized by the FDA as safe for the general public, including older adults. The products have undergone research, manufacturer testing, and clinical trials, and no known adverse side effects for the ingredients’ concentrations have been reported.

That said, people do report that taking D-mannose (a Uqora active ingredient) at high doses can cause stomach pain or loose stool. So, it’s best to take Uqora Defend with food.

Uqora says its products, in appropriate dosages, are safe and effective for children. Although Uqora says many parents buy products for their children, the company recommends you talk with a pediatrician if you have specific questions or concerns or if your child has pre-existing medical conditions.

Customer reviews of Uqora

At the time of publication, the Uqora website had more than 35,000 reviews, including more than 33,000 5-star reviews. Uqora says all of these reviews are unfiltered and uncurated.

There are only a few negative reviews on the site. The consensus is that Uqora products, mainly Flush (formerly known as Target), work effectively to help prevent UTIs.

Reviewers range from ages 21 to 80 years, so the products appear to be used by most age groups. Some testimonials claim that Flush changed their life and that they would recommend it to others. 

Although there are no reviews from doctors on the site, there are a number of educational articles by doctors and interviews with Uqora medical advisers in its UTI Learning Center.

A common complaint is that the product is overpriced. You can purchase D-mannose and multivitamins separately for cheaper. 

Uqora Amazon reviews are generally positive, with reviewers liking the taste and the convenience of having the product on hand. For example, the bundle of Flush, Depend, and Promote has a 4.5-star rating (out of 5 stars) with 26 reviews.

How does Uqora compare with competitors?

Here’s a quick rundown on how Uqora compares with four competitors on the market when it comes to products, price, prescription requirements, and shipping cost.

When to call a doctor

UTIs are very common, and over-the-counter remedies like Uqora often help. But sometimes you may need to talk with a doctor for advice and prescription treatment.

If you get severe or frequent UTIs (about three or more UTIs each year) or if home treatment simply isn’t helping, it’s time to make an appointment with a doctor.

If you need help finding a primary care doctor, then check out our FindCare tool. 

Frequently asked questions about Uqora

Takeaway

While there’s not a ton of research on the effects of D-mannose when taken by people who have UTIs, preliminary research and thousands of positive reviews on Uqora’s website show it might be worth trying if you experience recurrent UTIs.