Understanding How Your Diet Can Affect Interstitial Cystitis

If you have an interstitial cystitis ailment, then you likely feel the constant urge to urinate. This can be extremely frustrating and you may be looking for a solution to your issue. Well, there are a wide variety of treatments that you can invest in. You can also make certain lifestyle changes to help alleviate the soreness and the need to urinate. Diet changes are sometimes suggested, so keep reading to learn a bit more about how your diet can assist you.

Reduce Acidic Foods

Interstitial cystitis is an ailment that involves inflammation of the bladder. The bladder is a large vacuous organ that holds urine and expands as it fills with the fluid. The bladder is lined with a thick layer of epithelial cells that helps to reduce irritation, but this lining easily becomes inflamed if you have a cystitis condition. Inflammation can be exacerbated if you eat certain foods. Specifically, acidic substances can irritate the sensitive bladder lining and lead to more extensive inflammation.

Reducing your consumption of acidic foods can greatly reduce pain, soreness, and inflammation. Try to limit your intake of citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, lemons, and limes. Also, you want to avoid citrus juices. 

Other citrus foods include tomatoes, tomato sauce, carbonated drinks, cranberries, and coffee. While it is best to avoid citrus foods, you can enjoy them occasionally as long as you consume a good deal of water. This helps to reduce the concentration of acidic byproducts that accumulate in your bladder.

Limit Your Alcohol And Sugary Drinks

If you like to have an alcoholic drink on occasion, then you may notice that the alcohol causes some bladder discomfort. As your body breaks down the alcohol, it is converted to acetic acid and this acid can irritate the lining of the bladder much in the same way that acidic foods and beverages can. 

Not only can alcohol cause bladder issues, but so can sugary drinks and sweet treats. These things can increase the amount of sugar that is contained in your urine. Sugar levels in the urine are typically low or nonexistent. However, low levels are more common if you eat a great deal of foods that are high in sugar. This sugar can feed bacteria in the bladder and allow the microorganisms to multiply. When the bacteria multiply, they irritate the bladder.

If you want to know more about how your diet can affect your interstitial cystitis condition, speak with your physician.