Bladder Irritating Foods
March 20th, 2015
Bladder Irritating Foods
Healthy eating habits can have an overall improvement in your health while also keeping your bladder happy. Unfortunately, there are foods that irritate the bladder and cause all types of problems for its functioning. It’s better to eliminate such bladder irritating foods from your diet for a happy bladder. Eating better, increasing the intake of dietary fiber and regulating the amount of fluid intake can go a long way in helping your overactive bladder.
Foods to Avoid
Certain foods and drinks can worsen your overactive bladder. These may include:
Alcohol
- Caffeinated beverages
- Carbonated beverages
- Citrus fruits
- Spicy foods
- Sugar
- Dairy products
- Artificial sweeteners
- Chicken liver
- Brewer’s yeast
- Beer
- Raisins
Surprisingly all of the aforementioned foods and drinks contain irritants that can irritate the bladder and cause its muscles to spasm, thus making you feel an increased urge to urinate. Caffeine and alcohol, in particular, are known to make your kidneys produce more urine. This means that even moderate intake of tea, alcohol, coffee, or soda has the potential to raise the amount of urine in your bladder, increasing your urgency to urinate.
What Should You Eat?
You can tackle urinary incontinence and bladder problems by managing your diet and eating healthy foods. By making your diet as simple as possible, eliminating bladder irritating foods, and increasing the intake of dietary fiber, you can lessen the risk of urinary incontinence and constipation. The following foods can help boost your bladder health.
Legumes
- Grains
- Non-citrus fruits
- Vegetables
- Fruit juices, especially of grape, apple, cranberry, cherry
- Frozen yogurt
- Poultry
- Potatoes
- Decaffeinated tea
- Rice
- Garlic
- Paste
- American cottage cheese
These juices do not cause irritation of the bladder, rather, make urine more acidic, thus preventing bacterial infection from spreading and controlling urine odor. It is important to increase your consumption of water to hydrate your body. The inadequate water consumption could cause your urine to become concentrated, which could irritate your bladder. However, this does not mean drinking much more than required for the proper functioning of the organs. By raising water intake to uncontrolled levels, you might overtax your bladder, overwhelming your urinary tract and worsening your body situation. An advisable limit for water is anything between 150-200 ml or 6-8 glasses.
Obesity is a risk factor for an irritating bladder, pelvic organ prolapsed and urinary incontinence. It may help to change your eating habits and avoid bladder irritating foods at all costs to stay healthy and fit.
