IC Diet | Recipes and Resources (2024)

FAQs

What is the best diet for interstitial cystitis? ›

A person with interstitial cystitis can include the following foods in their diet: Certain fruits: avocados, bananas, blueberries, melons, pears, apricots, dates, prunes, and raisins. Some vegetables: asparagus, celery, bell pepper, broccoli, beets, eggplant, peas, mushrooms, and spinach.

Don't expect your symptoms to improve right away. It can take weeks for bladder flares, associated with specific foods and beverages, to calm after starting the elimination diet. It can be hard to be patient, but your bladder needs time to heal.

Tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline or imipramine (Tofranil), to help relax your bladder and block pain. Antihistamines, such as loratadine (Claritin, others), which may reduce urinary urgency and frequency and relieve other symptoms.

Management of IC may also include: Diet changes. No proof links diet to IC, but some believe that alcohol, tomatoes, spices, chocolate, caffeinated and citrus beverages, and high-acid foods may contribute to bladder inflammation. Removing these from the diet may help to decrease some symptoms.

Start by following a beneficial diet for your bladder for two weeks. Then, slowly add up other foods to the diet in order to determine which of them increase IC symptoms and in what proportion. Try eating and drinking different things and keep record of those that cause you difficulties.

Herbal Tea

Many herbal teas are naturally caffeine free, so they may not irritate the bladder or increase urination. However, some herbal teas such as yerba mate tea are naturally caffeinated, so it's best to avoid this. Some of the best herbal teas that you can drink to help your incontinence include: Mint.

Water is the best option for the bladder and for general health.

Put a teaspoon of baking soda in a pint of water, taken once a day. Avoid caffeine (tea and coffee), acidic or spicy foods, citrus fruits, alcohol and chocolate. Drink half-a-pint of water every 20 minutes to flush bacteria out, (to a maximum of 3 litres daily) plus a daily glass of cranberry juice.

The exact cause of interstitial cystitis isn't known, but it's likely that many factors contribute. For instance, people with interstitial cystitis may also have a defect in the protective lining (epithelium) of the bladder. A leak in the epithelium may allow toxic substances in urine to irritate your bladder wall.

The American Urological Association also recognizes some foods as potentially having a calming effect on sensitive bladders. These foods include pears, bananas, green beans, squash, potatoes, lean proteins, whole grains, nuts, bread, and eggs.

What vitamins should you avoid with IC? ›

It is recommended that patients with IC/BPS avoid citrus fruits, tomatoes, coffee, tea, carbonated and alcoholic beverages, spicy foods, artificial sweeteners, and vitamin C. The use of calcium glycerophosphate and/or sodium bicarbonate before consumption of these trigger consumables may also help reduce sensitivity.

When meal time rolls around, eggs are an IC patient's best friend. Naturally alkaline (with a pH of about 8), egg whites can help neutralize the bladder-provoking acids in other foods you may be eating.

Eliminating certain foods, such as those that are acidic or spicy, may decrease the severity of IC symptoms. Also, cigarettes, coffee, tea and alcohol may irritate IC.

In fact, only banana skins or extremely overripe bananas may have enough tyramine to bother IC bladders. Unlike many other fruits, bananas are fairly low-acid so they make an ideal choice for IC patients to experiment with.