Overactive Bladder? Dietary Changes May Help

If you have trouble with frequent urination and other difficulties related to an overactive bladder, you might experiment with what you're eating and drinking.  While not a foolproof remedy, many people find relief by making modest changes to what they're taking into their systems.

While that might sound obvious, the advice from experts at first seems counter-intuitive.  You might think that to avoid going to the bathroom so much, you should simply drink less.  But it's not that simple.  Drink too little and you're at risk of two other conditions that can make your bladder problem even worse:  dehydration and constipation.

With too little liquid, urine becomes dark and highly concentrated.  This can irritate the bladder and make it a more hospitable environment for bacteria, which in turn leads to bladder infections and — you guessed it — may make incontinence even worse.  

So be sure to drink enough.  A healthy diet includes six to eight cups of liquid a day.  Good choices are water and  grape or cranberry juice.  

If you have to frequently get up in the night to urinate (a condition called nocturia), avoid drinking a lot of liquid at least two hours before going to bed. Instead, drink one or two cups every few hours throughout the day.

You might need to limit your intake of alcohol and of caffeine, found in coffee, tea, cola and chocolate.  According to the Cystitis & Bladder Foundation, caffeine has 3 components that act as diuretics.

Here are some foods that commonly affect people with overactive bladder that you might want to avoid:

• Tomato-based products and other acidic food
• Spicy food
• Artificial sweeteners

In addition, The Cleveland Clinic has developed a lengthy list of foods that may irritate the bladder. It includes a surprising variety, everything from apples and cheese to corned beef and rye.  

On the bright side, The Cleveland Clinic also offers examples of foods that might be good alternatives to try.  Among the options:

• Almonds
• Blueberries
• Coffee such as acid-free Kava or highly roasted
• Pears
• Strawberries 
• Sauternes and late-harvest wines

Before you throw up your hands and find the whole thing way too complicated, try keeping a log of what you're eating and drinking and see if there are times when your bladder gets into overdrive.  Try eliminating certain foods and see if it helps.  Or try adding some of the alternatives above.  WIth a little trial and error, say experts, you may be able to better manage your overactive bladder.