Did you know that the things you eat and drink every day not only affect your overall health, but they may also exacerbate the symptoms of your incontinence?

Dr. J. Kyle Mathews and the dedicated team at Plano Urogynecology Associates work to address every issue in your life that may help improve the symptoms of your incontinence, including these important dietary changes:

Be aware of what you drink.

There are certain beverages that you should avoid, including:

• Caffeine is a diuretic, and drinks like coffee, tea or soda that contains caffeine may cause a sense of urgency or contribute to frequency of urination.
• Alcohol is also a diuretic that acts as a bladder stimulant, and induces greater frequency of urination as well as urgency.
• Carbonated beverages can irritate an already sensitive bladder. In addition, many soft drinks include irritants such as artificial colors and sweeteners. If you experience incontinence, it’s best to avoid carbonated beverages altogether. 

Eat a healthy, fiber-rich diet.

Constipation can lead to incontinence because the excess stool irritates your bladder, causing you to feel an urgency to urinate. Eating a fiber-rich diet can help with constipation issues. Dr. Mathews can recommend diets and supplements that will help you with this problem.

Another reason to eat a healthful diet–obesity has been shown to significantly increase your risk for incontinence, so losing weight and/or maintaining a healthy weight may help alleviate incontinence symptoms.

Avoid foods that irritate your bladder.

Nerves located in the bladder may become irritated by certain substances, worsening the symptoms of incontinence. These foods have been found to cause irritation in some women with incontinence:

• Spicy foods: Salsa, certain spices, wasabi, etc.
• Acidic foods: Citrus fruit, pineapple, etc.
• Sugar, honey, artificial sweeteners: Studies are still being conducted to determine the effect of sweeteners on incontinence, but some have already shown that too many sweetened foods may irritate the bladder, so take a balanced approach. 

We are not saying you have to give up these foods completely—just find out which foods trigger irritation for you, and always eat a balanced diet. Dr. Mathews is happy to work with patients on dietary changes that may improve incontinence symptoms.

At Plano Urogynecology Associates, we treat the whole woman; helping you improve your diet will improve not only your incontinence symptoms, but your life as well. For more information about alleviating the symptoms of urinary incontinence, contact Dr. J. Kyle Mathews and Plano Urogynecology Associates, or call us at (972) 781-1444.

| Category: Bladder Dysfunction, Bladder Irritants, Dr JKM, Foods that Irritate the Bladder, incontinence |