Bladder health
How diet can affect your bladder
Foods and fluids that can irritate the bladder, and why you should not cut back on drinking.
Although there is no particular diet that can cure bladder control problems, certain dietary suggestions can help. There are two points to consider when evaluating how your habits and diet may affect your bladder.
1. Foods and fluids that can irritate the bladder
Some foods and beverages are thought to contribute to bladder leakage and irritability. Their effect on the bladder is not completely understood, so you may want to see whether eliminating one or all of them improves your bladder control. If you cannot give them up completely, use them in moderation:
Substitutions for bladder irritants
- Water is always the best beverage choice, but grape and apple juice are thirst quenchers that are not as irritating to the bladder.
- Low-acid fruits: pears, apricots, papaya, watermelon
- For coffee drinkers: Kava, Postum, Pero, Kaffree Roma
- For tea drinkers: non-citrus herbal tea
2. Drinking enough, and the right kinds of fluids
Many people with bladder control issues cut back on liquids in the hope of urinating less often or leaking less. You should not restrict fluids to control your bladder. A decrease in liquid intake does reduce the volume of urine, but the smaller amount may be more concentrated. Highly concentrated, dark yellow urine is irritating to the bladder surface and may actually make you go to the bathroom more often. It also encourages the growth of bacteria, which may lead to infections and incontinence.
This handout is for education and does not replace advice from your own healthcare provider.