I was just recently diagnosed with IC and I am totally l lost on what to eat. My doctor wants me to stop everything and just about anything it seems. HELP. What can I eat??????
First off a warm welcome to ICadvice, we are really happy to have you here with us, but I'm truly sorry that you are in such a state of confusion right now.
Learning that you have IC and in turning learning that there are dietary measures which can help can bring about a flood of emotions, thoughts and even worries. All hope is certainly not lost though! Not by a long shot.
At its core, the basis of the interstitial cystitis diet is that you want to eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) those foods which due to some part of their composition (acidity, caffeine, spiciness, tannins, nitrates, etc) aggravate our very tender, hypersensitive IC bladders. The most problematic foods for many ICers are those which are high in acid (think of your wounded IC bladder as a scrapped knee, it should would hurt if you poured lemon juice or vinegar onto it, wouldn't it? You bet it would, so why would a bladder whose surface is damaged be much different from an external wound on your skin, both would be agitated by harsh substances), full of preservatives or which contain caffeine. Carbonated drinks, artificial sweeteners, MSG, aged and/or preserved foods, food colouring and anything with a stimulant affect (such as certain "energy drinks") are also well known bladder irritants. While this may mean that you're no longer able to eat certain foods, there are usually many other foods which are still fine, as they don't bother your bladder.
Determining which foods bug your bladder and which do not, is often done through a process known as an elimination diet. While there are various methods of elimination diets, it seems that some ICers (myself included) opt to try an elimination diet wherein you begin with a very small number of plain, non-acicic foods and try to add a small quantity of one potentially harmful food into your diet at a time (never trying more than one new item a day, so as to get a good idea as to what it was that upset your bladder). While this method does take several weeks, it is generally more foolproof than just eating as you normally do and trying to "guess" what it was that you ate that caused your IC to flare-up. Recording what you ate in a food diary during your elimination period, as well as the results that you discovered ( e.g. tomatoes caused a spike in frequency or cola caused your pain level to increase for three days) is a wonderful way to get a grasp on what foods exactly bother you. Though virtually any food can potentially bother our IC bladders, some foods are considered to be safer and it is from these that you may want to start your elimination diet ("base" foods - those items that you start off with - could include things such as plain rice, plain white floor based pasta, carrots, parsnips, skinless plain boiled or baked chicken or lamb, and plain oatmeal).
We are all a bit different it comes to how our bladders respond to food. Some people are extremely sensitive to many foods while another person might be able to eat something like an orange or cup of coffee which would "kill" someone else's bladder. Factors such as whether or not a person is experiencing any help (for their IC) from other things (medications, etc) can also affect how well some of us are able to handle certain foods (in other words, if your IC is responding well to a treatment you might have a little bit more leeway in terms of what you can safely eat, but again, this is not always the case). As something of a quick side note, other factors such as whether or not you are already eating for other medical conditions (such as IBS, la Gmail - Compose Mailctose intolerance or a food allergy) will also factor in to what you're able (sad as it may seem, while something might not upset your bladder, if it causes you problems for another reason, it is generally best to avoid that food).
While not every single ICer who has tried changing their diet has reported an improvement (in their symptoms), a markedly large number of us do see improvements in the severity of our daily symptoms and/or the amount of flare-ups that we experience.
A great place to start for more info on the IC diet is our explanation of it here (it clearly lists whether foods are deemed to be problematic, potentially safe, or generally safe for more ICers and gives lots of suggestions as to what you can eat with IC):
Again a lot of ICers are aided by adopting the IC diet, but for many of we will still need to do other things in order to help combat our symptoms (medication, supplements, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, stress reduction, etc). Some ICers find that working closely with their health care team (GP, urologist, etc) and a nutritionist or dietitian can help if they are having a hard time with food and their IC and in all instances, your doctor should be aware of any changes that you make to your diet, as it's always very important to insure that you are getting adequate amounts of all required vitamins and minerals, as well as enough of things like fiber.
Though it can seem hard (or fustrating or annoying) to have to stop eating certain foods as a result of your interstitial cystitis, the benefits of doing so are often worth it. Less pain, less flare-ups and the potential for other symptoms (frequency, urgency, nighttime voiding, etc) to improve are often worth choosing to forgo the consumption of certain foods. Simply because one has IC they are not obliged to follow (or at least try) the IC diet, but in so many cases it truly does offer some level of noticeable help.
(When your diet has progressed to a level where you're ready to try cooking IC friendly recipes (instead of just individual foods), we have a large collection of IC friendly recipes available here on the site: IC Friendly Recipes.)
We're definitely here to help you, so please don't hesitate to ask specific questions that you have. Remember, you're not alone in your battle with IC.
Healing wishes,
Jessica
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Jessica Cangiano: ICadvice.com creator and administrator
Help has arrived
Hi Poljea,
First off a warm welcome to ICadvice, we are really happy to have you here with us, but I'm truly sorry that you are in such a state of confusion right now.
Learning that you have IC and in turning learning that there are dietary measures which can help can bring about a flood of emotions, thoughts and even worries. All hope is certainly not lost though! Not by a long shot.
At its core, the basis of the interstitial cystitis diet is that you want to eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) those foods which due to some part of their composition (acidity, caffeine, spiciness, tannins, nitrates, etc) aggravate our very tender, hypersensitive IC bladders. The most problematic foods for many ICers are those which are high in acid (think of your wounded IC bladder as a scrapped knee, it should would hurt if you poured lemon juice or vinegar onto it, wouldn't it? You bet it would, so why would a bladder whose surface is damaged be much different from an external wound on your skin, both would be agitated by harsh substances), full of preservatives or which contain caffeine. Carbonated drinks, artificial sweeteners, MSG, aged and/or preserved foods, food colouring and anything with a stimulant affect (such as certain "energy drinks") are also well known bladder irritants. While this may mean that you're no longer able to eat certain foods, there are usually many other foods which are still fine, as they don't bother your bladder.
Determining which foods bug your bladder and which do not, is often done through a process known as an elimination diet. While there are various methods of elimination diets, it seems that some ICers (myself included) opt to try an elimination diet wherein you begin with a very small number of plain, non-acicic foods and try to add a small quantity of one potentially harmful food into your diet at a time (never trying more than one new item a day, so as to get a good idea as to what it was that upset your bladder). While this method does take several weeks, it is generally more foolproof than just eating as you normally do and trying to "guess" what it was that you ate that caused your IC to flare-up. Recording what you ate in a food diary during your elimination period, as well as the results that you discovered ( e.g. tomatoes caused a spike in frequency or cola caused your pain level to increase for three days) is a wonderful way to get a grasp on what foods exactly bother you. Though virtually any food can potentially bother our IC bladders, some foods are considered to be safer and it is from these that you may want to start your elimination diet ("base" foods - those items that you start off with - could include things such as plain rice, plain white floor based pasta, carrots, parsnips, skinless plain boiled or baked chicken or lamb, and plain oatmeal).
We are all a bit different it comes to how our bladders respond to food. Some people are extremely sensitive to many foods while another person might be able to eat something like an orange or cup of coffee which would "kill" someone else's bladder. Factors such as whether or not a person is experiencing any help (for their IC) from other things (medications, etc) can also affect how well some of us are able to handle certain foods (in other words, if your IC is responding well to a treatment you might have a little bit more leeway in terms of what you can safely eat, but again, this is not always the case). As something of a quick side note, other factors such as whether or not you are already eating for other medical conditions (such as IBS, la Gmail - Compose Mailctose intolerance or a food allergy) will also factor in to what you're able (sad as it may seem, while something might not upset your bladder, if it causes you problems for another reason, it is generally best to avoid that food).
While not every single ICer who has tried changing their diet has reported an improvement (in their symptoms), a markedly large number of us do see improvements in the severity of our daily symptoms and/or the amount of flare-ups that we experience.
A great place to start for more info on the IC diet is our explanation of it here (it clearly lists whether foods are deemed to be problematic, potentially safe, or generally safe for more ICers and gives lots of suggestions as to what you can eat with IC):
ICadvice's Guide to the Interstitial Cystitis Diet
As well as our other diet and nutrition info here: IC Diet and Nutrition Articles
Again a lot of ICers are aided by adopting the IC diet, but for many of we will still need to do other things in order to help combat our symptoms (medication, supplements, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, stress reduction, etc). Some ICers find that working closely with their health care team (GP, urologist, etc) and a nutritionist or dietitian can help if they are having a hard time with food and their IC and in all instances, your doctor should be aware of any changes that you make to your diet, as it's always very important to insure that you are getting adequate amounts of all required vitamins and minerals, as well as enough of things like fiber.
Though it can seem hard (or fustrating or annoying) to have to stop eating certain foods as a result of your interstitial cystitis, the benefits of doing so are often worth it. Less pain, less flare-ups and the potential for other symptoms (frequency, urgency, nighttime voiding, etc) to improve are often worth choosing to forgo the consumption of certain foods. Simply because one has IC they are not obliged to follow (or at least try) the IC diet, but in so many cases it truly does offer some level of noticeable help.
(When your diet has progressed to a level where you're ready to try cooking IC friendly recipes (instead of just individual foods), we have a large collection of IC friendly recipes available here on the site: IC Friendly Recipes.)
We're definitely here to help you, so please don't hesitate to ask specific questions that you have. Remember, you're not alone in your battle with IC.
Healing wishes,
Jessica
-----
Jessica Cangiano: ICadvice.com creator and administrator
I have IC, but IC doesn't have me!