Diet Modification for IC/BPS

Diet modification is considered the first line of treatment for interstitial cystitis (IC)/bladder pain syndrome (BPS). Most (but not all) people with IC/BPS find that certain foods make their symptoms worse.

Elimination Diet

The list of foods that have been said to affect IC/BPS is quite long, but not all foods affect all patients the same way. Each patient must find out how foods affect his or her own bladder. The simplest way to find out whether any foods bother your bladder is to try an “elimination diet”. On an elimination diet, you stop eating all of the foods that could irritate your bladder.

If your bladder symptoms improve while you are on the elimination diet, this means that at least one of the foods was irritating your bladder. The next step is to find out exactly which foods cause bladder problems for you.

After one to two weeks on the elimination diet, try eating one food from the IC/BPS food list. If this food does not bother your bladder within 24 hours, this food is likely safe and can be added back into your regular diet. The next day, try eating a second food from the list, and so on. This way, you will add the foods back into your diet one at a time, and your bladder symptoms will tell you if any food causes problems for you. Be sure to add only one new food to your diet each day. If you eat a grapefruit, orange and tomatoes all in the same day, and the IC/BPS symptoms are worse that evening, you will not know which of the three foods caused the symptoms to flare up.

Foods to Avoid:

• Coffee (caffeinated and decaffeinated)
• Tea (caffeinated)
• Cola carbonated beverage
• Non-cola carbonated beverage
• Diet carbonated beverage
• Caffeine-free carbonated beverage
• Beer
• Red wine
• White wine champagne
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Orange and orange juice
• Pineapple and pineapple juice
• Cranberry juice
• Grapefruit juice
• Tomato and tomato products
• Hot peppers
• Spicy foods
• Chili
• Horseradish
• Vinegar
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• NutraSweet
• Sweet’N Low Equal (sweetener)
• Saccharin
• Mexican food
• Thai food
• Indian food
  
  

Bladder Friendly Foods:

• Water
• Milk
• Bananas
• Blueberries
• Honeydew melon
• Pears
• Raisins
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Mushrooms
• Peas
• Radishes
• Squash
• Zucchini
• White potatoes
• Sweet potatoes/yams
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Turkey
• Beef
• Pork
• Lamb
• Shrimp
• Tuna fish
• Salmon
• Oat
• Rice
• Pretzels
• Popcorn

The lists above have been taken from the following resources:

www.ic-network.com/patient-resources/diet/the-ic-food-lists/

www.ic-network.com/patient-resources/