The Top Five Forbidden Foods
The top five forbidden foods are those foods that are NOTORIOUS for causing IC flares. We suggest you eliminate these immediately from your diet. Even one small serving a day can trigger a night of sleeplessness and pain. Please note that this is not for the rest of your life. It will be, however, needed for several months to give your bladder time to recover.
Cheating with these foods is risky. In our experience, the patients who continue to consume these foods, especially that one cup of coffee a day (decaf or regular), are those who suffer the most with pain and discomfort. Furthermore, we believe that no therapy can counteract the damage and irritation created by a daily “acid” wash from these foods. If you want your bladder to calm down, your first step is to eliminate these risk foods.
- Coffees – Regular & Decaf should be avoided!
- Teas – Regular, Decaf and Green Tea!
- Sodas – Regular and Diet
- Fruit Juices, especially cranberry and orange!
- Multivitamins that contain Vitamin C and/or B6
What can you drink, particularly in meetings?? If you’re symptoms are active, stick with hot water and/or sugar (no lemon please) or stop at starbucks and get a peppermint tea or steamed milk with your favorite flavoring (i.e. vanilla, gingerbread, pumpkin spice). We also recommend chamomile herbal tea because they are well known to soothe the smooth muscle of the bowel as well as reduce painful spasms.
