March is National Nutrition Month® and we’re celebrating in our Nutrition Community with articles about keeping calorie counts down and getting exercise in every day. There are a lot of great, natural food choices out there to keep you healthy and feeling well. But some of those foods may be good for you but irritating for your bladder. That’s because they can create high acidic urine. High acidic urine isn’t a problem for most of us. But for those managing incontinence or those with catheters or urostomies, an irritated bladder can be both painful and concerning. So let’s take a look at a few food items that, while healthy, can irritate the bladder.
Vegetables and fruits:
Most veggies and fruits are perfectly fine for your bladder, but those that are acidic or spicy are the ones to stay away from. That includes tomatoes, hot peppers, pickles, raw onions, pineapple, cranberries, and citrus fruits and juices such as orange, grapefruit and lemon. Each person is different so you may find your bladder can tolerate some of those items. But it’s still best to take a trial-and-error approach one veggie or fruit at a time, if you’re experiencing bladder irritation. Lower acid fruit options include blueberries, strawberries, pears and honeydew melon. And some vegetables can even sooth an irritated bladder. Try avocados, asparagus, broccoli, squash, cauliflower, cucumber, green beans, kale, spinach, and most salad greens.
Nuts:
Nuts, when not covered in salt, can be an excellent healthy snack, providing non-meat protein and fats. But some of them can cause bladder irritation. The more soothing choices are almonds, cashews, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.
Coffee and tea:
There are more and more studies out about how a cup (or two) of coffee each day is beneficial to ones’ health. And green tea has many healthful qualities. But both are quite acidic. With coffee, even decaffeinated is still acidic; though in tea, only black and green are the acidic culprits. To solve your coffee fix, there are “lower acid” coffees on the market, and very dark roasts are naturally low in acid.
