The 'IC' diet

To say that my diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis (IC) ‘took a while’ would be an understatement! Sadly, it took 14 years for me to get my diagnosis. In December 2019, I had biopsies taken from my bladder and in January 2020, my urologist sat me down and said, ‘this is a diagnosis I wish I didn’t have to give you, it’s one of the worst chronic conditions and I’m so sorry’. My heart sank. We spoke about the condition, what it meant for me, how it was so misunderstood and what my options were. We spoke about the impact of diet and nutrition and my urologist suggested I start the ‘IC Diet’ to help relieve some of the symptoms I was experiencing.

The ‘IC Diet’ is usually only recommended by a doctor, but if they haven’t recommended it to you and you would like to try it, make sure you have a chat with a healthcare professional before trying any elimination diets.

The ‘IC Diet’ means limiting your intake of acidic foods and drinks to keep your urine as alkaline as it can be. There are many ‘trigger’ foods that a doctor may recommend eliminating from your diet. These are usually products that are very acidic, for instance, tomatoes contain a lot of citric acid which could make them a ‘trigger’ food for someone who has interstitial cystitis.

Before starting the diet, it’s important to note that each individual has their own tolerance levels and what may tigger one person, may not trigger another. Due to the wide variety of foods, you first start the diet with the ‘elimination’ stage. This means, eliminating all acidic food and drink for a period of time and assess your symptoms to see if you notice any changes.

The elimination stage can be very difficult. After removing acidic and spicy foods from your diet, you tend to be left with a rather bland diet, which then becomes a bit of mental challenge to overcome. As the body and bladder are so complex, sadly, it’s unlikely you’ll see changes to your symptoms overnight, so it’s suggested that you stick to the elimination stage of the diet for several weeks or until you notice your symptoms start to improve. Once you feel that you have given your bladder the rest it needs, you will then start to reintroduce one food product/ item at a time. Adding one item to your diet slowly and progressively will give you a chance to notice whether your symptoms worsen, therefore giving you an indication as to which foods may be a ‘trigger’ for you.

The diet is a slow process and an incredibly difficult challenge, but I found it very helpful to understand my body further and how I can ease my symptoms. Although the diet can be very restrictive for some, it may also be the key to relieving some of your symptoms.

Have a chat with your doctor and see how food and drink could be affecting your symptoms!

Happy bladder, happy life!

Tayla x