An overactive bladder is a condition that affects millions of people. It’s when the bladder muscles begin to contract involuntarily. This makes you want to urinate more often and quite suddenly, even when the urine volume in the bladder is pretty low.

The condition may be common, but handling an overactive bladder can take a toll on your physical and mental health. The symptoms can be frustrating, and many people start avoiding social outings and other physical activities they used to enjoy.

But it’s essential to keep in mind that there are many ways to improve poor bladder habits—including changes to diet.

To start off, here are some foods that irritate the bladder and should be avoided.

Spicy Foods

Spices may be adding a lot of flavor to your food, but they are known to irritate the bladder lining. Think of the effect you feel in your mouth when you eat something spicy—the same spices affect your bladder in a similar way.

So, if you have an overactive bladder, it is best to switch your seasonings to something less spicy.

Cranberry Juice

Cranberry juice is usually recommended for UTIs and other types of bladder infections because it helps flush out the bladder and the urethra.

However, cranberries are acidic, which means that they may be bladder irritants for some people, causing them to go to the bathroom more often.

Make sure to see how cranberry juice affects you and your OAB symptoms before making it a regular part of your diet.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are also highly acidic, which means that they are not the best choice for an overactive bladder.

However, given that tomatoes are heavily used in everyday diets and cooked meals, you can try and reduce their acidity by adding baking soda or heavy cream to the tomatoes.

Sugar And Artificial Sweeteners

Some people with an overactive bladder may not be affected by added sugar or sweeteners; however, most are.

Ideally, it is best to try and remove all kinds of natural sugar, honey, and artificial sweeteners from your diet and assess the effect on your bladder. If you feel that you are not running to the bathroom as often, it might be a great idea to cut out sugar from your diet for good.

Besides these foods, you may also want to avoid caffeinated, carbonated, and alcoholic beverages. These are all bladder irritants that will worsen the symptoms of an overactive bladder.

Also, there are exercises to improve bladder control and other bladder leakage solutions we can help you out with at The Pelvic Coach.

Reach out to us for more information.