Urinary incontinence is treatable, and you can seek medical assistance to tackle issues relating to involuntary urine leakage. If you suffer from male incontinence, you may have a weak or lost sphincter muscle.
It is a common urological condition that results from different factors. Often, urinary incontinence is temporary. It can be an ongoing issue, ranging in severity. The level of urinary incontinence depends on factors like diet, stress, and activity level.
Besides seeking medical help, assessing your diet is critical to improving your symptoms of urinary incontinence. Certain foods can trigger urinary incontinence, worsening the symptoms. This article will cover the common dietary triggers of urinary incontinence.
What Is Urinary Incontinence?
Simply put, urinary incontinence refers to a condition in which the sufferer cannot seem to control their bladder. As such, it results in the leakage of urine. The condition develops when your bladder fails to function and perform properly.
Your kidneys filter the blood, simultaneously filling your bladder with urine. The bladder signals the brain when full. Urinary incontinence occurs when emptying the bladder becomes involuntary. Patients cannot control their bladder due t several reasons.
The five main types of urinary incontinence include urge, stress, mixed, overflow, and functional incontinence.
- Functional Incontinence: Physical and mental disorders can lead to functional incontinence.
- Mixed Incontinence: Mixed incontinence is a condition in which the patient experiences both urge and stress urinary incontinence
- Overflow Incontinence: You may experience frequent urine leakages throughout the day.
- Stress Incontinence: It occurs when activities like laughing, sneezing and bending pressure your bladder.
- Urge Incontinence: Patients experience a sudden urge to urinate in this condition.
Common Dietary Triggers Of Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence can be short-term (temporary) or long-term (chronic). Identifying what triggers your condition can help you find the best solution for your specific needs. Many times, certain foods and beverages can trigger urinary incontinence.
- Caffeine
Caffeine is among the most common ingredients that irritate the bladder and aggravate urinary incontinence. It substantially increases the activity in your bladder, stimulating contraction. As such, you feel a sudden urge to use the bathroom.
Besides increasing urgency, caffeine also leads to increased frequency. Not forgetting, this ingredient can also cause your body to make more urine quickly. All these factors can cause urinary incontinence.
Reducing your consumption of caffeine-containing foods, such as tea, coffee, and chocolate can help manage your condition.
- Alcohol
Alcohol is a diuretic that can increase your body’s ability to produce urine, resulting in a full bladder more frequently. As such, patients may need to empty their bladder more frequently after alcohol consumption.
It acts as a stimulant that can lead to a drastic increase in urgency. Furthermore, alcohol reduces the control of your bladder. It means increased alcohol consumption can interfere with your sense of the urge to use the bathroom. As such, it increases the risk of urine leakages.
Limiting your alcohol consumption can help minimize these adverse effects on your condition.
- Carbonated Beverages
Of course, you can find healthy variations of carbonated drinks in the market. But are they safe for patients with urinary incontinence?
Carbonated drinks can quickly irritate your bladder if you have urinary incontinence. Typically, the bubbles and frizz are responsible for triggering incontinence in people with sensitive bladders.
Consider removing carbonated drinks from your diet if you experience increased urinary urgency after carbonation.
- Spicy and Acidic Foods
Spicy foods are a common irritant for the bladder and digestive tract concurrently. Similarly, foods with a high acidic level can also irritate the bladder and worsen your symptoms of urinary incontinence.
Some people have a high tolerance for spices, whereas others may be more sensitive. Ideally, you want to determine your tolerance level by observing whether consuming spicy foods triggers urinary incontinence. Do you tend to use the bathroom more frequently after eating spice? If so, you may need to reduce spice in your daily diet.
Common spicy food triggers include peppers, salsas, and hot sauces. On the other hand, citrusy foods, teas, and tomatoes may have a high acidic level.
Summary
Typically, a few instances of urine leakages is not severe and does not require medical attention. However, experiencing incontinence over a long period calls for a visit to the urologist. The doctor can identify the underlying cause of your condition and create a targeted treatment plan.
Check out Active Life Medical Products if you are looking for medical devices for your urinary incontinence.
How Active Life Medical Products Can Help With Incontinence Supplies
You need a trusted incontinence product supplier when you require incontinence supplies. Active Life Medical Products makes ordering the entire incontinence supply process easy. Our Product Specialists can help you get your prescribed incontinence supplies covered through most insurances. Everything will be delivered directly and discreetly to your front door.
Call Active Life Medical Products at (800) 319-2336 to place your order.
