Simple and straight forward and depressing all in one!

Michelle, your tips were very helpful! I have followed a plant based diet for many years and though I don't drink alcohol or carbonated beverages, over the past several months I'd gotten into the habit of eating a lot of citrus - perhaps two grapefruits and two oranges a day along with other fruit. I'd also developed a fancy for hot sauces containing chillis, habanero, and jalapenos, and used them - as well as pepper flakes - on a lot of my meals, since many include beans. Additionally, I'd returned to drinking coffee, mostly decaf, which I believed was "better." Well, I began experiencing marked bladder symptoms that made me really uncomfortable - to say the least - not to mention very concerned. Five days ago, I stopped using all of the above and the symptoms have improved dramatically. I encourage other viewers who are having overactive bladder symptoms to give your suggestions a serious try. There's nothing to lose and a lot of comfort and peace of mind to gain. Thanks again and keep up the fine work!

Basically dont eat or drink all the GOOD STUFF...

I want to cry

100% agree with everything except for white wine. White wine is normally much more acidic than rose or even red. And I find it causes me a bladder infection and I avoid it now completely!

Thanks for the information. Helped me a lot. My doctors did not tell me regarding this. He only told me not to eat spicy foods.

Diet change heals SO many things!

This is all getting way too confusing. Have a glass of lemon and hot water every morning, it's so good for you. No, don't have lemon, it's too acidic. Pure dark chocolate, have a small bit every day, very good. No, the darker the chocolate the worse it is. Onions, garlic etc, good. No, onions bad. And on it goes.

Wow! I didn’t know I ate so many foods that irritated my bladder. I switched to 85% chocolate so that I wouldn’t have as much sugar. So now I learned that is higher in caffeine. I just can’t win!

This is really helpful. Pity doctors wouldn't point is in your direction!

Michelle Kenway,you are such a good and sympathetic Physiotherapist,that every one must consult.I wish I was near you.I am suffering from Prostate problem.May God bless you.

Thank You! I suffer from bladder cancer.. I can confirm all these foods/ chemical's will irritate those tumors inside my bladder then I begin to bleed! Now I'm convinced that's been the problem all along! Also taking. Norwegian fish oil or eating Mackerel also helps allot!

I've found your videos very helpful. I did not realize carbonation was a problem. I drink a lot of lemon/lime seltzer, and non-alcoholic beer. I've cut out alcohol almost completely, and down to one decaf coffee in the morning. But I've been waking up every two hours to go to the bathroom for years, I can't even remember what it was like to sleep through the night. I drink a lot of herbal tea such as turmeric/ginger, lemon/ginger, and then blends like nettle/dandelion/licorice. Giving up the dark chocolate is tough. Plus my garden is FUUUULLLLLLL of tomatoes! Oy! I just went through 3 weeks antibiotic from a UTI - am using DMannose with cranberry, an Icelandic herb called angelica in a capsule called Sagapro, and also a probiotic particularly for the urinary tract. It is wonderful that someone like you is sharing this information in such a straight forward, honest, practical and kind way.

WooHoo - I can still have ice cubes!

Thank you very much for that, you are spot on! I don't drink coffee or alcohol but all the other things you've mentioned do irritate my bladder. It's really frustrating at times as I spend ages reading labels when food shopping 🙄and my food choices are very limited. I seldom eat out. I thought I was the odd one out...

Excellent! Thank you for this valuable information. Some urologists don't explain this diet topic and just prescribe.

Pretty much don’t eat anything 😩

What about Non Caffeine herbal teas? How about a presentation about WHAT WE CAN EAT/ DRINK? Thanx Doc!!

I agree with this information . There are medications to help you go to the washroom so often . You may have an injury that contributes to an over active bladder . A small bladder . A urologist will help . 😊

Hi Michelle , thanks so much for this video😭😭😭, I know you are more than just the messenger for this important subject..Coffee dark chocolate and fruit were basically my go to place😩, but reality is what we have to accept or maybe end up with a worse problem..Thanks for your time and knowledgable information, I appreciate what you do and respect the choices you put in front of us😘..

This video was so informative as I have MS and an overactive bladder which has got worse over time. You have confirmed for me what intuitively I thought were irritants as well as a few more surprises such as green tea. Such a lot to change.....Thank you

Love your work but I think you just named all my fave food groups. Even choc paddle pops. Luckily you haven't mentioned cheese...yet!!

Another amazing video thank you. Like seeing your crew in the reflection too. Great information.

Omg I just started eating dark chocolate the 100% all of a sudden I started having over active bladder and I didn't know why until now. Thank you so much for this information I guess I'm getting rid of my dark chocolate 🍫🙂.

This video was helpful. I have sensitive bladder and I have cut out all soft drinks, spices, most acidic fruits. I do consume dark chocolate in small amounts and kiwi fruit as well.

Thank you. Very extensive group of spices.

I quit drinking alcohol 5 years ago and haven't looked back since. My main issue is whenever I get a craving for sweet tea which has 85 grams of caffiene. I also smoke tobacco, which probably isn't a help either, but it's very hard to quit. I do have chronic gastritis and IBS type C, so a lot of high acidic foods I avoid without any second thoughts. I live off of Greek yogurt and healthy stuff like that, but I think, unfortunately, the sweet tea is going to have to be quit forever.

Ever helpful - many thanks Michelle.

That was amazing. Thank you, Michelle. #ILoveMichelleKenway

Great video Michelle, very informative. I suffer from bladder problems. What can I eat instead of tomatoes and citrus fruits ?

Thank you for this helpful info Michelle!

Could you address the amount of these items that may be unhealthy. For example, a cup of tea a day versus five. A cut up tomato with eggs as opposed to a tomato salad? Or tomatoes sauce with pasta? ocasional use of say a jalapeño Chile versus hot Chile sauce? And what IS occasional? Thanks so much!

Very helpful thank you Michelle

So helpful Michelle, thank you. As defeating as the list is at least now I can have more ‘control’ over my choices 😊

Only have water and drink 2 cup day tea dont eat chocolate or fizzy drink or tomatoes its could be spicy food or white rice

Thanks for this. At one point I was told that oxalate aggravated it and being vegetarian and a picky eater that was my entire diet. Wish I'd had this at the start of my issues. Wine and chocolate were hard to take!😀

My favorite spices are cardamon, ginger and turmeric. Unfortunately they increase urgency. I'm suspecting that cinnamon does the same, so I significantly reduce my intake.

But not everybody gets affected the same way. For those of us who do get affected so easily what is the cause?

I thought tomatoes where recommended for an enlarged prostate

Makes sense why am urinating like crazy

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble !!

So tell me.. how can i survive?

1 Caffeine 2 Alcohol 3 Acidic Foods Tomatoes,Onions,Oranges,Kiwi fruit. 4 Condiment and Spices 5 Artificial sweeteners. 6 Medications. 7 Eating Out Spicy options

Great attempt to cover bladder irritants 👍🏼 Thank You

Man, I also saw another video that shows how onion peel tea is good for your prostate and frequent urination

I imagine I can still drink water. May I have bread with my water? This has come on me quickly and I think something else may be wrong. I will see a doctor as soon as I can. I do not want to ignore something else that my be wrong.

I wasn’t interested in most of this stuff anyway, besides sodas, but I don’t drink a whole lot of them. This video does help a little bit, thanks.

I can’t seem to find your KZfaq video of bladder friendly foods. Could you post the link here? Thank you for your video it’s been helpful

Make us a list of foods that are okay?

Aaanddd bye bye coffee!! Thank you for making these videos and sharing all this great, useful information 🌺🌺

Sheesh if I eliminate all those I will be too weak to make it to the toilet in time 🤣 seriously, very helpful tips thanks.

Thank you Michelle for the information. I had to be careful of lemons and oranges because it would trigger my eczema so now I learn it can contribute to my overactive bladder. The coffee is hard I have one deccaf or low acid coffee in the morning so now I drink it only twice a week. I know Alcohol is out but I didn't know about tomatoes and spicy foods. I hope to conquer this condition. I was taking apple cider vinegar for weight loss so I will have to stop taking drinking ACV. Thanks again.

I’ve had OAB for more than 13 years. And it seems I almost cured it just a month ago. Was trying different doctors. It took multiple years until they set a proper diagnosis. I tried electrical stimulation, Mirabegron, Solifenacin. Medication helped a bit, but after I stopped taking it, the symptoms got back to what had. In November here were my complains: * I went to a bathroom about 15 times a day (60ml - 130ml per one time) * 2-3 times during night * During mastrubation I had to make a break to pee * If I wanted to go to a bathroom then I had to do it ASAP. So in November another doctor recommended trying a Bladder training. As a main treatment. I adjusted it a bit my way and unbelievably I got my first results in 2 weeks: first time for maybe last 10 years I didn’t go to a bathroom at night. Then I started to go to the bathroom more rarely. Here is what I got now: * I go to a bathroom 5-7 times a day (200 - 300ml per one time) * Haven’t gone to a bathroom at night last 1 month * I can easily wait if I need So for some reason doctors didn’t recommend trying bladder training and hence I thought it wouldn’t help, so didn’t bother. ======== Here is my modification of the bladder training which helped me to get cured from Overactive bladder which I suffered from for about 13 years: With the help of pelvic floor physiotherapist learn how to achieve these things: How to understand that your pelvic floor muscles are contracted. The doctor might use “biofeedback” device to help you with this How to relax pelvic floor muscles Keep a bladder diary. Record how many millilitres you urinate every time you go to a bathroom. While at home you can have a plastic bottle at the toilet with the volume marks. While not at home you can use a zip-bag which you also have to mark. Like 50 ml, 100 ml, 150 ml and so on. Analyse the reason why you might want to urinate. Be aware that sometimes the reason is caused by some patterns. For example, here are some patterns that I have: when getting up from a chair/bed; when sitting with my legs bent underneath me; when coming back from outside to home; when feeling depressed; when taking shower; when pooping. Then every time you want to urinate ask yourself: “Why do I want to urinate? Is it caused by a pattern? If so, what can I change? Can I wait a bit more?“. F.e. if the urge is caused by a body position like when sitting with my legs bent underneath me, then take a position when pelvic floor muscles are not contracted. If the urge is caused by a pattern like when you get up from a chair, then recognize that it’s just a pattern and try to ignore the urge for some time. When you are already at the toilet and about to urinate. Do these steps: Try to analyse how badly you want to urinate. Is it 10/10 or 5/10? Do you feel that sometimes your stomach is a bit stretched when you want to urinate and sometimes the urge is just in the head? If the urge is not that intense, can you try to not to urinate and postpone it a little bit? Like 15 minutes? After you urinate, write down in the diary how many millilitres you urinated. Next time you at the toilet play a game: Based on your feelings and urge evaluation, try to guess how many millilitres you are going to urinate. This was the key technique for me. After some time you’ll learn to understand by your feelings/sensations how many mls you’re going to urinate. Use this prediction skill and when you feel that the volume is going to be below 200 ml, try to relax the pelvic floor muscles and just ignore the urge. Go to the bathroom only when you think it’s going to be above 200 ml. The only exception when you go to the bathroom to urinate and you feel it’s going to be less than 200 ml is before going to bed at night. During the night try not to go to the bathroom right away. Try to resist as much as you can, but don’t torture yourself. Just make a bit of effort. Don’t drink like 3 hours before bed. Try to see if reducing the coffee intake helps. Don’t bother with how often you go to urinate. For me if I drink a litre of cola then at the very beginning of the training I can urinate within a 15 minutes interval. That doesn’t matter. What matters is to be above 200 ml. The doctor advised me to try the bladder training for 1 month and if I don’t see any changes, then we can add the medication like Mirabegron to help following the training. After 2 weeks of the training I didn’t go to urinate at night. Probably that was the first time in the last 10 years. Then later I went to urinate less and less at night. Last month I didn’t urinate at night at all. Wish you all luck!

Thank you . I have learnt a lot

I didn't undertand the onion part. Raw is bad but if you cook it or fry it then it's ok??

Yes,ur probably right..I found waking up in morning and then breathing not good for my bladder.

I have a question, I suffer from irritation, but I follow an excellent diet plan, but is it also a secret habit that has something to do with it, but something I hope to respond quickly

You just teased me with the chocolate by eating it in my face 😂😂😂😂😩😩😩 I’m so jealous lol

I have my problem is frequent urination pls tell me the solution in medicine is critical situvation for me pls help him

thats literally my entire diet!

Lycopene in tomatoes is important for prostrate health. Since enlarged prostrate can result in nocturia, should tomatoes be on your list (to avoid)?

Very informative thanks

You are so funny when you say "Oooh that piece of chocolate needs some tidying up"!!! That is EXACTLY what my mum used to say when I was growing up in Australia!!!!!

Hey Michelle, I understand food, bowel and stress are triggers for the bladder. Does sex irritate an overactive bladder too? Does it cause a flare with pain and urgency?

I love her accent!!!!😍

Thank you very much for the information, very, very helpful. If you have other topics, please help us.

I eat whole food plant based vegan and recently started drinking coffee and have nocturia. I need to give it up. Am wondering what to have as a morning pleasure drink. I do not eat or drink junk food. Are cocoa nibs permitted? Darn just heard you say no to cacao nibs. Kombucha?

damn. can't eat anything

Only meat and water for me, Thank you!👍🙂

Such a wealth of good information, thank you!!!!!

What can you eat? Wow

I gave up tea 4 years ago been drinking Redbush instead havent looked back!

So pretty much drink water?

Living with OAB is not living. I has took joy out of my life. I’m really unhappy

I started laughing almost as soon as you started talking. Coffee (God's gift to woman) Prosecco, chocolate, tomatoes, citrus fruits, mustard, spicy curries, need I go on? Thank you for the extensive list of almost everything I eat and love and was so happy you didn't hit any green vegetables or I'd never get out of the bathroom! Cheers, Freyja

Do you have any tips for slowly reintroducing foods?

Thank you for this video.

Hi Michelle . Great videos thank you for these and for giving me some more knowledge on the subject. Is decaf tea better than decaf coffee ?

Thank you

Amazing information

I think for me this is about huge .....moderation. Not expecting to have treat or even all sorts of foods on the daily basis.

I am super sensitive to bladder irritants. Besides urgency, the more serious problem I have is waking up in the wee hours of the morning to empty my bladder...and I can't. I pee a drop here, a drop there. If I am fortunate, I can pee a weak stream for a short amount of time. I have to wait and keep trying. Another brief weak stream, wait, another weak stream, wait, and finally get a longer weak stream. I'm still not done, and have to do another two streams to be sure my bladder is empty. It can literally take me an hour and a half to empty my bladder. A trip to the ER and a catheter are likely in my future.

What to eat then, doc??

I observed greentea can easily get pee..i drink greemtea instead of all colored drinks. Thanks for the info

Hi Michelle, I have been diagnosed with Interstitial Cytitis (painful bladder syndrome) since 2014 that makes me wake up several times a night to pee large volumes (way more than I drink) and I do tend to avoid many of these foods, but my question is how do we ensure an adequate vitamin C intake with no citrus? I find vitamin C supplements cause even more irritation!

Thank-you. That covers a lot of my favourites ! K

Mechelle,I had many Years of instant urine problems,all and many other foods I have not/ used ,yet all give the same .but 5-6 weeks ago 'I decided to stop use of "sugar based foods" .from that day , I urinated 70% less day time,90% less night. Twice during the test period , I ate a slice of sweet cake( days apart) and problem instantly returned.I blamed "Sugar" for decades of my general problems.Keep FAR from sugar to save you and family.The Researchers dont want you to know this.

Thanks a lot for all of your informative videos :) There are many herbal tea bag claims don't contain caffeine, eg Ginger, dandelion, licorice, lavender tea. These type of herbal tea are all acidic right and need to avoid right? Thank You.

Wow Mexican food. Eeek lemons green tea coffee. Is there anything left ? Choose rice and bread everything we've been told what to and not to do .

How about cardboard? Is that safe?

Great information and I love your accent. Thank you. Life is all about experimenting and considering what works. Keeping a food diary has helped me. I wonder if combining other ingredients with some of these foods lessens the irritation. There are certainly foods that help reduce OAB.

Thank you. I’m gonna try

Thanks for tips

The only one I found was trident sugar free cinnamon gum. Cinnamon irrates my bladder as a spice so I'm going to try to find pur gum it's free of......& spry gum

Maybe it would be simpler to tell us what we can eat and drink.

Thank you for this! Except alcohol, I am guilty of all of these especially coffee and multivitamin drinks like energy drinks! Obviously, I have to cut down on these.

Thank you. Very informative, covering some uncertainities. 👍🏾

Does sugar and salt cause lots of urine ??

My problem now is coffee and Diet drinks . I would drive up four cups of coffee ☕️ before going to bed 🛌 and two in the morning. Pop soda 🥤 two cans all day. I believe look at what’s your overload throughout the day. I forgot to mention one bottle of water a day sometimes.

Thank you for sharing this.