This blog is part 8 of an 11 article series of 11 New Year’s resolutions that actually work and WILL improve your pelvic health. Get the full list of all 11 New Year’s resolutions HERE.
For some women, diet modification alone is enough to relieve their symptoms of urinary urgency and frequency. For other women, this conservative therapy works best when combined with other lifestyle changes, such as weight loss and bladder retraining. Regardless, most women who modify their diets to avoid bladder irritants, such as caffeine and acidic foods, do find some relief from incontinence symptoms such urinary urgency, frequency, and leakage.
Diet Modification: What Happens When You “Whoops”?
The woman who has never experienced a “whoops” while on a diet is a rare woman indeed! After all, what woman isn’t occasionally tempted by that towering piece of chocolate cake or that steaming cup of espresso? The result? A “whoops” in the diet. For a woman who doesn’t suffer from urinary incontinence, such a slip is no big deal. An extra workout on the treadmill or more careful monitoring of the diet will most likely take care of any side effects from that diet slip.
But for the woman who does have urinary urgency or leakage as a result of eating or drinking bladder irritants, such a dietary slip can create a bigger problem. In fact, ingesting bladder irritants can have immediate and unwanted effects … namely, a bladder leakage accident! So what do you do if you find that you have accidentally fallen prey to a tasty treat and irritated your bladder? You use this emergency recipe to reduce urine acidity: a bicarbonate slush.
What is a Bicarbonate Slush?
Don’t let the word “bicarbonate” scare you–it is just a fancy name for baking soda, that powdery white stuff that many of us keep in our refrigerators. In fact, baking soda does pretty much the same job in the refrigerator as it does for you when you have eaten something acidic that irritates your bladder. Baking soda, being alkaline (having a pH higher than seven), tends to neutralize acidic substances. In the refrigerator, baking soda neutralizes the smells caused mostly by acidic foods. When you drink a bicarbonate slush, made by mixing baking soda and water, the baking soda neutralizes the offending acidic food you just ate.
To make a bicarbonate slush, simply mix one tablespoon of baking soda with 16 ounces (or two cups) of pure water. Drink the slush right away, and immediately drink eight more ounces (one cup) of additional water. You should begin to feel your urinary urgency and other symptoms subside fairly quickly. Do not use this slush without first checking with your doctor if you have high blood pressure or are prone to retaining salt.
The good news about the bicarbonate slush is that it is simple to make. Even if you are at a party when you experience a dietary slip, your host most likely has baking soda on hand. Just whip up a slushy cocktail, chug it down, and consider yourself relieved!
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