A note from ICN Founder Jill Osborne - This is the third version of a diet list since the ICN was founded and it is, undoubtedly, the best list offered due in great part to the ground breaking collaboration of five women that occurred, including three registered dietitians, two national patient organizations, three authors of IC and diet materials and the leading IC and diet researcher in the world. Who were these women?

The blessing of collaboration are the different viewpoints and needs that are also brought forward. When I proposed this collaboration to my fellow committee members in early 2009, my goal was to address the needs of patients who find themselves too afraid to eat for fear of irritating the bladder. I felt that past lists were too restrictive, not comprehensive and lacked variety. We need to encourage patients to eat and to provide clear, concise information to guide them on their journey.

Barbara Gordon (ICA) and Julie Beyer RD felt that we needed to have a list that was sufficiently evidence based so that nutrition couseling could become reimbursed by Medicare and other health insurance companies. The ICA has made reimbursement a priority in their IC advocacy efforts.  This is list is a vital first step in achieving that goal.

As the researcher on the team, Barbara Shorter wanted to develop information that was sound. She kept us on point by frequently asking "what's the source for this information?" or "how can we prove this?" Her insight helped us to establish several new possible research priorities. For anyone who knows Bev Laumann, it's not surprising that her focus is also on future research and the creation of new studies that can help validate key theories about why IC patients are so sensitive to various foods.

The first column of "Bladder Friendly" foods in this reference guide should be explored in depth who are newly diagnosed and/or struggling with flares and bladder symptoms. Pay special attention to foods marked with an * (asterisk). These are the foods that we believe can be very soothing to tender irritated IC bladders during extreme flares.

The middle column "Try It" represent foods which many if not most patients can tolerate, perhaps in small amounts. Previous diet lists, for example, excluded most cheeses from the try it category. However, based upon both patient reports and diet research, we felt that many cheeses could be moved confidently to this category.

Of course, the "Caution" category represents foods which are more well known to irritate the bladder and should be approached with caution and very small quantities when your bladder is feeling better.

Your Feedback Wanted

This is a “living document” that will be edited and adapted over time. A big part of that process is patient and clinician feedback. We’d like to hear what you think of this list. Have we missed some foods?? Are their foods that you feel are misclassified?? Is there more information that we can include?? Please send us your feedback to: jill@ic-network.com

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