Urine acidity thoughts

[blackcat]

This is my over active brain going again! I was just thinking since it's said that the ic diet which is I think aimed at reducing foods which contain acid, and those that create acid, and the prerelief and baking soda ideas aimed at reducing acid. Now my thoughts are, has or does anyone ph test their urine? Has anyone noticed that the acid reducing things (diet, baking soda etc) reduces their urine acidity, but actually tested the ph before and after to see the difference, so therefore helps their symptoms. These things have likely been discussed before, so sorry if they have. What I thought would be interesting would be if ic'ers urine was typically more acidic than its supossed to be. And if altering diet had an actual visable effect on the urine acidity.

[Inderieden]

Hello,

I think testing urine for over acidity through out the day is a bunch of junk - I tried it for a while, and gained little insight. Human urine is normally more acidic, and will fluctuate through out the day depending on what foods you have eaten, and how much water you've consumed. I also think that taking things like Prerelief and baking soda aren't good on the long term scale. They merely mask symptoms without treating the problem. Also, I haven't been able to find too much information regarding chronic urine acidity and its links to IC.

However, I think you are on the right track when it comes to diet. The human body is naturally alkaline, and years of eating junk and acidic foods can disrupt this stability and cause illness and disease. There are many studies about this particularly with cancer and chronic illness. Amrit Wilson (spelling) has also written a great book discussing IC and alkalinity - www.holisticnurse.com - though she encourages testing urine. After learning I had a mild form of IC, I made drastic changes to my diet - I no longer eat wheat, dairy, eggs and regined sugar as they are food allergens for me. My diet is primarily vegetables, whole grains, and some meats. Try not only eliminating food that have an immediate effect on your bladder, but those that may not bother you days or weeks later. The best way to do this is to use an elimination diet, and slowly add new foods to figure out triggers.

There are some great Internet sites, which discuss body alkalinity if you do a quick search.

Best of luck, Inderieden