Is Prelief a substitute for dietary changes?

[SB10101]

I just got diagnosed with IC and am certainly ready to change my diet but am pretty horrified by all the foods and drinks I will have to cut out. (For a long time I've been a vegetarian with a soy/veggie/fruit-based diet, and love spicy & sour foods, plus coffee, tea, wine, etc--basically, everything I eat and drink is out!) So I was encouraged to see the chart showing that Prelief radically reduces the amount of acid in many of these foods. My question is, if Prelief really decreases the acid level of a food by 95% or more, why is it necessary to cut that food out of the diet at all?? Is it not advisable to just eat the foods you want with Prelief? Would that result in taking an unhealthy amount of Prelief, w/ side effects?

Another question--is it necessary to delay starting Prelief until I've tried the IC diet for a couple of months and identified my trigger foods?

[ICNDonna]

Prelief is definitely not a "magic" pill that allows us to eat everything. Following an IC diet is always a good idea --- once you have discovered your triggers it will get easier.

Donna

[desolationangel]

I manage pretty well as a vegetarian on the IC diet. Remember that most veggies are okay, beans besides soy, whole grains. And while spices are pretty much out, most herbs seem okay. It's nearly impossible for me to eat out these days (I've found about two restaurants I can go to) but when I'm cooking everything's okay.

As for prelief, it's helpful for some things, and not others. It helps with things that are just acidic, not with things that have a lot of potassium, or are spicy, or release histamine (which I believe is the main issue with soy.) Also it's hard to know why something's on the IC diet list... is it because it's acidic? Or is there something else going on as well? The thing I find prelief helps with the most is the preservative citric acid, and sometimes vinegar.

[Sherry5]

I would say it is best to find your trigger foods first. I just went on a cruise, where it is all about the food, and prelief helped me tremendously. I am mostly sensitive to citric acid in any form, and soy. I was able to eat moderate amounts of chocolate, fruit, even a tiny bit of tomatoe. I wouldn't risk soda, orange juice, or soy, but there was so much I was able to eat. Not all of us are totally restricted. I ate italan food, mexican food, chinese food, all of it. Find out what you are most sensitive to first, and like desolation angel said, it is not always just about the acid. Good Luck!

[Julie B]

I agree with Sherry, it would be much better to sort out the trigger foods first. Not everyone has to be on a strict diet. You can download some charts to help you from my website at: Confident Choices Resources

Here are my thoughts: If you use Prelief without finding out your personal trigger foods, you may be masking some problems. But after you sort out the worst of your triggers, I believe there may be some research that is looking at some healing properties of Prelief. My intuition tells me that if you get the worst of the irritants out of the bladder, you can heal better. I look at it like having a scraped knee. If you want it to heal, but keep scrubbing it with sandpaper, it is going to take a lot longer to heal......

Betty, can you clarify this?? (Let me know if I need to edit my comments! )

[prbetty]

Hi!

As Donna mentioned, following an IC diet is always a good idea.

To SB10101: Prelief is an over-the-counter supplement (calcium glycerophosphate) that takes the acid out of acidic foods and beverages. Our recommended dosage is to take at least 2 Prelief tablets with each meal and snack.

Additionally, (per Julie B's posting): In preliminary observations on a limited number of IC patients observed on and off Prelief, there were marked reductions in apparent cellular inflammation in patients given Prelief, using a urinary marker:
-In all cases the marker reductions were matched by reduction in pain and urgency.
-Both marker readings and symptoms returned to higher levels when Prelief was withheld, and dropped again when Prelief was regiven. A full clinical study is underway.


Betty Corson
Customer Service
prbetty@akpharma.com
1-800-994-4711