EP.368/ Easy Interstitial Cystitis Trigger Food Swaps to Bring Joy and Flavour Back to Meals

Podcast

25 Oct

Today is another short episode as we’ve flown from Albania, spent two days re-packing, flew to Lithuania, then did food shopping, hand washing, and Chris’s birthday with a home baked cake and meal, plus working, in less than five days.

Yes, we are crazy.

Anyway, this episode was inspired by a recent Substack of mine. I have a section in my Substack called ‘What I’m eating lately’ and it’s just a section where I share healthy meal ideas that support us with endo and our many chronic illnesses. I shared how I had started using whole seeds instead of spices for my interstitial cystitis, and I got a really positive response from others who had struggled with bland meals since their IC developed.

So, for those of you who aren’t aware, interstitial cystitis is also called Bladder Pain Syndrome, and is a condition that causes bladder pressure, frequent urination, poor bladder emptying, bladder pain and more, without a clear cause. It’s a co-condition of endometriosis, and it can be extremely debilitating to live with. I have multiple episodes on the condition, so if you want to deep dive into it, go on a scroll through my podcast feed, and I’ve linked a few in the show notes.

Now, people with IC often have food related triggers. The research has shown that people with IC report the worst symptoms from:

Spicy foods
Acidic foods like tomatoes, citrus fruits, cranberry juice and pineapples
Tea, coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated), and cacao or chocolate
Carbonated drinks
Alcohol

Now, this list isn’t exhaustive, but these are the foods and drinks that come up again and again in research, and for me, the experience tracks, with some exceptions. For example, I can eat dark chocolate without much of a problem for my bladder, but if I have hot chocolate made with cacao - so basically liquid, that gives me pain or cacao in a smoothie, that gives me pain. I can have a very small and weak decaf coffee and have very mild symptoms, but a normal coffee, especially every day, is going to put me in debilitating pain, but I can have ‘real’ coffee once or twice a the weekend without too big of a consequence.

The biggest triggers for me are tomatoes, citrus foods and spices, which means for the past few years, our week day meals get pretty bland, because even though my IC symptoms are a fraction of what they once were, I would say 70% improved, I have to avoid eating these trigger foods regularly, otherwise I do have flares. Now, I can eat some of these foods at the weekend, because I want to live my life, and if I have pain, it doesn’t impact on my work, but I can’t tolerate them as daily staples.

So, you can imagine, when you can’t use tomatoes or spices or citrus, meals can get quite plain, and we mainly use lots of herbs for flavour. But recently, I thought to myself, if I can eat chocolate, but I can’t drink chocolate, maybe it’s more to do with form of the food and how small the particles of food are. So, cacao powder in liquid is making its way to my bladder because the particles are so small, but cacao solids in chocolate, are not making their way to my bladder. Now, remember this is a theory, it’s not studied, but based on my theory, I decide to try mild spices, in their whole form, rather than in a ground form - and lo and behold, I can tolerate them.

Here’s what I’ve been trying and tolerating:

Whole cardamon pods (we’ve been popping them into rice and quinoa whilst they cook)
Whole fenugreek seeds
Whole fennel seeds (not a spice, but a great addition for flavour)
Whole cumin seeds
Whole coriander seeds (not technically a spice and I can eat the herb fresh, but the ground powder irritates me usually)
Nigella seeds (should have thought of this earlier, as in theory, shouldn’t be a problem)
Whole pimenta (allspice berries) instead of ground allspice
Whole turmeric root cooked in rice, etc. rather than ground turmeric
Curry leaves
Lime leaves
Bay leaves

Now, I haven’t yet tried flavouring with a stick of cinnamon vs. cinnamon powder, but I’ll definitely be giving that a go - it’s just for me, cinnamon is a big histamine trigger, so I do keep that for fewer and special occasions like a cinnamon bun!

Many people can also tolerate citrus fruit zest rather than the juice, so you could always try that too, though I haven’t tried this one yet.

I’ve also been experimenting with black cocoa powder rather than raw cacao powder, as black cocoa powder is heavily alkalised, meaning the acidity of cacao, which is often the trigger for IC, is gone, and so in theory, hot chocolate or smoothies made with black cocoa powder could be better tolerated. It’s too soon to say, but I’m hopeful!

I haven’t tried actually hot spices, because I think that would be a step too far, but of course, you’re welcome to experiment.

Okay, so I hope that might have inspired you and offered some hope, if you’re starting to bored of the same flavours on your meals because of your IC triggers. Please remember, I have no evidence for this, it’s just my experience, so please be guided by your own body.

Show Notes:

This episode is sponsored by Mira, your at-home hormone testing device. Use this link and code 2DJESS20 to get 20% off the device and any future wand orders.

IC episodes (not all):

https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/ic-sibo-endo-connection?rq=bladder
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/bladder-endometriosis-interstitial-cystitis?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/diet-and-natural-treatment-options-for-interstitial-cystitis-and-bladder-pain?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/sibo-endometriosis-and-interstitial-cystitis-connection-wth-dr-allison-siebecker?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/new-ic-subtypes?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endometriosis-sibo-ic-and-allergies-the-histamine-connection?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/supplements-for-interstitial-cystitis?rq=interstitial
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/root-causes-of-bladder-pain-with-endometriosis?rq=bladder
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/nutrition-bladder-pain-brianne-thornton?rq=bladder
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/utis-endo?rq=bladder
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/how-your-nervous-system-affects-interstitial-cystitis-and-endo-pain?rq=bladder
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/chronic-uni-treatment-semaine?rq=bladder