Having a healthy bladder is important to all of us! The urinary tract system performs many functions such as elimination, controlling levels of electrolytes and regulating blood pressure, to name a few. A healthy, fully-functioning bladder stores urine waste produced by the kidneys as your body filters toxins and eliminates excess water. A healthy bladder keeps toxins from building up within your body, which works to keep you healthy.
7 Tips for keeping your bladder healthy
- Avoid bladder irritants – Certain foods and drinks have been associated with worsening symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency or bladder pain. Avoid spicy foods, caffeinated and carbonated beverages, chocolate, tea, vinegar, orange juice, tomato-based foods, or alcoholic beverages.
- Drink water – Water is essential for bladder health. Drinking a lot of water allows your body to better break down harmful toxins and potential carcinogens and flush them out of your system. Frequent water consumption also leads to frequent urination, giving potentially harmful cells less time in the body.
- Add lemon or lime– Citric acid can help prevent kidney stones and urinary tract infections. Lemons can flush the bacterial toxins from the body and thus help in removing the infectious bacteria from the bladder. Lime juice also causes the pH of the blood and urinary tract to change from acidic to alkaline thereby hindering the growth of these opportunistic bacteria.
- Go when you need to – In some cases, the holding of your urine for too long can cause bacteria to multiply. This can lead to a urinary tract infection.
- Lead a healthy lifestyle – Taking care of your overall health is key to having healthy kidneys, liver, and bladder. Obesity, diabetes, heart failure and stroke can affect your bladders ability to function properly. Once your medical problems are managed, bladder health improves.
- Quit smoking– Smokers are a minimum of three times more likely to develop bladder cancer vs. non- smokers.
- Lose weight – Carrying extra weight can cause the pelvic floor to weaken which can lead to incontinence. Taking off extra weight allows incontinence symptoms to improve.
Caring for our bladders is a pretty simple proposition. Most of the effort is on keeping the muscles around the bladder strong and keeping potentially harmful bacteria out of the bladder.
At North Central Surgical Center, our mission is to provide first-class healthcare services to the local community in Dallas, Texas. We are open 24/7 and visitors are welcome at any time.
