Chronic Pain Today

In her book, Solving the Interstitial Cystitis Puzzle: My Story of Discovery and Recovery”, Amrit Willis RN talks about the focus on an alkalizing diet. With chronic candida infections and food allergies constantly contributing to the problems that interstitial cystitis suffers face, she sums it up as:

“In my search for my recovery from interstitial cystitis, I discovered several books that address health issues with respect to the pH of the body. I was aware that in the IC community it is common knowledge that persons with IC are intolerant of acidic foods and beverages. It is also known in the IC community that alkalizing elements can reduce the symptoms of interstitial cystitis. In my research, I uncovered that an alkali-forming diet can neutralize the acid load in one’s body and thereby assist in restoring one’s health. I wrote this book as a resource for persons suffering from interstitial cystitis because it seems so many of us have been unable to see the forest from the trees. It has been suggested that IC is a syndrome with a variety of origins, and I found this to be true. When one consumes an acid-forming diet, as most Americans do, drink acidic beverages, inhale contaminated acidic air, and live fast-paced stressful lives, one is going to develop a severe acid load in the body that must be neutralized. In order to bring about a balance and neutralize and escort out the acids stored in cells of the body, I discovered this could be done simply and naturally with a change in diet and lifestyle. I wish you a speedy recovery and hope that this book will bring a fresh new vision to understanding interstitial cystitis. I hope this book will also invoke more studies with respect to the pH factor and IC.”

Dietary approaches to interstitial cystitis have mainly been to decrease coffee, spicy food, and chocolate from the diet. Many IC patients, however, report that restricting their diet to abolish acidic foods was a major help factor in their symptoms.