Diet and interstitial cystitis: A urologist’s view

In this video, J. Quentin Clemens, MD, MSCI, discusses the role of diet and lifestyle modifications in the management of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Clemens gave a talk at the 2025 Desai Sethi Urology Institute Urology on the Beach meeting titled “Tailoring IC Therapies for the Individual Patient.” He is the Edward J McGuire Professor of Urology, program director for the Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Fellowship, Urology, and associate chair for Research, Urology, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Transcription:

What are your current perspectives on the role of diet and lifestyle modifications in the management of IC/BPS, and how do you advise patients on these aspects?

Most patients when they see me, already have identified that there may be some triggers, and so I certainly let them know that that's a common feature, and that if there are certain foods or beverages that flare up their symptoms, then that's something they obviously should consider avoiding. There are some very strict IC diets that have been published, and I've had a handful of patients who have really found that helpful. They kind of stumbled across that, if you will. I feel like having IC is miserable enough as it is without also telling patients that they can only eat pears and blueberries, for instance. That's pretty much what I tell them, in the sense that I think that for most treatments for IC, the data to support these very strict IC diets are not really there. To me, it's somewhere in the middle. One thing I like is the elimination diet approach, where sometimes you have patients stop certain things for a bit, and then if they don't see any change, then they can go back and take those so that's one way approach to consider.

This transcription was AI generated and edited by human editors for clarity.