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Eating to Stay Dry
Nutritional Triggers and Bedwetting
By Kelly Burgess
Patsy Darin* of Eden Prairie, Minn., thinks that may be the problem with her son, Eric. Although he doesn't wet the bed every night, at age 8 he still has accidents several times per week. Before taking him in for evaluation, she tried weaning him off soda and fruit juices and substituting water. When her doctor asked her to keep a voiding diary she was shocked at how much water Eric was drinking.
"I didn't realize that I'd gotten into the habit of pushing water on him even when he didn't complain about being thirsty so that he wouldn't ask for soda, which I thought was making him go," Darin says. "I haven't even been back to the doctor yet to follow up but have already cut back, and we've seen an improvement."
Another factor to consider with nutrition and bedwetting is food allergies. Dr. Pinto says while a definitive link between food allergies and bedwetting has not been established, he never rules out a parent's intuition.
"We're just coming to the realization in urology that there are things we don't know for sure and that probably need further investigation," he says. "But, so far, the link between food allergies and bedwetting is just anecdotal."
A definitive link between food allergies and bedwetting may not exist, but Julie Matthews, a San Francisco-based certified nutrition consultant, says some common food allergens may cause bladder spasms that contribute to bedwetting. Among these common allergens are:
- Wheat and dairy
- Gluten grains such as oats, rye and barley
- Soy
- Corn
- Eggs
- Citrus
- Chocolate
- Peanuts
- Cane Sugar