Lifestyle
Adjusting Your Lifestyle
Your lifestyle is an important factor and it includes much more than just diet and exercise. It's about all aspects of your life, meaning how you shape your 24 hours a day.
Take a moment to write down on a piece of paper what a typical workday and a typical day off look like for you. You can also use two clocks/dials to illustrate how your two halves of the day unfold.
These points should be clarified:
- How many hours of sleep do you allow yourself?
- How fulfilling is your workday?
- How many hours do you work?
- How stressful is your job?
- Is your work also your calling or do you work just to make a living?
- What awaits you after your job?
- What's on your menu?
- How often do alcohol and nicotine play a role?
- Are you more of an action junkie or a couch potato?
- How often do you get fresh air and spend time in the sunlight?
- How much time per day is just for yourself?
- How many people around you do you feel good with? How many drag you down?
- Are you in a happy relationship / happy single?
- Do you feel comfortable in your four walls?
- Are you troubled by unfulfilled desires?
- How do you assess your personal stress level?
- How satisfied are you with yourself?
- Do you have goals in front of you?
A lifestyle that keeps body and soul healthy is also good for your bladder. The goal, however, should not be that a forced path to a healthy lifestyle adds stress to your life.
Additionally, well-being is a very individual matter. More hours at work do not automatically mean stress. It always depends on your personal feelings, your mood barometer.
Do you mostly live healthy? Or is there still room for improvement here and there?
After this little question-answer game, you can probably assess quite well where you stand. What makes you feel good? What drags you down? How much pressure is too much? Try to explore your personal comfort boundaries, and the best way to do that is through trial & error 🙂.
If you still want to know more about the individual questions, the question mark symbol will give you additional information.
My Healthy Habits
- 7500 steps a day
- 3x per week strength training with the workout plans from Sjard Fitness
- Balanced diet with the right macronutrient distribution according to the Fat Loss Bible by Sjard Rocher
- Adequate fluid intake through fixed drinking routines
- Always having a small project with a goal in mind
Get yourself an activity tracker (I use Fitbit Luxe*), which measures your physical activity, tracks your sleep, and allows you to track your diet.
You are what you eat.
I probably don’t need to tell you that fast food, excessive meat consumption, sugar, alcohol, etc. are not conducive to your overall health.
Instead, you should try to prefer freshly cooked meals made from natural and healthy foods.
A diet change for recurrent urinary tract infections has two goals:
- Fighting inflammation
- Strengthening the immune system
If nutrition is not your thing, I at least want to give you a handful of rules of thumb:
- Whole grain instead of white flour products
- Vegetables instead of fries and croquettes
- Water and tea (e.g. horsetail, goldenrod, ginger, green tea) instead of soft drinks, fruit juice, and alcohol
- Proteins from eggs, chicken, and turkey meat instead of pork or sausages
- If you can’t resist something sweet, go for chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content
Are you already a nutrition fanatic? Then go for it and optimise your diet plan. Here is a list of foods that you should ideally include in your diet:
- Green vegetables: Broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, fennel, lamb's lettuce
- Red vegetables: Tomatoes, aubergines, red cabbage, beetroot
- Garlic & onions
- Vegetables with mustard oils: Horseradish, cress, radishes
- Fruits: Apples, pears, light and dark grapes, cherries, berries, plums, pineapple, kiwi, watermelon, grapefruit
- Oils & fats: Olive oil, rapeseed oil, hemp oil, walnut oil, linseed oil, wheat germ oil, fatty fish, high-quality butter
- Spices: Oregano, thyme, turmeric, chili, curry powder, ginger, juniper
Personally, I’m a fan of the Nutrition Docs. There you’ll find further information on nutrition for bladder infections, such as:
My Vices
Nobody is perfect - that goes for me too. The inner lazy side is sometimes just too strong.
My weaknesses are:
- Coffee
- White wine spritzers
- Chips
- Fresh bread with butter
What are your vices?
All-rounder Garlic
Laboratory tests confirm the effectiveness of garlic*, even against dangerous bacteria that are difficult to treat with antibiotics. The active compound Alliin is responsible for the health-promoting effects. Garlic stimulates the immune system, has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and is also effective against viruses, fungi, and parasites. To keep the active compound level in the urine high throughout the day, it is advisable to take it 3 times a day.
Daily dose of fresh garlic: 4g (about 1.5 cloves) corresponds to approx. 40mg Alliin
Daily dose of capsules with powder: 1.5g powder corresponds to approx. 40mg Alliin
Flavonoids
Flavonoids are yellow, secondary plant pigments. Laboratory tests show a wide range of health-promoting properties. For urinary tract infections (UTIs), they are particularly useful for their antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal (anti-fungal), and anti-inflammatory effects. The easiest and most cost-effective way to consume flavonoids is by eating foods rich in them. Flavonoids are especially abundant in apples, pears, grapes, cherries, berries, onions, green and red vegetables, black and green tea, citrus fruits (especially grapefruits), and dark chocolate. If you can't manage to eat ½ kg of vegetables daily, you can also take the active compound through supplements, such as grapefruit extract* or grape seed extract, 100-500mg daily.
Quercetin - King of Flavonoids
This flavonoid from the flavonol subgroup has a very interesting property: it can block the body's defence cells (mast cells). These mast cells release histamine, which causes the painful inflammation during a UTI. Particularly in Interstitial Cystitis (a non-bacterial bladder infection), a high proportion of these mast cells can be found in the bladder lining. Participants in studies received 2000-5000mg daily, without any adverse side effects. However, it is unclear how much of the substance actually reaches the bladder after oral ingestion.
Pineapple
If you like pineapple, that's really good news. Pineapple contains the strongly anti-inflammatory enzyme bromelain. To make the most of its effect in the bladder, you need to use enteric-coated tablets, as the enzyme is partially digested in the stomach.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D influences a variety of metabolic processes. A deficiency of it increases the proven risk of bladder infections. The production of Vitamin D in your skin requires sunlight. During summer, it's relatively easy to ensure adequate levels. Simply expose ÂĽ of your body surface (head, arms, hands) to sunlight for 5-25 minutes each day. In winter, or as a general alternative, I recommend Vitamin D3+K2*. You can easily check if you're deficient by having a blood test for Vitamin D3 25(OH)D, which your GP can arrange for you.
"If your bladder is doing better and you haven't had a urinary tract infection for a long time, then the occasional indulgence or even a tough life event won't easily throw your bladder off balance."
