In my practice I listen to my client’s comments,
symptoms, and reactions to lifestyle changes very carefully. I was asked how
often we should urinate daily as some people think their frequency of urination
has increased.
I absolutely understand, that there is nothing more
annoying, at the meeting or attending a social event, than to have to visit the
bathroom often. Some people are even saying that this is embarrassing for them.
The good news is that this issue can be corrected. The body most likely is
giving a signal that something is out of balance. Before I review the possible
causes, many of you may be thinking how much is acceptable to pee daily.
The average urine output varies depending on the
volume of liquid and type of food intake, and also activity level during the
day. In a 24-hour period, on the average, we should visit the bathroom about 8
times. The frequency of urination may increase when we drink more water due to a
high outdoor temperature. We should know however, increase urination can also
be a red flag for more serious medical condition.
Sometimes people are asking if they should hold the
urination for a longer time. This is not always a good idea. When the bladder
is full, an automatic feedback mechanism signals to the brain the urge to
urinate. And here is the issue. Some people decide to hold it for longer time especially at work. While
some of us may think this is not a problem, you should know, this practice will
eventually cause bacterial infection, which can inflame the urinary tract.
The
most common causes of frequent urination
Infection
There
are typical symptoms of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) like: frequent urination,
pain and discomfort. This type of infection is much common in women than men
due to the shorter urethra in women’s body. Consequently bacteria have a shorter
distance to travel to the bladder increasing the risk of infection1.
If you suspect this problem, you should speak to your doctor.
High blood sugars (glucose)
Chronically
elevated blood sugar levels cause thirst, hunger and urination. This could be a
warning sign of pre-diabetes or even diabetes2. If you suspect some
problem, you should ask your doctor for a specific blood test HbA1c that will
confirm if a problem exists.
You could drink too much water
Although
I do advise to drink pure (filtered) water, too much water may create a problem
resulting in frequent urination and flushing out sodium from the body. For example
runners who often drink too much water are prone to hyponatreamia a.k.a losing too
much sodium3. From my
practice I noticed, that these clients who adjusted the amount of water intake
to the level they should drink, they needed approximately about two weeks to
adjust the absorption rate, so for them was normal to visit the bathroom more
often.
Possibly you drink too much caffeine
and alcohol
Coffee
and alcohol are diuretics causing a higher frequency of urination. Both, they
block anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) which prevents to urine too often4.
My
advice, drink less coffee, tea and alcohol, then you will decrease trips to the
bathroom during the day.
Enlarged prostate
For
older men, often a normal sign of aging is frequent urination. However, if the trips to the bathroom are noticeably
increased, it may indicate the issue with an enlargement of your prostate gland5.
In this situation, men are saying that only a small amount of urine is released.
If this is an issue for you, you should talk to your doctor.
Blood pressure medications
The
most common type of drugs to treat high blood pressure are ‘water pills’,
diuretics, which remove sodium and water from the kidneys, causing the blood vessels
to relax6. If your frequency to the bathroom is disturbing, you
should contact your doctor, perhaps to adjust the level of medication.
Overactive bladder
1. Remove
dietary triggers such as caffeine, alcohol and sugar for about 4 weeks. This
leads to improvement for most people.
2. Retrain
the pelvic floor muscles around the bladder, by using Kegel exercises. It is recommended
to perform these exercises for 5 minutes daily, 5 times a week.
In
conclusion having to urinate frequently is most likely a signal that something in
your diet or health is out of balance. You should remove dietary triggers,
retrain your brain and rebuild the surrounding bladder muscles to restore
normal urine output.
If you have questions regarding your
eating, weight or health, please contact me and I will be happy to work with
you.
Please also share this article with your
family and friends who would enjoy reading it!
To
your health,
Maria Pawlicka M.Sc., BAA, CNP
Certified and Registered
Nutritionist
References
1.
Cranberries for
preventing urinary tract infections. Jepson RG, Williams
G, Craig JC., Department of Nursing and
Midwifery, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23076891
3. The
New England Journal of Medicine www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa043901#t=article
4. Biochem.
Journal www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1137049/
5. J.Pain
Symptom Manage. 2012 Oct. 44(4): 486-507 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3463773/
6. J.
Hypertens. 2006 Feb: 24(2):215-33. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16508562
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