Maintaining a healthy weight contributes to overall well-being, and this includes kidney health. Carrying excess weight can force the kidneys to work harder, raising the risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure, the two leading causes of kidney disease. Moreover, there's a connection between weight and urinary health, specifically concerning overactive bladder (OAB) and urinary tract infections (UTIs). This article explores the intricate relationship between weight loss, urinary tract infections, and overactive bladder, offering insights and actionable steps for managing these conditions.
Obesity and Overactive Bladder: Understanding the Link
Some research supports a link between obesity and symptoms of overactive bladder. Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic condition characterized by:
- Urgency: A sudden, intense need to urinate immediately, which may include urge incontinence (uncontrollable leakage of urine).
- Frequency: The need to urinate more often than what is typical for you.
- Nocturia: The need to urinate one or more times during the night.
Studies suggest a link between obesity and OAB symptoms. Excess weight, especially in the abdominal area, is a risk factor for OAB. Having obesity or excess weight, especially in your abdominal region, puts pressure on your bladder. This can weaken or damage your urethra, the tube that carries urine out of your body, and can also damage or weaken your pelvic floor, making OAB symptoms such as leakage more likely to occur. A weak pelvic floor also makes you prone to stress incontinence. That’s when you leak urine while sneezing, coughing, or laughing.
Several studies have confirmed a link between obesity and OAB. A 2020 study with 206 women in their early 30s found that those with a body fat percentage over 32% were 95% more likely to experience OAB symptoms than those with a lower body fat percentage. A 2019 study with 920 people found that obesity caused urinary incontinence in males and females. Researchers found that obesity caused OAB in females but not in males. This was true for both general obesity and central obesity (excess fat in the abdominal region). A 2019 study with 14,135 adults found that those with a body mass index (BMI) over 30 were more likely to experience nocturia, no matter their age or sex.
The Potential Benefits of Weight Loss for OAB
Losing weight might help you reduce symptoms. Losing weight through lifestyle strategies, like dieting, might relieve bladder pressure and reduce OAB symptoms. Weight loss achieved through bariatric surgery also has a highly positive effect. A 2020 review of studies found moderate to low certainty of evidence that weight loss from lifestyle approaches, like diet and exercise, reduced OAB symptoms. Researchers found higher certainty of evidence that weight loss improved OAB symptoms due to stress incontinence. A 2018 review suggests a link between substantial weight loss and reduced OAB symptoms. But the review’s authors note that more research is needed to know whether less dramatic weight loss can have the same effect.
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Other Causes and Risk Factors for Overactive Bladder
There are many causes and risk factors for overactive bladder. It’s possible to have several at one time. In addition to excess weight, causes of OAB include:
- Older age
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Drinking alcoholic or caffeinated beverages
- Taking certain medications, such as diuretics, calcium blockers, and diabetes drugs
- Pregnancy
- Hormonal changes, such as in menopause
- Nerve damage caused by physical trauma or disease
- Bladder stones
- Bladder cancer
Preventing and Managing OAB
If you have overweight or obesity, you may be able to prevent (or reverse) OAB by losing some weight. This can be challenging to do alone. Consider talking with a healthcare professional or nutritionist about lifestyle habits that can help you achieve your goal. Exercise, especially cardio, may support weight loss. But also consider including pelvic floor exercises in your daily routine to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
Other tips to prevent OAB include the following:
- Quit smoking if you do. Smoking cigarettes is a risk factor for urinary urgency and urge incontinence.
- Limit or avoid caffeine and alcohol.
- Limit or avoid foods that may irritate your bladder and make symptoms worse. You can keep a bladder diary to help you identify foods to limit or avoid.
- Manage conditions that may worsen OAB, like diabetes. If your current treatments aren’t managing your conditions well, reach out to your doctor.
Urinary Tract Infections: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention
A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection in any part of the urinary system. The urinary system includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. Women have a higher risk of getting UTIs than men. A urinary tract infection that affects the bladder can be painful and annoying. Healthcare professionals often treat urinary tract infections with antibiotics. Urine that looks red, bright pink or cola-colored. Pelvic pain.
UTIs occur when bacteria enter the urinary tract through the urethra and begin to spread in the bladder. The urinary system is designed to keep out bacteria. But sometimes the defenses fail. Infection of the bladder. Bacteria called E. coli often causes this type of UTI. This type of bacteria commonly lives in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Infection of the urethra. This type of UTI can happen when GI bacteria spread from the bowel to the urinary tract. Some people have repeated, also called recurrent, infections. This means having two or more UTIs within six months or three or more within a year.
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Risk factors for UTIs include:
- Female anatomy. Women have a shorter urethra than men do.
- Perimenopause and menopause. The amount of circulating estrogen drops during perimenopause and menopause. This leads to changes in the bacteria that are typically found in the vagina.
- Certain types of birth control. Using diaphragms for birth control may raise the risk of UTIs.
- Low fluid intake.
- Constipation.
- Incomplete bladder emptying.
- Urinary tract conditions present at birth. Some babies are born with a condition called vesicoureteral reflux. This condition causes urine to back up into the ureters, the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder. When urine backs up like this, it can bring germs from the bladder up to the kidneys.
- Blockages in the urinary tract. Kidney stones or an enlarged prostate can trap urine above it, in the bladder.
- A suppressed immune system. Immunosuppressant medicines, diabetes and other diseases can weaken the immune system - the body's defense against germs.
- Catheter use. People who can't urinate on their own often must use a tube, called a catheter, to remove urine from the bladder. Using a catheter raises the risk of UTIs. Catheters may be used by people who are in the hospital.
- A recent urinary procedure. Urinary surgery can raise the risk of getting a UTI.
When treated promptly, urinary tract infections rarely lead to complications. Lasting kidney damage. Without treatment, UTIs can spread to the kidneys and damage them. Delivering a low birthweight infant. UTIs during pregnancy can affect the weight of the baby. Narrowing of the urethra in men. Repeated infections can scar the urethra. Sepsis. This complication of urinary tract infection can be life-threatening. Sept.
Diet and UTIs: A Potential Connection
Tough-to-treat urinary tract infections (UTI) that are resistant to antibiotics are on the rise. Now, in a new study looking at human urine published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers say they’ve discovered why some people are more prone than others to the infections. Intriguingly, diet may have something to do with it.
Early on in an infection, cells produce a protein called siderocalin that blocks bacterial growth, including the growth of E. coli that often causes UTIs, says Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and senior author of the study. (It does this by keeping iron away from the bacteria, which need it to thrive.) The researchers wanted to see how the protein worked differently in various samples of urine at restricting the growth of E. coli, so they analyzed the urine from about 50 men and women.
“We found, kind of to our surprise, that there was a really wide range between individuals and how well this protein worked, just depending on that individual’s urinary composition,” says Henderson.
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Two common factors emerged in urine that had a better ability to resist bacterial growth: it had a high pH-one that’s more alkaline, in other words-and higher levels of certain metabolites formed by gut microbes. That metabolite isn’t made from human cells, Henderson says; rather, they come from the diet or are metabolized by bacterial cells from dietary sources. “It looks like this protein that’s part of your immune system is able to use metabolites in the diet as grips to hold onto iron and keep it away from pathogenic bacteria,” Henderson says. In some people, that system is set up really well, he says, but in those who get recurrent UTIs, it doesn’t seem to work as well.
Both urine pH and metabolite production may be able to be changed through diet, and doing so could potentially offer a treatment strategy in the future, he says. “It may be that we have to adjust multiple things at the same time to get the system to work well, but the appealing part is this is not an antibiotic strategy,” he says. “It may allow you to keep your normal flora while keeping bacteria out of the urinary tract.”
Physicians already know how to raise urinary pH with things like calcium supplements, and alkalizing agents are already used in the U.K. as over-the-counter UTI treatments, Henderson says. Knowing how to encourage the metabolites is trickier. The molecules come from phenolic, or aromatic, compounds, Henderson says, and robust food sources include those that we more often hear are rich in antioxidants: coffee, tea, colorful berries, red wine and dark chocolate.
And yes: cranberries, too, are known to make urinary aromatics, which may be why cranberry products are so often used as UTI remedies, Henderson says. “One thing this suggests is that maybe the reason it’s not more effective is that people need both cranberries and a higher urine pH, or they need cranberries and appropriate inhabitants of their intestine, or the right microbiome composition in their gut, for the cranberry part to work properly.”
A treatment without antibiotics would be a boon, but it’s likely a several-pronged approach and for now, more research is needed.
Weight Loss and Kidney Health: A Proactive Approach
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for your overall health-including your kidneys. Why? Carrying extra weight can force the kidneys to work harder. It also increases the risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure, the two leading causes of kidney disease.
The good news? Small changes can lead to big results. You don't need to be the "perfect weight" to see the benefits of weight loss. Losing just 5-10% of your body weight can significantly lower the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Here are five steps you can take to lose weight and protect your kidney health.
Understand Your Body Fat Percentage
Body Mass Index or BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight. It is a good screening tool but not specific to the individual. There are four BMI categories:
- Underweight: Less than 18.5
- Average weight: 18.5-24.9
- Overweight: 25-29.9
- Obesity: BMI of 30 or greater
"BMI doesn't tell us how weight is distributed," said Golnaz Ghomeshi Friedman, renal dietitian. "Looking at the accumulation of fat in one's midsection can be really helpful here.
Diet
A varied healthy diet is key to getting to and maintaining a healthy weight. Stary by paying attention to the types of foods you eat. Try to limit saturated and trans fats, excess salt, and added sugars. Aim for nutritious foods like fiber, lean proteins, and monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Fat is essential to one's diet, so don't cut it out completely.
If you eat what you’re craving, you’re more likely to feel satisfied and eat less. Serving size for spray butters (even low-calorie ones) are around a 1/3 second spray. What on earth does that mean? Restaurant turkey burgers are often made with dark meat and the skin, so they’re not necessarily better for you (and for the record, they aren't low-fat). You can get a sirloin burger that’s 95% lean meat and gives you 20 g of protein. Almonds are high in protein, fiber and fat and will keep you feeling fuller longer. In the morning, you want a meal that will fill you up. Eggs offer protein and fat for satiety, but Special K cereal really only offers carbs and, well, air. If you want carbs to kick off the day, you're better off pairing eggs with a slice of 100% whole grain toast. To absorb fat soluble vitamins like Vitamins E and K in vegetables you need to consume them with a fat to aid nutrient absorption. Fat-free dressing, meanwhile, is low-calorie but gets its flavor from added sugar and salt. “People believe fat free is calorie free,” says Keri Gans, a registered dietitian in New York City. “Go for the real thing.” Fat free cookies tend to be high in carbs, sugar and fake sugar. Try a nice piece of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate instead. A little fat is good in the morning to keep you full-plus it has upwards of 17g of protein per container.
Exercise
Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. Most adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week. Don't push yourself too hard. Injuries can impact long-term weight loss more than taking it slow and working your way up.
Check Your Kidneys
The earlier you catch kidney disease, the more likely you'll be able to better manage it and protect your kidney function. It's easy to find out. Ask your healthcare professional for these two simple tests:
- Urine test: The urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR) test looks at levels of albumin, a protein, and creatinine, a waste product, in your urine. Healthy kidneys usually keep albumin in the blood and filter out creatinine in the urine.
- Blood test: The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) checks the blood for creatinine. The kidneys usually remove this waste product.
Keep an Eye on Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure
Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney disease. Both can damage the blood vessels in your kidneys, making it harder for them to filter waste effectively.
If you have diabetes, work with your healthcare team to keep blood sugar levels within your target range. This may involve regular monitoring, medication, and lifestyle adjustments, including diet and exercise.
High blood pressure puts extra strain on your kidneys. If your blood pressure is above your target range, talk to a healthcare provider about ways to lower it. They may ask you to reduce sodium intake, exercise regularly, manage stress, and take medication.
Other Conditions to Consider
Frequent urination with weight loss is one way that uncontrolled diabetes can manifest. You should get your urine and sugar checked. While the list below can be considered as a guide to educate yourself about these conditions, this is not a substitute for a diagnosis from a health care provider. There are many other medical conditions that also can be associated with your symptoms and signs.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that may be reversible with diet and lifestyle changes. Symptoms include excessive thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, fatigue, and an unusual odor to your urine. Most people don't know they have type 2 diabetes until they have a routine blood test. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (juvenile) is an auto-immune disease with no known cause at this time. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include frequent urination, unintentional weight loss, dry and itchy skin, vision problems, wounds that heal slowly, and excessive thirst. Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things.