My Worst Flaring Agents

This is a list of the worst flaring agents I have encountered so far.  This list is by no means exhaustive or in any particular order and some things are clearly individual, but it has always been helpful for me to know what flares other ICers.  Unless noted, the flaring agents are for both organic and non-organic.  I will be updating this list every so often when I encounter or think of more.  Here we go:

Food and Drinks:

1. Lemon juice
2. Carrots 
3. Anything soy (Tofu, miso, soy oil, soy milk, soy flour, soy lecithin, etc.)
4. Pepper
5. Too much table salt (Table salt is very acidic; use sea salt instead)
6. Mayo
7. All dressings (Salad dressings, marinade, condiments, dips, anything)
8. Tomatoes and all tomato products
9. Citric acid (This is found in all citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, etc., and is found in juices, candy, fruit-flavoured gums, jams, canned foods, some teas, cereals, and is found as an additive in most foods)
10. Coffee
11. Yoghurt
12. Sour cream
13. Broccoli 
14. Cabbage
15. All nuts (Yes, even almonds)
16. Grapes
17. Apples
18. Cantaloupe 
19. All alcohol
20. All berries except organic blueberries
21. Non-organic honeydew melon
22. Non-organic peppers 
23. Non-organic cucumbers
24. Non-organic blueberries
25. Non-organic red potatoes
26. Non-organic celery
27. Non-organic lettuce
28. Non-organic alfalfa sprouts
29. Non-organic pears
30. Non-organic peas
31. Non-organic cereals
32. All preservatives (Except calcium propionate --- I can tolerate a small amount of this one with Prelief, only if it is the last ingredient listed, such as in some fresh pita breads)
33. All additives 
34. Artificial sweeteners
35. Artificial flavours
36. All fruit except organic blueberries, organic honeydew melon, organic pears, and dried or frozen organic mango (All with Prelief, of course)
37. All fish except tuna
38. Balsamic vinegar 
39. Any acid natural additives - citric acid, nitric acid, etc.
40. All herbs (especially rosemary!) except fresh organic dill
41. Unfiltered water
42. Regular milk (Try lactose-free)
43. Aged cheeses
44. Cottage cheese --- Yes this is a young cheese, but don't be fooled!  It has citric acid in it!!!
45. All teas
46. Maple syrup
47. Meat
48. Garlic
49. Onions
50. Egg yolks --- But I can eat egg whites
51. Chocolate (Even organic white chocolate) 
52. Cream --- Ice cream etc., but don't despair!  I can eat vanilla frozen yoghurt if it doesn't have any troublesome ingredients or additives or preservatives 
53. Quinoa (This one makes absolutely no sense to me but it flares me instantly)
54. Beets
55. Wild blueberries
56. Anything carbonated 
57. Pop/soda
58. All caffeine (Even from green tea)
59. Anything smoked (Even smoked tuna)
60. All processed foods
61. All pre-packaged foods
62. Most cereals
63. Most food colouring, especially the different variations of red
64. All jam
65. Regular sugar --- Try demerara sugar instead (cane sugar)
66. All candy

Other:

1. Cold medicine (Advil Cold & Sinus, etc.)
2. Pantyhose --- Try thigh-high stay-ups
3. Pants that hit you in the wrong place --- Guess jeans hit me in the right place, thank goodness
4. Running
5. Bending over --- Try squatting
6. Any exercise using your abdominals/pelvic muscles
7. Sitting in a chair without my seat cushion (Even still, most chairs are not okay with me and lead me to faint from pain)
8. Taking the bus/train
9. Lifting/carrying heavy objects
10. Carrying a backpack 
11. Pilates
12. Most supplements, especially multivitamins and/or potassium, ouch!
13. Tight underwear/tight pants
14. Spandex
15. Sleeping without a pillow between the knees
16. Sitting on a bike (Exercise bike, motorcycle, regular bike, etc.)
17. Sitting forward
18. Any activity that includes moving your arms a lot, especially at your side such as tennis, badminton, etc.
19. Ballet
20. Pushing when you urinate --- even if you have to sit there for five minutes before you can start, DON'T PUSH!
21. Not drinking enough water --- I drink 8-20 litres a day
22. Holding urine --- this is one of the worst things you could do if you have IC --- even if you're in a bad situation such as on the highway, figure it out.  Either pull off and find a bathroom or buy some portable, disposable, female urinals to take with you when you know there's not going to be a bathroom closeby. 
23. Sucking in --- You will pay for doing this with a huge swollen belly that can't be sucked in.  Wear clothes that make you feel confident enough that you don't feel the need to suck in because I'm telling you, the swelling can make you look about 8 months pregnant and sorry, you can't suck in that type of swelling.
24. Swimming in a pool --- It is not the act itself, but rather the chlorine in the pool, even in salt water pools because they still have to use some chlorine.  If you live near a lake or the ocean, take advantage of it because swimming is one of the only forms of exercise we can tolerate.