The study looked at the effect of volume and types of beverage consumption on symptoms soon after consumption, as well as how people's symptoms progressed over five years. To summarize the many findings of the study, researchers found, not too surprisingly, that drinking large volumes of liquid could cause greater frequency, urgency, and voiding problems.
In addition, higher coffee and total caffeine consumption were associated with more and worse symptoms in men. Increases in coffee consumption over the five-year study period were associated with progression of urgency symptoms in women.
Some carbonated beverages were associated with worse symptoms. For men, drinking more than a cup of non-diet cola was associated with a worsening of voiding symptoms. For women, drinking caffeinated diet sodas and increasing soda consumption over time was associated with developing or having worse symptoms. Among men, drinking orange juice was associated with reduced progression of symptoms.
The findings support the recommendation to reduce caffeinated beverages, but further research is needed to determine the effects of orange juice and soda on lower urinary tract symptoms.