A Healthy Diet for Kidney Stones

There are a number of kidney problems that affect people, kidney stones being a common one.  

Kidney stones are solid masses made of crystals. They can be really painful and interfere with your daily life activities.

While there is no certain way to prevent kidney stones from occurring, however making some changes in your diet and lifestyle, along with the right medication can be of great help. Follow these tips to minimise the risk:

1. Avoid sodium salts, sugar and meat protein: Packaged foods contain salts and sugars, which are used to prevent them from expiring. They increase the release of calcium and oxalates into the blood, which increases the chances of kidney stone formation. Meat contains fibers which affect certain nutrients in the kidney, hence aggravating the formation of stones.

2. Increase your water intake: You must drink at least 3 liters of water every day. If you live in a more hot and humid climate, your water intake must be even more than that.  This is because on an average, 2.5 liters of urine is passed throughout the day, which decreases the chance of unnecessary retention of minerals from the urine and releases them more easily from the body.

3. Limit intake of oxalic acid: Oxalic acid is mostly found in foods obtained from plants. It restricts the absorption of calcium in the intestines and as a result, more calcium is passed into the kidneys; thus, forming calcium oxalate, or oxalate stones.

4. Eat calcium-rich foods: It is a common misconception that calcium accelerates the formation of kidney stones. Calcium is digested by the intestine, only excess calcium cannot be digested by the intestine and is sent to the kidney. Continue consuming calcium rich foods unless your doctor tells you not to have them. Make sure your diet includes enough dairy products or other calcium rich foods.

So, the best you can do to prevent kidney stones is being careful about your diet and sipping up sufficient amount of water everyday.