Kidney Stones Cause & Treatment

Kidney Stones Diet

Water
Drink plenty of water. That is the first item on the diet for kidney stones. No matter what type of kidney stone you have, go for taking as much water as you can everyday. Some doctors would advise you to drink 10 to 12 glasses a day. The reason is that water keeps your body hydrated and helps kidneys producing urine in a great quantity which clean the kidneys of the waste material particles which otherwise could stay in the kidneys and form into stones. Water also helps in dissolving kidney stones that have already formed.

And even if you don't have kidney stones, it pays to take as much water or other fluids such fruit juices as you can as this would prevent the formation of kidney stones.

What Kidney Stones Foods To Avoid?

Water and fluids are beneficial for treatment and prevention of every kind of kidney stones, But when it comes to what food to eat, doctors may not generally tell you to eat this or that kind of food and you would be okay. And they won't give you a list of foods to avoid completely either.

Instead they may ask you to cut back on various food items depending on the type of kidney stones you have.

Calcium

If your kidney stone is caused by an excess of calcium, you may be advised to reduce the amount of oxalates in your diet. Oxalates prevent calcium from being absorbed by your body, so it can accumulate in your kidney and form a stone. Your doctor may advise you to cut back on such food items which contain oxalates:  Beets, chocolate, coffee, cola, nuts, parsley, peanuts, rhubarb, spinach, strawberries, tea, and wheat bran.
Vitamin C

While Vitamin C is considered a super vitamin and everybody needs it. But in high dosage, it can help in formation of kidney stones. So it would be better to get vitamin c from foods but not in the form of tablets or supplements.

Meat and Fish

Meat and fish should be on your watch list if you have uric-acid stones. As animal protein tends to help in formation of uric acid and calcium in the urine, high intake of these protein could cause kidney stones to form.
This is the reason doctors advise not to

The accent is here on eating less of the food items which tend to cause kidney stones and not on cutting them out altogether. So the keyword is to eat the culprit items in moderation.

For example, calcium is very much necessary for our health. So are proteins and vitamin c. If you skip them altogether,   you may be putting yourself at risk of deficiencies.

Exercise

Some kind of exercise say daily walk could help you in your fight against kidney stones. It is believed that exercise helps in passing the calcium into the bones from bloodstream. This means that with less calcium in the blood, there is a decreased risk of it forming into a kidney stone.

Before starting on any a program of diet or exercise or taking any course of treatment, do consult your physician.