Hey there, viewers!
Kidney stones can cause excruciating pain!
Ask someone who’s had them!
Unfortunately, they are a lot more common.
As many as 12% of Americans have them.
The sad part is once you’ve had one kidney stone, you’re a lot more likely to get a
second, a third one and so on…
In today’s video, we’ll talk about 9 ways to prevent kidney stones naturally.
Why are experts telling us to eat more calcium-rich food?
Can eating less sodium help?
We’ll be talking about all of these AND more...
1.
Eat more calcium-rich foods
Got kidney stones?
The first advice you’ll receive is to avoid calcium-rich foods.
This can, in fact, increase your risk of forming new stones.
But how?
Kidney stones are mostly made up of calcium oxalate.
This has led many to believe a higher calcium diet could increase the risk of kidney stones.
But that’s not the case at all.
You need to be eating calcium-rich foods on the regular.
Low calcium actually increases the chances of kidney stones, as well as osteoporosis.
This doesn’t mean you pop in calcium supplements.
They tend to increase the likelihood of kidney stones.
It’s best to get your calcium fix from the food you eat.
But if you take calcium supplements, it’s best to eat them along with your meal as that
seemingly help lower the risk.
Speaking of calcium-rich food, how about you start with more milk, cheese and other dairy
foods.
Green leafy veggies like spinach and kale are also great sources of calcium.
Sardines are another awesome calcium source!
Do you pay attention to your calcium intake?
What is your favorite way to increase your calcium count?
Share your preferences with the Bestie community in the comments below.
2.
Stay hydrated
One of the best ways to prevent kidney stones is by urinating frequently.
For this, you need to stay hydrated and drink a lot of water.
If you don’t urinate enough, your urine becomes more concentrated.
This will turn the urine salts into stones.
Apart from water, you can also stay hydrated through lemonade and orange juice.
These juices have citrate in them, which helps prevent urine stones from forming.
It’s recommended you drink eight glasses of fluid every day so that you can urinate
at least two liters.
Sounds a bit yucky to talk about pee, but that’s one of the best ways to prevent kidney
stone formation.
Pee away those stones!
Those who exercise and sweat profusely will need to drink more than the recommended amount.
If you also have a history of cystine stones, more fluids are needed.
The best way to figure out if your body is hydrated is by the color of your urine.
If it’s clear or pale yellow, you have nothing to worry about.
But if it’s darker in color, then you need to drink more fluids.
3.
Eat less sodium
If your diet includes a higher amount of salt, you’d be increasing your chances of kidney
stones.
Too much salt means your blood won’t be able to reabsorb the calcium from your urine.
As a result, kidney stones will be formed.
Processed foods like chips tend to have a higher amount of sodium.
Canned soups and vegetables also fall under this category.
You should also reduce your consumption of foods containing baking soda and sodium nitrate.
There are low sodium foods you can include in your daily diet.
Fresh greens, broccoli, peppers, and cauliflowers are a few great options.
You can also have berries, bananas, and apples.
There’s also good news for all the rice and pasta lovers.
You can eat whole wheat pasta and brown rice.
They are low in sodium.
4.
Eat fewer oxalate-rich foods
Oxalate is a natural compound present in most foods.
It can bind with the calcium in your urine to form kidney stones.
If you reduce the amount of oxalate-rich food in your diet, you can reduce the chances of
this happening.
Some of the foods that are high in oxalate include spinach, chocolate, sweet potatoes,
coffee, beets, peanuts, soy products and wheat bran.
If it’s impossible to completely eliminate them from your diet, try combining oxalate-rich
foods with calcium-rich foods.
The oxalate and calcium come together in the digestive tract itself, making it harder for
stones to form in your kidney.
5.
Eat less animal protein
If your diet has a lot of food rich in animal protein, it increases the chances of higher
urine acid.
This is because animal proteins are highly acidic.
A high amount of animal protein would not only form calcium oxalate kidney stones, but
also cause high uric acid.
Some of the foods you may have to avoid include beef, poultry, fish and pork.
Eating less of these foods can decrease your risk of stones.
Before we move ahead, here’s another video you might like.
Watch and learn more about the 10 body changes that need your immediate attention.
6.
Avoid vitamin C supplements
While vitamin C is necessary for your body, it’s best to get it from the food you eat
rather than supplements.
Vitamin C supplements cause kidney stones, especially in the case of men.
Results from one study showed men who consumed a higher dose of vitamin C supplements increased
their risk of kidney stones by twice the amount compared to those who didn’t.
So it’s best to stick to natural foods in order to get the vitamin C your body needs.
Guess which food has one of the highest amounts of vitamin C?
Broccoli!
This veggie sure has power.
You get antioxidants and vitamin C without sodium overload.
The best way to eat this green veggie is by eating it raw in the form of salad.
Steaming or sauteing lightly isn’t bad either.
Other foods loaded with vitamin C are peppers, strawberries, and potatoes.
Blackcurrants are great too.
And obviously, citrus foods are your number one choice when it comes to vitamin C-rich
fruits!
7.
Explore herbal remedies
There are some herbal remedies which claim to help prevent kidney stones.
There’s even one known as “stone breaker”.
As the name suggests, the herb claims to reduce the size of the stones in your kidneys, and
also prevent the stones from forming in the first place.
Herbal remedies, however, are not scientifically backed, so you’ll need to be careful when
taking them.
Similar to medicine, they’re not well-regulated either.
8.
Talk to your doctor about your medications
Some of the medication you’re currently on could also be the reason why you have kidney
stones.
Decongestants and diuretics are known causes of kidney stones.
Other medications that could also be harmful are steroids and chemotherapy drugs.
The longer you take them, the better your chances are at not getting kidney stones.
But you shouldn’t simply stop, or reduce any medication prescribed to you.
Instead, you can speak with your doctor about alternate options.
This way, you’ll be able to treat whatever condition you’re suffering from without
increasing the risk of kidney stones.
9.
Talk to your doctor about new medications
You can talk to your doctor about taking medication to prevent kidney stones.
There are medicines available which control certain materials in your urine, so that you
can be free of stones.
But what medicine you take depends on the kinds of stones your body forms.
If you suffer from calcium stones, taking a diuretic or phosphate can help prevent the
issue.
If it's uric acid stones you have, then allopurinol (al-oh-pure-in-all) can reduce uric acid in
your blood and urine.
Struvite stones are caused by bacteria.
To deal with this, you’ll need to take longer-term antibiotics which help bring down the bacteria
in your urine.
If you have a tendency for cystine stones, then capoten can help lower the amount of
cystine in your urine.
Kidney stones are excruciating to deal with.
They damage your kidney as well.
It’s better to take care of your kidneys, and be aware of warning signs.
Fortunately, there are foods you can eat to boost your kidney health.
Just like foods you eat, there are ones to avoid if you want to keep your kidneys healthy.
Here’s how…
Check out 14 Superfoods For Your Kidney.
Or how about 17 Foods To Avoid If You Have Kidney Disease?
Go ahead, click one.
Or better yet, watch both, and learn more about how to keep your kidneys happy.
Have you ever dealt with kidney stone pain?
Do you have kidney stones?
Let us know in the comments below!