With or With no Earlier Historical past

The chance of getting repeat kidney stones after remedy is 50%

Medically reviewed by Robert Burakoff, MD

Kidney stones aren’t fully preventable, however you possibly can take steps to scale back your danger. Consuming loads of fluids (ideally water) is arguably the easiest way to stop kidney stones—or to keep away from recurrence when you’ve had them earlier than. Different key measures embrace including calcium to your eating regimen and decreasing your consumption of sodium, animal protein, and meals wealthy in oxalate.

This text explains why kidney stones may be troublesome for some folks to keep away from. It additionally describes 10 methods to stop kidney stones and treatments that will assist dissolve stones in case you have them.

The Uncontrollable: Why Kidney Stone Prevention Isn’t Fully Doable

Kidney stones, also referred to as renal calculi or nephrolithiasis, have grow to be more and more widespread in the US. That is largely because of the conventional Western eating regimen, which includes overconsumption of salt and animal protein and insufficient consumption of fruits, greens, and water.

Again within the Nineteen Seventies, roughly 1 out of 25 folks in the US developed kidney stones throughout their lifetime. Right this moment, that quantity has risen to 1 out of 10. Whereas older adults are most affected, youngsters have grow to be more and more susceptible to nephrolithiasis.

To complicate issues additional, individuals who have had kidney stones prior to now are at excessive danger of getting them once more.

In line with a 2022 research revealed in BMC Urology, practically half of all folks with kidney stones will expertise one other episode inside 10 years, whereas 10% will expertise a number of episodes. The recurrence charge for kids with kidney stones is 50% inside three years.

Many various elements—some capable of be modified and others not—contribute to the chance of kidney stone recurrence, together with:

Of the 4 forms of kidney stones an individual can get—calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine—individuals who develop a uric acid stone usually tend to expertise recurrence, in response to a 2022 research in BMC Urology.

What You Can Do to Stop Kidney Stones

A kidney stone is made up of waste merchandise in your urine. When there’s an excessive amount of waste and too little fluid, the waste can begin to crystallize and develop right into a strong “stone” that’s handed out of the physique once you urinate (pee). The stone-forming chemical compounds embrace calcium, oxalate, urate (uric acid), cystine, xanthine, and phosphate.

The prevention of kidney stones is essentially centered on avoiding the buildup of those minerals and chemical compounds in your urine.

Listed below are 10 methods to take action.

Drink Extra Water

Consuming sufficient liquid, primarily water, is an important factor you are able to do to stop kidney stones, in response to the Nationwide Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Ailments.

Many healthcare suppliers advocate that you just drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. Doing so dilutes your urine and prevents the crystallization of waste merchandise that may result in kidney stones.

In the event you bodily exert your self or have symptoms of dehydration, chances are you’ll must drink much more. Communicate together with your healthcare supplier to find out the correct amount for you.

In line with the American Urological Affiliation, individuals who have skilled a kidney stone prior to now ought to drink sufficient fluid to supply 2.5 liters (or roughly 10 cups) of urine every day.

Associated: How Much Water Should I Drink?

Minimize Again on Oxalate-Wealthy Meals

Oxalate is a pure compound present in greens, fruits, nuts, and grains. While you eat oxalate, it sometimes binds to calcium within the gut and leaves the physique in stool.

But when there’s not sufficient calcium to bind to, it will likely be absorbed into the bloodstream and find yourself within the urine, the place it could possibly type right into a calcium oxalate stone (the most typical kind of kidney stone).

To scale back the chance of kidney stones or kidney stone recurrence, restrict your consumption of meals particularly excessive in oxalate. These embrace:

Scale back Your Sodium Consumption

While you eat an excessive amount of salt (sodium), the physique will do away with it in urine. When this occurs, the excreted sodium will take calcium with it, inflicting calcium ranges to drop. This could result in the buildup of oxalate in your urine, leading to a kidney stone.

Adults in the US are suggested to devour lower than 2,300 milligrams (mg)—or roughly 1 teaspoon—of sodium each day. These tips are particularly essential when you’ve had a calcium oxalate stone, even when you take medicines to stop kidney stones.

Verify meals diet labels, as sodium is discovered in lots of canned, packaged, and quick meals.

Associated: How Much Sodium Do You Need Per Day?

Get Sufficient Calcium From Meals

By making certain an ample consumption of calcium in your eating regimen, oxalate is extra prone to be cleared out of your physique in stool fairly than crystallizing in your urine.

In the US, the advisable grownup consumption of calcium is 1,000 mg per day, rising to 1,200 mg by age 70. The advisable consumption for kids ages 4 to eight is 1,000 mg, rising to 1,300 mg from ages 9 to 18.

When you can actually get calcium from a dietary supplement. meals stays the very best supply of this important mineral. Calcium is particularly excessive in:

• Milk and different dairy merchandise

• Canned sardines and salmon with bones

• Darkish inexperienced greens like kale, broccoli, and bok choy

• Calcium-fortified fruit juices, breakfast cereals, and tofu

Associated: The 7 Best Calcium Supplements of 2023

Keep away from Excessive-Purine Meals

Shellfish, organ meats, and another meals have excessive concentrations of a pure chemical compound referred to as purine. Consuming an excessive amount of purine can enhance the degrees of uric acid in your bloodstream and urine, resulting in the formation of uric acid stones. Having all these stones tends to run in households.

In the event you’ve had a uric acid stone or have a household historical past of them, chances are you’ll must restrict your consumption of high-purine meals corresponding to:

• Alcohol (every type)

• Pink meats, together with beef, pork, veal, and venison

• Organ meats, corresponding to kidney, liver, and sweetbreads

• Shellfish, corresponding to scallops, crab, lobster, oysters, and shrimp

• Some fish, together with anchovies, sardines, herring, haddock, and cod

• Processed meat, corresponding to ham and bacon

Associated: Avoiding Foods That Increase Uric Acid

Eat Much less Animal Protein

Excessive-protein diets can enhance your danger of kidney stones. That is very true when you overconsume animal protein, which raises uric acid ranges (rising the chance of uric acid stones) and in addition promotes the elimination of calcium in your urine (rising the chance of calcium oxalate stones).

A 2022 research in Advances in Diet experiences that the overconsumption of pink meat will increase the chance of kidney stones by 39%. Furthermore, the chance will increase with each 100-gram (g), or 3.5-ounce, portion you eat throughout a meal.

Beef is taken into account the most important contributor of calcium oxalate stones. Different pink meats, hen, and different poultry can even contribute, whereas fish is a much less doubtless trigger.

As a substitute for animal protein, you possibly can eat protein-rich, nonanimal protein like beans, lentils, dietary yeast, seitan, and spirulina, which aren’t related to kidney stones.

How A lot Protein Ought to I Eat?

The advisable each day consumption of protein for a sedentary grownup is 0.8 g per kilogram of physique weight (g/kg). For an individual weighing 165 kilos (75 kilograms), that will translate to roughly 60 g (2.1 ounces) per day.

Attempt the DASH Food regimen

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is an consuming plan endorsed by the Nationwide Coronary heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to stop and handle hypertension. The DASH eating regimen is excessive in calcium and wealthy in fruits, greens, complete grains, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy.

The DASH eating regimen is cited by some as an efficient, all-in-one dietary technique for decreasing the chance of kidney stones in at-risk people. A 2020 research in Scientific Diet ESPEN, a publication of the European Society for Scientific Diet and Metabolism (ESPEN), reported that the DASH eating regimen was related to a big lower within the urinary excretion of calcium and uric acid, decreasing the chance of each calcium oxalate and uric acid kidney stones.

To construct a sustainable DASH eating regimen, ask your healthcare supplier for a referral to a registered dietitian (RD) or registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) who will help.

Be Cautious With Vitamin C

As helpful as vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is to your well being, taking too many vitamin C dietary supplements could enhance your danger of kidney stones. It’s because the metabolization (breakdown) of vitamin C within the liver leads to the formation of oxalate.

Even the breakdown of 60 mg of vitamin C may end up in 30 mg of oxalate in your bloodstream. Some research counsel that vitamin C doses at or above 2,000 mg per day enhance the dangers of calcium oxalate stones by as a lot as 34%.

The advisable each day consumption of vitamin C for grownup females is 70 mg and 90 mg for grownup males primarily based on the U.S. Dietary Reference Intakes.

Lose Weight

Weight problems, outlined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or larger, can also be linked to an elevated danger of kidney stones. Not solely is weight problems related to hypertension (a recognized danger issue for kidney stone recurrence), nevertheless it additionally will increase the urinary excretion of uric acid and calcium.

Some research report that simply over 50% of individuals with weight problems expertise kidney stones (mostly calcium oxalate stones).

Whereas weight reduction can considerably lower the chance of kidney stones, sure weight reduction medication like Xenical (orlistat) and Qsymia (phentermine + topiramate) could enhance the chance by binding to calcium and selling the buildup of oxalate in urine.

Associated: How Obesity Is Treated

Convey Your Blood Strain Below Management

Hypertension is strongly linked to kidney stones. Though the precise reason for that is recognized, research have proven that folks with hypertension have over 20% larger excretion of uric acid, calcium, and oxalate in urine in comparison with folks with out hypertension.

Whereas that is seen mostly in folks with hypertension and weight problems, it could possibly additionally happen within the absence of weight problems.

Treating hypertension could assist scale back the chance of kidney stones. This sometimes includes a low-fat eating regimen, routine train, weight reduction, and antihypertensive drugs when wanted.

Do Excessive Blood Strain Medicines Trigger Stones?

Whereas medicines are typically wanted to manage blood stress, medication like angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium channel blockers could enhance the chance of kidney stones in older adults by selling calcium excretion.

One class of antihypertensive medication, referred to as thiazide diuretics, just isn’t related to an elevated danger of kidney stones and could also be well-suited for individuals who even have recurrent nephrolithiasis.

Associated: How Hypertension Is Treated

Does Something Dissolve Kidney Stones Quick?

Staying hydrated is likely one of the finest methods to stop kidney stones from forming. However even when you comply with all the guidelines, kidney stones can nonetheless typically develop. Genetics and different danger elements could predispose you to them.

In case you are confronted with a kidney stone—both one which causes signs or is detected on a computed tomography (CT) scan or different imaging research—you possibly can strive substances that will assist dissolve them and make them simpler to cross. They could even stop kidney stones from taking place.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is a people treatment nonetheless used at present to assist deal with kidney stones. It accommodates a kind of acid referred to as acetic acid that modifications the pH (acid-alkaline balance) of urine and impedes the formation of calcium oxalate, uric acid, and cystine crystals.

A preliminary research from China involving over 9,000 adults recommended {that a} 5% acetic acid resolution taken each day by mouth was related to a lowered danger of kidney stones.

Whether or not apple cider can truly dissolve kidney stones stays beneath debate.

A 2021 research revealed in BMC Urology checked out a number of natural substances popularly used to assist cross kidney stones. Chief amongst them was apple cider vinegar, which didn’t diminish the scale or composition of a stone after 72 hours. The identical was seen with different natural acids like citric acid (present in citrus fruits) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Use Apple Cider Vinegar

A 5% resolution may be made by mixing 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with 6 to eight ounces of water. At this dilution, unwanted effects are unusual, however taking greater than this quantity can scale back potassium ranges within the physique over time, resulting in bone mineral loss.

Potassium Citrate

Potassium citrate is a kind of potassium salt that additionally alters the pH of your urine to make it much less acidic. Offered beneath the model title Urocit-Okay and others, healthcare suppliers generally prescribe potassium citrate to assist restore the chemical stability of urine to stop calcium oxalate stones or uric acid stones.

Some healthcare suppliers may even prescribe potassium citrate to assist dissolve kidney stones so they’re simpler to cross.

Urocit-Okay is formulated as an extended-release pill to be taken two to 3 occasions each day with meals. Doable unwanted effects embrace abdomen ache, free bowel actions, nausea, or vomiting.

After a Kidney Stone: Supplier Observe-Up

After you have had a kidney stone, ongoing administration could also be wanted given the excessive danger of recurrence.

As a basic rule, healthcare suppliers will get hold of a pattern of the stone each time doable to find out which sort of stone it’s and assist set up the underlying trigger.

After dietary tips and doable drug therapies (together with thiazide diuretics and potassium citrate) are prescribed, routine urine testing is suggested. This features a 24-hour urine collection carried out after six months after which yearly to examine that the composition and pH of your urine are normalized.

Blood testing may additionally be carried out to keep away from drug unwanted effects. Periodic imaging research, corresponding to an abdominal ultrasound, an X-ray, or a computed tomography (CT) scan, could also be ordered to examine for brand spanking new stone formation. That is very true for folks with a historical past of kidney stone recurrence or whose urine samples present little to no response to remedy.

Abstract

Kidney stones recur in round 50% of people that get them. To stop kidney stones from recurring, chances are you’ll be suggested to extend your consumption of water and calcium-rich meals whereas decreasing your consumption of animal protein, sodium, purines, and oxalate-rich meals. Weight reduction and improved administration of your blood stress can even assist.

There are additionally substances you possibly can take, like apple cider vinegar or potassium citrate, that may assist dissolve kidney stones or stop them from returning.

Learn the unique article on Verywell Health.