5 Summertime Tips to Prevent Kidney Stones
Heat, sweat, and dehydration can lead to a painful condition. Here's how to protect yourself
Summer heat, sweat, and dehydration have always been a perfect recipe for kidney stones. And as the world warms, scientists now say, those painful formations will become more common. Since it's as important as ever to take precautions, here are five tips:
1. Drink a lot of water. For people with a history of kidney stones, the Mayo Clinic recommends drinking 14 cups of fluid a day.
2. Don't shy away from lemonade. Lemonade increases levels of citrate in the urine, a substance that helps prevent kidney stone formation.
3. Avoid food high in oxalate. If you're prone to calcium oxalate stones, you may want to avoid foods high in oxalate. The NIH keeps a list of foods high in oxalate that includes (from higher oxalate to lower): rhubarb, spinach, beets, swiss chard, wheat germ, soybean crackers, peanuts, okra, chocolate, black Indian tea, and sweet potatoes.
4. Eat less salt. The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that people not eat more than 1,500 mg of salt per day (about 1 teaspoon). According to the Cleveland Clinic, eating too much salt can lead to excess calcium in the bloodstream, a situation that can cause the development of stones.
5. Cut back on meat. The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends no more than two servings a day. The breakdown of proteins in red meat forms uric acid, a substance that, in excess, can produce uric acid stones, as well as gout.
Sources: the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, the Cleveland Clinic, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
For more: Check out the U.S. News's Kidney Stone Channel or read this week's news about kidney stones.
Reader Comments
stopping kidney stones
I've had about 25 kidney stones in the past 29 years. Calcium oxalate stones, which account for about 80 percent of stones. I couldn't stop the formation, and the pain has been horrific over the years. I've had lithotripsies, a surgery of sound waves that can break the stones into smaller pieces to pass. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it makes you pass more (smaller) stones with more pain.
I finally found an herb that naturally eliminates the stones, both preventatively and even while in the kidney. In 3.5 years now, I haven't had a kidney stone, so I take four capsules a day, two in morning and two at night. www.NoMoreStones.com I suggest that anyone suffering from kidney stones, esp. the hard, calcium oxalate stones, to take this herb. It's clinically tested and safe... Works for me, and I've searched for many years for a solution.
kidney stones - 5 years
i am 13 and i have have kidney stones for 5 years. i have them in the right and left kidneys and they aren't getting any better. they are getting bigger and more painful. i need to go the the children hospital in Philadelphia every month. i also have intercostal condridous, asthma, and tendinitis in my feet. even with all of this, i am a field hockey starter and never quit. but now i need surgery. which i wave never gotten before, and i am so terrified. i hope i will be okay and as everyone have told me: a little bit longer and ill be fine <33
4mmstone
My stone was blasted last tues-did not work still in the left kidney-I am playing a trip across the map with a hope and prayer nothing happpens-the doc wants my body to heal a few months before he does anything or he thinks maybe with the fluids I may pass it-it is not to big to have that happen
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