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How To Prevent Kidney Stones—Yale Medicine Explains

Kidney stones are caused by a variety of factors, two of which are dehydration and a high-salt diet. And somewhat surprisingly, a diet low in calcium can also cause kidney stones—even though the stones themselves are mainly composed of calcium. “One of the most common misconceptions is because most kidney stones are calcium, that dietary calcium supplements are a risk factor for kidney stones,” says Yale Medicine urologist Piruz Motamedinia, MD. “That’s actually contrary to the evidence.” Instead, one of the biggest risk factors for higher concentrations of urine calcium is dietary sodium—not dietary calcium. According to Dr. Motamedinia, many patients report that when they search the internet…

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  Three Essentials to Reduce Calcium Stones and Preserve Bone

Diet sodium controls urine calcium. Diet calcium controls urine oxalate. Diet sodium and calcium control bone mineral... I have not been shy nor secretive. Article after article speak about the three, but always in context so other facts can distract one, as can superb but unmagical paintings from a few masterpieces hung on the same wall. I know some patients, some physicians, have fully grasped the crucial importance of the three, and put them to use. From the many comments I read weekly, I know many have not. So I am taken with a passion to redress matters.

 Stone management often falls short

“We’re very good at surgically treating stones, and we’ve had significant advancements within the surgical realm with equipment and lasers and optics,” Dr. Wood said. “But we’ve done a pretty poor job as a practice at managing kidney stones and advancing our field in regard to medical management. I think the biggest issue is we haven’t even followed our guidelines.”

 Wellness expert reveals the key mineral that stops kidney stones before they start

Beyond the quick fixes and unnatural approach, there are ways to avoid getting kidney stones, and in that opinion Dr. Eric Berg, best-selling author and wellness expert comes up with a wonderful solution. Traditional and age-old tips for avoiding kidney stones are familiar: Drink more water and avoid oxalate foods. Helpful as these may be, they fail to address a key fact that is often ignored. Even with proper hydration levels in the body and cautious eating, kidney stones show up in most people. Dr. Berg notes that the root problem very often includes a lack of magnesium, an essential mineral to kidney function.

Articles of Interest

Fluids, Diet, and Meds for Kidney Stones

The most common kind of stone former has no systemic disease as a cause of stones – ‘idiopathic’ stone former means that. Being most common, their treatments rank highest for all physicians who treat stone formers.

Evaluation of the effects of magnesium supplement in primary and secondary preventions of nephrolithiasis: a systematic review

Magnesium seems to inhibit kidney stone formation by several mechanisms. Firstly, it binds with oxalate in the intestine, and consequently decreases oxalate absorption and the urinary concentration of oxalate. Secondly, it competes with calcium ions to make a complex with oxalate ions and forms magnesium oxalate, which is more soluble than calcium oxalate...

Fact or Fiction: All kidney stones cause pain

So, you know, there’s so much conflicting information. I think the doctors that primarily take care of kidney stone patients are urologists, so they’re surgeons, so they’re not talking to you about how to lower salt. A lot of people will say, my doctor just wants to make money off of me. They don’t study nutrition, they’re surgeons, and we need them to take the stones out. As far as prevention, you know, it’s slim pickings for kidney stone patients. There’s so much erroneous information and kidney stone patients don’t know what the heck to do. So we think this series, Jeff and I think this series will be very helpful for patients to dig through what’s the bulldo, what’s not, what can we count on and so do all kidney stones cause pain?

How to pass a kidney stone & 5 tips to prevent the

If you've ever passed a kidney stone, you probably would not wish it on your worst enemy, and you'll do anything to avoid it again. "Kidney stones are more common in men than in women, and in about half of people who have had one, kidney stones strike again within 10 to 15 years without preventive measures," says Dr. Brian Eisner, co-director of the Kidney Stone Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Investigation and treatment of recurrent kidney stones

A recently published meta-analysis of randomized trials on preventing the recurrence of calcium oxalate stones suggested that the greatest benefit from pharmacologic intervention is associated with thiazide diuretics.

Kidney Stone Diet

NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on a study in today's New England Journal of Medicine that claims the traditional treatment for kidney stones — reducing the patient's calcium intake — may do more harm than good.

Kidney Stone Prevention

In this article, up-to-date knowledge on strategies (nutrition-based mainly) to prevent KSD is provided. Important roles of fluid intake (2.5–3.0 L/d), diuresis (>2.0–2.5 L/d), lifestyle and habit modifications (for example, maintain normal body mass index, fluid compensation for working in high-temperature environment, and avoid cigarette smoking), and dietary management [for example, sufficient calcium at 1000–1200 mg/d, limit sodium at 2 or 3–5 g/d of sodium chloride (NaCl), limit oxalate-rich foods, avoid vitamin C and vitamin D supplements, limit animal proteins to 0.8–1.0 g/kg body weight/d but increase plant proteins in patients with calcium and uric acid stone and those with hyperuricosuria, increase proportion of citrus fruits, and consider lime powder supplementation] are summarized.

Kidney Stone Prevention: Is There a Role for Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is often implemented in kidney stone patients. It consists of preparations including different ingredients, such as herbs, probiotics, and vitamins, often together with alkali, that are classified within the dietary supplementation category. The majority of dietary supplements claiming to treat or prevent kidney stones contain ingredients with conflicting or no scientific evidence to support their claims.

Kidney Stone Prevention: ‘Fact versus Fiction’

And the calcium controversy? Calcium supplements, in excess, will increase your risk for forming kidney stones. Given all of the studies and commentaries, the simple take home message is that a diet containing normal amounts of calcium along with salt and animal protein reduction will likely protect against stones better than a low calcium regimen. It is accepted that a diet too low in calcium intake will allow preferential absorption of oxalate in the gut and increase the risk of calcium oxalate stones.

Medical Management to Prevent Recurrent Nephrolithiasis in Adults: A Systematic Review for an American College of Physicians Clinical Guideline

In patients with 1 past calcium stone, increased fluid intake reduced recurrence risk. In patients with multiple past calcium stones, addition of thiazide, citrate, or allopurinol further reduced risk.

Medications & Dietary Changes for Kidney Stones

Your doctor may recommend that you drink more fluids to help prevent new kidney stones from forming. He or she may also recommend dietary changes, such as decreasing the amount of animal protein in your diet, including beef, chicken, fish, and pork; eating more fruits and vegetables; and increasing your intake of calcium-rich foods. Depending on the type of kidney stone you have, you may be asked to limit your intake of foods that are high in oxalate, such as beets, black pepper, black teas, chocolate, nuts, rhubarb, soy products, and spinach.

Preventing kidney stones before they form

Knowing the type of your kidney stone will help determine its cause and give you clues on how to reduce your chance of developing more stones. If you pass a kidney stone, try to save it to give to your healthcare team for analysis.

Role of Dietary Supplements in Prevention of Renal Stones: An Update

According to literature survey various preventive measures are available to reduce the risk of kidney stone formation such as life style modification, high water intake, less consumption of salt and modification in dietary habits. As diet has shown its strong association with stone formation, changes in dietary habits may help to reduce the burden of stone formation. Less awareness on effect of food on stone formation is one of the main reasons for increase prevalence.

Schedule of taking calcium supplement and the risk of nephrolithiasis

Variation in the timing of calcium supplement may affect gastrointestinal absorption of both calcium and oxalate differently and may associate with variable risk of calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis. There are few human studies addressing specifically the appropriate time for taking calcium supplement.

Strategies for preventing calcium oxalate stones

About 10% of people will experience nephrolithiasis in their lifetime, and about 70% of those will have recurrences. About 80% of stones are calcium based, and about 80% of those are calcium oxalate stones. We discuss here briefly the evidence for the prevention of calcium oxalate stones through dietary and pharmacologic measures.

The Optimal Length of Pharmacological Prophylaxis in Calcium Kidney Stone Formers

The question of how long kidney stone prophylaxis with drugs used to reduce stone recurrence (alkali, thiazides, [The recent NOSTONE trial has challenged the preventive effect of thiazides. However, when stone events were defined with the objective criteria of CT, hydrochlorothiazide was effective.

This Too Shall Pass: Avoid Kidney Stones Through Diet

The evidence on diet is just beginning to accumulate. The most recent study published in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology suggests that calcium-rich foods -- such as low-fat milk and yogurt -- can be protective. This may seems a bit odd -- given that kidney stones are partially formed by calcium. "It is a little bit counterintuitive, maybe, that actually higher intakes of dietary calcium are associated with a reduction in kidney stone risk," says Dr. Eric Taylor, a kidney specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The theory is that dietary calcium binds with a waste product in the gut called oxalate. The two substances stick together, crystallize and exit the body long before there's a chance to form kidney stones.

What Foods Should I Avoid to Prevent Kidney Stones?

Drink more fluids, consume less sodium and eat a diet that includes calcium-rich foods.

Your Doctor Is In: Kidney Stones

Can they be prevented? Often, yes. Drinking six to eight glasses of water daily helps, as does maintaining a healthy weight. And if you take calcium, do it with meals—taking it without food increases your risk of stones.

Resources

Prevent URS

Welcome to the Navigator for the Medical Management of Kidney Stones adapted from AUA Guidelines. Steps: Describe Prior Stone Analysis, Describe Metabolic Testing Results, Follow the most update AUA guidelines recommendations to generate a treatment plan.

Kidney Stone Diet

I know why you’re here and I can help. You are near your wit’s end. Whether you’ve made one kidney stone or many, you’re here because you never want to feel that pain again.

Kidney Stone Program, University of Chicago

The Kidney Stone website has resources for all audiences seeking to understand the truly complex nature of stone disease and its prevention. We include detailed materials, including videos, the kidney stone guide book, case examples, and more. If you have personal experience with the disease or want to ask questions or our team, you can also pose questions through the contact feature.

KidneyStoners.org

KidneyStoners.org is a non-commercial website that was started to help patients better understand their condition and the options available for treatment and prevention. The information contained in this website is based on available medical research and is accurate to the best of our knowledge.

Rare Kidney Stone Consortium

The Consortium facilitates cooperative exchange of information and resources among investigators, clinicians, and patients, and researchers in order to improve care and outcomes for patients with rare stone diseases. The consortium promotes ready availability of diagnostic testing, pooling of clinical experiences, and availability of tissue banks in order to advance the science.

Take On PH1

Learn more about primary hyperoxaluria (PH1), signs & symptoms, and living with this rare condition. mary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare, progressive, inherited metabolic stone disease that is potentially life-threatening, and often presents with kidney stones.

The Kidney Dietitian

No matter who you are, or why you had kidney stones, there ARE things you can do to reduce your risk of kidney stones. You just need some help from an expert. The Kidney Dietitian is on a mission to change the status quo of kidney stone care. Rather than generic or useless advice, we believe every person with kidney stones deserves a personalized kidney stone prevention plan that actually works!