Foods to Eat and Avoid When You Have Kidney Stones

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Foods to Eat and Avoid When You Have Kidney Stones

How to Keep a Check on Uric Acid

This is also a very common type of stone after calcium oxalates. Purine is a chemical compound found in some foods which increase the acidic level of urine if taken in high quantities. Increased acidic level leads to the formations of stones which we call uric acid kidney stones.

At this time it is necessary to cut down on a purine rich diet. Foods such as red meat, organ meat and shellfish should be avoided as high concentration of purine can be found in these.
Eat watery fruits and vegetables as they make the urine less acidic.
Go low on sugar-sweetened fruits and drinks, especially those that contain high fructose corn syrup. Fructose intake leads to an increase of calcium, oxalates and uric acid in the urine.
Cut down on animal protein (red meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood): Apart from reducing the citrate levels in the body, high level of protein leads to the formation of uric acid which in-turn forms stones. However, again, foods such as dried peas, lentils, tofu etc. should be consumed in order to replace animal protein.
Limit the amount of alcohol intake as alcohol causes an increase in uric acid levels.
Crash diets are not recommended as they too lead to an increase in uric acid levels.

One another substance that helps with kidney stones is citrate. The treatment of chronic kidney stones is often done with potassium citrate. It has been studied that foods that contain citrate naturally also have similar effects as potassium citrate. Citrate does not allow calcium to bind with other components that form stones. It has also been found that citrate prevents stones already present in the kidney from sticking with each other, thereby preventing the formation of large stones. Foods containing natural citrate are limeade, lemonade, fruits and juices. However, citrate levels are higher in actual limes and lemons and a person should be careful of the sugar content in juices as that might increase the risk of stones.

Health practitioner and macrobiotic nutritionist, Dr Shilpa Arora, recommends, "70% of the diet of a person suffering from kidney stones should include watery fruits and vegetables. Rest everything should be taken in moderation. Fruits like grapes, watermelon, oranges and plums should be taken as much as possible. Cherries are considered to be exceptionally good during this time. All these fruits and vegetables help in balancing the acidic levels in the body. However, fruits and vegetables with seeds, like tomatoes, eggplant, ladyfinger etc. must be avoided since seeds are hard to digest. Lemon water is highly recommended."

There exist two more types of kidney stones which are not as common; struvite stones and cysteine stones. Here too, liquid acts as a major factor. It is absolutely necessary to drink at least 12 glasses of water daily irrespective of the type of kidney stone.