Overview

If you have been diagnosed with kidney stones and looking for the right diet plan, this piece of information may be of great interest to you. It is highly recommended that you must have a word with your doctor and undergo blood and urine tests to find out the risk factors involved in your case. A registered dietician such as an expert dietician in Gurgaon can help you explore the best diet to avoid kidney stones along with a diet chart when you already have a kidney stone.

What is the most important factor to prevent kidney stone formation?

The best thing you can do for avoiding kidney stones is to consume lots of water every day. Ideally, you should drink at least 10-14 glasses of water every day. This will ensure that you urinate frequently to avoid any buildup of uric acid or calcium in the body. It is also important for you not to underestimate your sweat. 

Hot yoga, intense workouts, and saunas may sound good but they may cause kidney stones. Water loss in the body through sweating because of these activities or the heat of summer may result in less production of urine in the body. The more your body sweats, the less you will urinate and this may encourage stone-causing minerals to get settled and deposited in the urinary tract and kidneys. You should hydrate yourself with sufficient water every day, especially while performing activities or exercises that results in a lot of sweating. You should avoid sodas (especially those with high fructose), grapefruit juice, and sweetened iced tea.

What kind of diet plan is recommended to prevent stones?

The right diet plan for preventing kidney stones depends upon the type of stone.

Calcium Oxalate Stones

Oxalate is commonly found in many foods such as fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes, tea, chocolate, nuts, and seeds. Some examples of foods rich in oxalate levels include spinach, chocolate, sweet potatoes, peanuts, rhubarb, Swiss chard, and beets. Reducing the intake of these foods is a good option for people who have calcium oxalate stones.

It is highly recommended that you should consume yogurt, milk, cheese, and oxalate-rich foods together during a meal. This way the calcium and oxalate from the foods are more likely to bind to each other in your intestines and stomach before they enter the kidneys, which will dramatically reduce the risk of developing kidney stones.

It is worthwhile to note here that calcium is not your body’s enemy but it has received a bad reputation for no reason. Many people believe that calcium is the primary cause behind calcium oxalate stones. In fact, a diet low in calcium increases the risk of developing kidney stones. Therefore, you should not cut down on your daily calcium intake.

Extra sodium in the body makes your body lose more calcium in the urine. Excess sodium can increase your chances of developing kidney stones. You should avoid common sources of sodium-rich foods like commercially processed or canned foods as well as fast foods and restaurant-prepared foods. You can cut down on your daily sodium intake by preferring fresh low sodium foods such as unsalted nuts and seeds, kidney beans, black beans, lima beans, split peas, lentils, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, unsalted popcorn, apples, apricots, bananas, papayas, and pears.

Uric acid stones

Organ meats, red meat, and shellfish have high quantities of purines, a natural chemical compound. High intake of purines can result in a higher production of uric acid and it may also exert a larger acid load for our kidneys to excrete. Higher excretion of uric acid results in more acidic urine and high acid concentration of the urine can cause the development of uric acid stones.

To prevent the formation of uric acid stones, you should cut down on high-purine foods such as beer, alcoholic beverages, sardines, shellfish, organ meats, red meat, meat-based gravies, and anchovies as far as your kidney stone food diet is concerned. You should follow a healthy diet to prevent kidney stones that includes fresh and green vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains.

 | Also Read: How Diet makes you healthy? | 

Furthermore, you should cut down on the intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and foods, especially those having fructose corn syrup. You should also cut down on your intake of alcohol as it has the ability to increase the levels of uric acid in the blood. Consuming more fruits and vegetables while cutting down on animal-based protein will help you in reducing urine acidity and the chances of formation of uric acid stones.

Does keto diet cause kidney stones? A lot has been said about the association between kidney stones and keto diet. Consuming a high quantity of animal foods on the keto diet may result in more acidic urine and an increased risk for kidney stones. Acidic urine can further worsen the progression and severity of chronic kidney ailments.

Diet Recommendations for Kidney Stones

The following are diet recommendations for kidney stones (kidney stone diet what to eat):

Consume plenty of fluids

You should consume 2-3 quarts of fluids every day. You may consume any fluid such as water, lemonade, or coffee (2 cups a day maximum) with the exception of sodas and grapefruit juice. This will help in producing less concentrated urine and a good volume of urine.

Limit intake of foods with high oxalate content

You should limit (if you cannot completely cut down) the intake of foods with high oxalate content such as tea, wheat barn, berries, spinach, chocolate, and rhubarb as part of your male kidney stones diet.

Avoid extra calcium supplements

Your physician and registered kidney dietician should individualize calcium supplements for you.

Consume enough dietary calcium

Three servings of dairy every day will help in reducing the risk of the formation of calcium stones. You should consume dairy products with meals.

Avoid high salt intake

A high intake of sodium can increase the quantity of calcium in the urine that may increase the risk of developing kidney stones.

Consume a moderate amount of protein

A high intake of protein will result in the excretion of more calcium and this will cause more stones to form in your kidneys.

Avoid high vitamin C supplement dosages

You should consume 60mg of vitamin C every day as part of your kidney stone diet plan. Excess amounts such as 1000mg of calcium a day can result in the production of more oxalate in the body.

Food and drinks to avoid on a kidney stone diet

  • Regular restaurant food
  • Red meat, pork, fish, beef, eggs, and poultry
  • Spinach, swiss chard, beets, chocolate, tea, nuts, and tea
  • Cola drinks
  • Products including high fructose corn syrup
  • Alcohol
  • Drinks and foods high in phosphates and oxalates
  • Animal protein
  • Processed, packaged foods
  • Canned soups and vegetables
  • Lunch meats
  • Grapefruit juice

Takeaway

Managing Kidney Stones may be challenging. However, you can dramatically cut down your risk of developing kidney stones or find significant relief with kidney stones by following kidney stones diet restrictions and a healthy diet to prevent kidney stones. You can even explore a wide range of kidney stone diet recipes, the Indian diet for kidney stone patients, and the diet to dissolve kidney stones.

You can contact Ashu Gupta’s Diet Clinic to access the services of Ashu Gupta, a renowned dietician in Delhi NCR, to find out the best diet for kidney stone patients, diet after kidney stone surgery, and low protein diet for kidney stones.