Posted on 08/01/2022 9:50:25 AM PDT by Red Badger
Kidney stones illustration. Mayo Clinic researchers found that enriching diets with foods high in calcium and potassium may prevent recurrent symptomatic kidney stones.
Diets Higher in Calcium and Potassium May Help Prevent Recurrent Symptomatic Kidney Stones
Not only can kidney stones cause excruciating pain, but they also are associated with chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. If you’ve experienced a kidney stone once, you have a 30% chance of having another kidney stone within five years.
Typically, doctors prescribe changes in diet to prevent recurrent symptomatic kidney stones. Unfortunately, there is little research available regarding dietary changes for those who have one incident of kidney stone formation versus those who have recurrent incidents.
A kidney stone is a solid, pebble-like piece of material that can form in one or both of your kidneys when your urine contains high levels of certain minerals.
Therefore, Mayo Clinic researchers designed a prospective study to investigate the impact of dietary changes. According to their results, enriching diets with foods high in calcium and potassium may prevent recurrent symptomatic kidney stones.
411 patients who had experienced first-time symptomatic kidney stones and a control group of 384 people participated in the study. Dietary factors were based on a questionnaire administered to the participants, all of whom were seen at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and Mayo Clinic in Florida between 2009 and 2018. The findings, which will be published today (August 1) in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, show that lower dietary calcium and potassium, as well as lower intake of fluids, caffeine, and phytate, are associated with higher odds of experiencing a first-time symptomatic kidney stone.
Of the patients who had first-time stone formation, 73 experienced recurrent stones within a median of 4.1 years of follow-up. Further analysis revealed that lower levels of dietary calcium and potassium predicted recurrence.
“These dietary findings may have particular importance because recommendations for preventing kidney stones have been based primarily on dietary factors associated with first-time rather than recurrent stone formation,” says Andrew Rule, M.D., a Mayo Clinic nephrologist and senior author of the study. “Patients may not be likely to adjust their diet to prevent an incidence of kidney stones, but they are more likely to do so if it can help prevent recurrence.”
Fluid intake of less than 3,400 milliliters per day, or about nine 12-ounce glasses, is associated with first-time stone formation, along with caffeine intake and phytate, the study finds. Daily fluid intake includes intake from foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Drink plenty of water if you have kidney stones unless otherwise directed by a health care professional.
Low fluid and caffeine intake can result in low urine volume and increased urine concentration, contributing to stone formation. Phytate is an antioxidant compound found in whole grains, nuts, and other foods that can lead to increased calcium absorption and urinary calcium excretion.
“Changing your diet to prevent kidney stones can be very difficult,” says Dr. Rule. “Thus, knowing the dietary factors that are most important for preventing kidney stone recurrence can help patients and providers know what to prioritize.”
Low dietary calcium and potassium was a more important predictor than fluid intake of recurrent kidney stone formation, says Api Chewcharat, M.D., the article’s first author and a postdoctoral research fellow at Mayo Clinic at the time of the study. “This is not to say high fluid intake is not important. We just did not find benefits of increasing fluid intake among those patients with a history of kidney stone formation.”
The study concludes that diets with daily intake of 1,200 milligrams of calcium may help prevent first-time and recurrent kidney stones. That daily intake is in line with the Department of Agriculture’s daily recommended nutrition.
While higher potassium intake also is recommended, the USDA does not make a recommendation for daily potassium intake. The study also doesn’t recommend an intake level.
Dr. Chewcharat says the takeaway is that patients should add more fruits and vegetables that are high in calcium and potassium to their diets. Fruits that are high in potassium include bananas, oranges, grapefruits, cantaloupes, honeydew melons and apricots. Vegetables include potatoes, mushrooms, peas, cucumbers and zucchini.
Reference: “Dietary Risk Factors for Incident and Recurrent Symptomatic Kidney Stones” 1 August 2022, Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2022.04.016
Co-authors with Drs. Rule and Chewcharat are Charat Thongprayoon, M.D.; Lisa Vaughan; Ramila Mehta; Phillip Schulte, Ph.D.; Helen O’Connor; and John Lieske, M.D. — all of Mayo Clinic — and Erin Taylor, M.D., of VA Maine Healthcare System. Dr. Schulte reports personal fees from OxThera Inc. outside the work on this study. Dr. Lieske reports grants and/or other fees from pharmaceutical and related companies identified in the article — all outside this study and all paid to Mayo Clinic. The other authors report no competing interests.
Brush your teeth right after drinking lemon juice. It can damage your enamel.
Doesn't it reduce calcium absorption, which is why urinary calcium excretion is increased?
IIRC, phytates form easy bonds with other minerals, causing them to be less absorb-able...
I think I should have addressed my #22 to you as well! ;)
Bkmk.
That is the brand name
I had a patient once tell me this about his first kidney stone: first I was afraid I was going to die. Then I was afraid I wasn’t.
Middle age is when you’re talking about The Stones and it’s not Mick or Keith..................
I can attest to that, it works. I squeeze a slice of lemon into my tea (hot or cold) every time. I also try to eat a bowl of cherries every day (any kind of berry works).
Between the lemon and cherries I got rid of my kidney stones, gout and arthritis.
Beer.
They just discovered this?
My urologist has had me on potassium citrate tablets for years since they suppress stones — of my type. Work like a charm. Bloody expensive, tho.
This is not news. Unless you don’t follow the literature.
Stone Breaker Chanca Piedra
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We use a straight Chanca Piedra tablet. Works for gallbladder sludge and helps break down uric acid crystals in gout, as well.
A friend used them for kidney stones successfully. Softens the sharp things and they break up into painless grains.
It’s a Peruvian remedy, AFAIK. Chanca Piedra translates to Stone Breaker.
...problems with the study :....
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Been using it for years, as have others I know. Works. Works quickly. Good for a gall stones, kidney stones and gout crystals.
No need for a study.
Most poorer countries have at least one local remedy that is sovereign for something major. Western pharm companies take those, isolate the effective ingredient, purify it, and sell it back for $$$$. Then they attempt to denigrate the original herb and if that is ineffective, they get governments to ban it.
I used this.
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I drink apple juice.
If blood potassiumn is low, the urine has more calcium.
If blood sodium is low, the urine has more magnesium.
Calcium and magnesium form kidney stones.
I drink apple juice or another fruit juice to have an optimum potassium level.
Drinking water with sodium helps to increase blood sodium.
Foods have more vitamin a than we need.
Taking a multivitamin makes vitamin a excess even worse.
2.2 pounds for $21. Start with 1/8 teaspoon in 8 oz water and work up to 1/2 tsp in 8 oz water as you judge the effectiveness. Can mix 1/2 & 1/2 with sodium bicarb.
folk remedy. Just be careful if you mix with the sodium bicarb as it can upset electrolyte balance.
curious: what strength are the pills, what is the schedule of dosage, which type of stones are they for and what is the cost?
Good for a gall stones, kidney stones and gout crystals.
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I think potassium also helps to clear the lungs when we have a flu and sodium helps to move urine in the bladder out of the body.
No need for a study. Consuming potassium after not having an optimum intake for a few days, I can feel the stones move out of my kidney.
Thanks for posting! My daughter had kidney stones, but loves to eat fruit, so that should help in prevention.
I’ve had 13 I passed three at once one time lemonade and apple cider vinegar once a week looks like now I’ll be getting more bananas and calcium to
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