You Are Here: Kidney Stone Diet

Kidney Stone Diet Guidelines?

Written by on · Leave a Comment

We’ve written several posts that have a solid amount of value on the subjects of kidney stones and whether there is one, specific, kidney stone diet.  While there may not be one overarching, magical diet to prevent these problematic and painful buildups, there are plenty of resources available.

There is one such solution that we’ve come across, from registered nurse Rachelle Gordon, BSN, RN, is a report titled Kidney Diet Secrets detailing how to address and hopefully fix a variety of kidney ailments using a holistic approach which includes not just methods for kidney health and a useful kidney stone diet, but exercise and general physical wellness..  According to Rachael, the information in her report stands on strong scientific ground and is recommended to reverse kidney disease, avoiding dialysis or transplants.

The report comes with a 1 week sample menu as well as 100 recipes to help those suffering from all sorts of kidney diseases and ailments.

If you have had kidney stones, fatigue, muscle cramps, nausea or vomiting, bruise easily, or difficulty breathing upon exertion, Rachelle believes the information in her report could be to your benefit.

10 million people, or more, are believed to be dealing with kidney disease in the US alone.  See the numbers here at the NIH.  You are certainly not alone.

If you have discussed your options with your physician and are considering Rachelle’s report, you can expect to see:

  • A nutrition plan with the above mentioned sample menu and recipes
  • A treatment plan that covers the causes of particular kidney problems, and helps you to know that the report is a solution that can work for you
  • Strategies to help restore your kidneys to proper health if you have kidney disease, or just want to avoid having to pass a kidney stone.
  • Email support for questions that you may have but could not find in the report.

There are other resources that claim to help people deal with passing a kidney stone, but very few deal with the actual prevention of a kidney stone to begin with.

Will Rachelle’s report be the solution to help you rid yourself of kidney stones once and for all?  There are no guarantees, but having taken a first hand look at the report, it is clear that she has put together a labor of love to develop a high quality resource.

Please feel free to browse the rest of the articles on the site, and if you are interested in picking up Rachelle’s report, be sure to check it out and then if you would, please leave your comments here.  It would be great to hear your experiences and thoughts on the report.

Passing a Kidney Stone, Common Points to Understand

Written by on · Leave a Comment

What Needs to be Known About Passing a Kidney Stone

The good news is that often times, a kidney stone will pass on its own during urination.  Sometimes, they will even be small enough that they will break up and dissolve to the point that a person never even knows that he or she has a kidney stone in the first place.  Other times though, certain “lucky” individuals will have to endure the pain associated with passing a kidney stone.  The content in this post will hopefully show some of the common issues that people have while passing a kidney stone, as well as show a couple of commonly seen methods that people have to make the process easier.  Of course, you must consult with your physician to ensure you are not at risk for any complications that may arise through the presence and passing of your kidney stone, but a couple of the points you’ll find in this article may be a bit surprising.

To begin with, what does this have to do with a kidney stone diet?  There are a number of different steps that can be taken from a dietary perspective to help ease the situation, but there are also a number of steps that may be taken that could continue on to help prevent the formation of another kidney stone in the future.

So, passing a kidney stone is painful.  That much is obvious, and it has already been mentioned in this article, as well as elsewhere on the site.  The pain is often described as equivalent to child birth, and may present itself in different areas of the body.  For instance, a stone that is blocking a kidney may result in pain around the groin, the side and the lower back on the side of the affected kidney.  Of course, a stone that is being passed may cause irritation in the ureter as the jagged sides and substance of the stone may cause severe discomfort for the patient.  In general, the symptoms of a kidney stone are unpleasant in just about every way.

With a few of those details taken care of, let us touch on a few ways that passing a kidney stone can be made easier for the patient.

To begin with, there is always the potential of surgery.  Luckily, this is not often required, but it is nice to know that it is an option should the circumstances become dire enough. In this case, the stone is often removed or may be broken into different pieces in order to remove it.  This is a rather extreme situation though and it bares repeating that this is not a common approach to treating kidney stones.

Since surgery is not the most common method of helping to treat a kidney stone, then you may be wondering what is.  In this case, to help a patient who is passing a kidney stone, there may be the use of Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (find more here).  In short, the stone is broken into manageable pieces through shock waves.  Of course, this is not a pain free way to go, but it is common for those who are not able to pass a kidney stone without some sort of outside intervention.

There are other methods as well, which include inserting a small scope camera into the ureters to find the stone and allow the doctors to remove or break up the stone with a variety of different tools available to them.

What About Dietary Methods for Passing a Kidney Stone?

Patients with any sort of kidney issue are often instructed to drink more water anyway, and in the case of a kidney stone it may help to dilute the urine and possibly dissolve the stone.  It is not a guarantee that this will help in a specific instance of kidney stones, but proper hydration is generally thought of as a good health practice anyway.

As far as actual food goes, increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables is often cited as a good practice as well.  This is likely due to their high nutrient density, as well as the fiber content of most fruits and nearly all vegetables, which is often a factor in cleansing the body as well as its organs.

Others will make a point to eat plenty of watermelon due to its high water content as well as possible diuretic properties of the fruit.  Does this mean that you should eat as much watermelon as you possibly can in order to help flush your system and force the stone to make its way through?  Not necessarily, but it is something to keep in mind and bring up to your physician to identify the potential usefulness, as well as the best practices when it comes to safety.

And finally, on the more “off the wall” side of things, there has been the occasional mention of whether diet sodas and other carbonated beverages may be helpful in dissolving certain types of kidney stones.  While many would be surprised if they were able to dissolve a kidney stone instead of having to go through the ordeal of passing a kidney stone, this is another technique that may be worth taking a greater look into and putting into practice only if you are sure that you can do so safely with the proper attention and supervision.

And that brings us to a good place to end this particular article, as anything else would take us towards more and more obscure methods that people speak about when addressing this topic and other related subjects.  Nobody is going to lie to you and try and say that passing a kidney stone can become an effortless experience with any of the interventions or dietary changes mentioned in this article, but it may be made a bit easier.  And again, remember that it is recommended to speak to your physician when you are passing a kidney stone in order to make sure you avoid any potential pitfalls along the way.

Using Diet For Kidney Stone Prevention?

Written by on · Leave a Comment

Kidney Stone Prevent Through Diet?

This may be the most obvious statement that anyone could make, whether on this blog or not, but using diet for kidney stone prevention is probably the most common, as well as the easiest, method of preventing the re occurrence of kidneys tones in the future.  We’ve made the point before, and we’ll make it again, that nobody should be going on a kidney stone diet without their physician being aware and hopefully supervising the situation.  With that said, there are quite a few dietary changes that can be implemented in order to improve the chances of being able to prevent kidney stones.  Of course, this post is simply on the topic of kidney stone prevention, and we’re not making any recommendations whatsoever.

With that said, the top method of kidney stone prevention is probably going to be to ensure proper hydration.  Drinking enough water is one of the points on nutrition that often is overlooked.  We hear it on a regular basis, and perhaps it is because of this constant communication that we overlook and tune out the message that water is good for you.  If water is good for your body as a whole, perhaps the system that benefits the most would be that of your renal system (ie, your kidneys).  The kidneys have a lot of work to do day in, and day out.  Ensuring that adequate fluid intake is met can help them do their job with less stress.  And considering that one of the primary duties of the kidneys is to flush out the substances that often accumulate and form into a kidney stone, it makes sense to give them what they need to make this happen.  Each person is probably going to need different amounts of water, but a common quantity that seems to be gaining popularity lately is roughly half of a person’s body weight in ounces per day.

Next up then would be a warning of sorts.  When trying to achieve kidney stone prevention through dietary measures, each person is going to end up with a specific approach on an individual basis.  These types of things (kidney stones) occur for a number of reasons.  And because of this, individual approaches are going to need to be made.  For instance, certain kidney stones may occur when there is an environment that is actually too alkaline in the system.  Others may occur at the opposite end of the spectrum.  You can read more on diet and kidney stone prevention, as well as the types of kidney stones and other issues at the PDF through the link.

With that said though, there are often some basic dietary changes that seem to be near universal, whether a person is struggling with their weight, kidney stones, or other problems altogether that require the implementation of a different dietary strategy than the current one in use.

In no particular order, these would be to reduce the amount of salt in the diet, focus on electrolyte balance, as already mentioned most could stand to get more water down the hatch, to eat more whole foods and less junk, and to look more at the balance of the diet as a whole instead of the individual components.  For instance, many people who have suffered from kidney stones wind up needing to drop the amount of animal protein that they are taking in on a daily basis.  Others may need to cut back on the amount of fat or even certain vegetables that they eat.  As with any issue, achieving a certain balance in the daily diet can be effective, but is done on an individual basis.

Why do we keep harping on the need to balance and understand the need for individualization when it comes to kidney stone prevention?  Because we cannot underscore the need to understand the potential pitfalls enough, but also the potential for a greater chance at avoiding these stones again in the future.

So, if you are interested in using diet for kidney stone prevention, you should be prepared to ask your doctor a few questions.  These questions should be to ask which type of kidney stone you have formed, the correct volume of fluid each day, and to see if there is a bit of dietary guidance that he or she can offer you to help set you on the right track.

Of course, there are a number of guides and products available that can help you to get a handle on the issue of kidney stones, and to use diet to help ensure that you stay in good health.  After all, in some cases, kidney stones could be indicative of other kidney problems, and addressing these in the safest and most reliable way is generally a course of action that is compelling for most people.

In the end, the point is to try and achieve a kidney stone free lifestyle, and diet may be the best available method for many people to prevent kidney stones in the future.

What Are The Most Common Kidney Stone Symptoms?

Written by on · Leave a Comment

 

Kidney Stone Symptoms

After all, this site is titled “kidney stone diet” and as such, we are going to be covering several related topics, such as kidney stone symptoms, causes, prevention etc.  In this particular article, we’ll go over some of the commonly recognized symptoms of kidney stones, and then take it from there to see how the article may round out.  Remember, always seek medical attention should you have any symptoms that you believe indicate kidney stones, and this article in no way constitutes medical advice.  Without further ado, the most common kidney stone symptoms.

Kidney stoneImage via Wikipedia

 

To begin with, many times, there are no kidney stone symptoms at all.  many kidney stones are rather small, and may not even be noticed by the person who is about to pass one.  However, when they do cause symptoms, it is often when the stone begins to move from the kidney, into the urinary tract.  That is, when a kidney stone is merely sitting in the kidney, it often does not cause any symptoms, but when it enters transit, a number of issues may arise.

The first of these kidney stone symptoms is fairly severe pain once the stone begins to work its way out of the urinary tract.  Many times, kidney stones are rough and jagged.  Aside from the nature of the urinary tract, which is not really built to eliminate a solid object, the jagged nature causes irritation and many people compare the pain to child birth, though many men will have a difficult time trying to make this comparison.

Additionally, there is often a significant amount of pain in the side and the lower back that as the stone begins to block the normal flow of urine.  In this case, there exists the chance of an infection developing as urine cannot be eliminated as it normally would be.  This has the potential to be very serious, and is an example of a time when medical intervention may be required to aid the patient in passing the kidney stone.

Next on the list of kidney stone symptoms would actually be an extension of the previous point.  If a patient has shown a couple of kidney stone symptoms already, such as pain in the urinary tract, pain in the side and lower back, and perhaps even pain in the groin area after some time, there may eventually be fever, nausea and chills.  This would go along with the possibility of an infection developing as a result of the impeded flow of urine.  Again, the previous points should be cause to speak with a physician, but this is certainly an example of a point in time when medical attention is required as the situation could become serious.

As if these symptoms of kidney stones are not disconcerting enough, occasionally blood in the urine occurs when the stone cannot be passed for some time.  This often occurs when the kidney stone has passed from the kidneys, through the urinary tract, but cannot be passed, and begins making its way towards the bladder.

Additionally, at this point, as the stone gets closer to being passed, the need to urinate may grow more frequent and more pronounced.  And of course, as the stone either begins to dissolve to the point that it can be passed, or stays the same size and is passed, the pain in the ureter may be just as extreme as the initial pain felt when the stone enters transit.

What can be done then to help people who are experiencing kidney stone symptoms?  Thankfully, there are a number of things that can be done to aid those who have been stricken with a kidney stone.

To begin with, just as noted above, many are able to pass a kidney stone without any assistance, even if it is not pleasant.  Should this not work though, there are a number of surgical procedures that can be attempted by a doctor to go in and break the stone into passable sized pieces, or remove it completely.  Often, imaging techniques such as X-ray are needed to determine the need for these types of procedures.  For instance, should an image show that a kidney stone has actually grown in size with no progress on passing it, a physician may decide that some sort of intervention is now necessary.

After the stone has been passed, there may be certain dietary changes, known as a kidney stone diet, as well as certain medications that may be prescribed to treat the discomfort that may be lingering from the experience.  There may also be other steps that a physician may decide to take following this ordeal.

In the end, the kidney stone symptoms are fairly pronounced, but they may be indicative of other issues as well.  Remember, that while there are certain measures that can be taken to help prevent the return of a kidney stone in the future, the important point is to make sure you get through the current experience as easily as possible.  Also, should these symptoms present themselves, it is no time to mess around, and seeking the help of a physician should be considered priority number one over any other step.

For more on kidney stone symptoms, click the link.

What You Need to Know About a Kidney Stone Diet

Written by on · Leave a Comment

Why Bother With a Kidney Stone Diet?

Nearly everyone has come across someone who has had to deal with kidney stones. The kidneys are obviously a very important pair of organs. They help to filter the blood to remove excessive amounts of minerals as well as waste products that would otherwise accumulate in the system. Sometimes though, these minerals and waste products don’t filter out of the kidneys at a high enough rate, and when this happens, they may solidify into a kidney stone. To keep this from happening on a repeated basis, many will go on a kidney stone diet.

kidney stone ebook cover

The good news about kidney stones is that they can often pass without being noticed. Many stones are extremely small, and would never be noticed by anyone. However, when they grow to be much larger, they can cause serious discomfort, and may even require the help of a physician. In the worst case scenario, some even require surgery to go in and remove or break up the stone to a manageable size to end the situation.

With that said, let us get into some of the more common considerations that go into a kidney stone diet. Remember that nothing here constitutes medical or other professional advice.

To begin with, drinking more water is the number one way to turn a diet into a kidney stone diet. Honestly, water intake is one of those things that nearly everyone could stand to watch a bit closer. Regardless, in the context of a kidney stone diet, fluid intake helps the kidneys to do their job more efficiently. By diluting the urine, the chances of kidney stones being formed are decreased for most people. The common guidelines tend to recommend something around two liters of water each day. A physician should make these recommendations.

The next point of a kidney stone diet that deserves attention is that of oxalate. The most common form of kidney stones is what is known as a calcium oxalate kidney stone. Oxalate is found primarily in plant foods. Occasionally, if calcium intake is not sufficient, oxalate may build up in the system, forcing the kidneys to work harder to flush the excess. If the kidneys cannot do this, the chances of a stone, composed of both calcium and oxalate (thus the name), are increased. In general, limiting the amount of oxalate in a person’s diet is the first step that many starting on a kidney stone diet have to address. Of course, for those who have not developed a kidney stone in the past, this is more or less a non issue.

Next up, the idea of controlling the intake of foods containing calcium as well as uric acid, for different reasons, is often a measure that needs to be taken.

On the topic of calcium, it is not common for the body to absorb more calcium than it needs, but it does happen on occasion. Part of why calcium may not be absorbed in greater amounts than required could be that it is difficult for many people to get enough calcium, unless they drink heroic amounts of dairy, as well as eat large amount of high calcium produce. It certainly does happen, but it is not an easy thing to do.

When it comes to uric acid, this substance is commonly found in meat products. Uric acid can build in the system, and create the conditions for a uric acid kidney stone. For this reason, many people are advised to limit their protein intake to allow the kidneys to flush this substance, as well as other toxins and minerals at the most efficient rate possible.

Of course, there are other types of kidney stones that are not influenced by diet, and thus would not be accounted for in a kidney stone diet. However, following some simple and common steps concerning kidney stones and the dietary methods often implemented to prevent them is often a good idea. Does that mean manipulating oxalate, uric acid or calcium? No, but it may mean drinking more water, clearing one’s diet of junk foods, and getting a more well rounded diet based on whole foods put into effect.

What is important to remember is that it is not a good idea to go off on your own, with no guidance, to handle your kidney stones. Getting a diet put into place requires that a physician analyzes the kidney stone that you have formed, and passed, so that a diet can be put together.

Once that has been done, a kidney stone diet can be developed and made to be as effective as possible.

More on the subject of a kidney stone diet.