What is the cause of kidney stone? How it can be prevented?

 What are kidney stones? 

5 major causes kidney stones

Kidney stones are a common disease of the kidneys, characterized by low back pain and hematuria, and the pain "will not be forgotten for a lifetime". Once a patient has kidney stones, the probability of getting stones again is high, so it is necessary to prevent them from diet.

There are 5 major causes of kidney stones that make people back pain unbearable

 What is the cause of kidney stone

Kidney stones are not painful when they first appear, so many people don't know they have stones in their bodies. It is usually only when the stone falls and gets stuck in the ureter, and the patient seeks medical attention for severe lumbar pain and hematuria before being diagnosed by the doctor. Common causes of kidney stones are:

● Medical history:

A history of kidney stones in the past, or diseases that easily cause kidney stones, such as gout, diabetes, obesity, malabsorption of the digestive tract, distal renal tubular acidosis, hyperparathyroidism, or certain genetic diseases.

● Family history:

 Family members have a history of kidney stones or urethral stones.

● Medication:

 Long-term supplement of calcium tablets, vitamin C, or taking diuretics, aspirin, anti-gout drugs, etc.

● Eating habits:

 Insufficient drinking water , high-sodium diet (addiction to heavy taste), inappropriate calcium-containing diet, high-animal protein diet, high-purin diet, etc.

● Living habits: 

Holding back urine, urinating less, working in a high temperature environment where sweating is easy, etc.

Generally speaking, the size of kidney stones is less than 0.6 cm. Drinking plenty of water may cause the stones to pass out on their own. If the size of the kidney stones is too large, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy must be used first to beat the large stones into multiple small gravels to facilitate discharge.

How to maintain the most common calcium oxalate stones?

Kidney stones can be divided into five types: calcium oxalate stones, calcium phosphate stones, uric acid stones, infectious stones and cystine stones. Among them, calcium oxalate stones are the most common, and infectious stones are rare.

A Chinese scientist He Cijiang pointed out that calcium oxalate stones and uric acid stones are the two main types of kidney stones.

● Calcium oxalate stones

As the name implies, it is caused by too much oxalic acid intake, so you should usually eat less high oxalic acid foods, such as spinach, beets, nuts including peanuts, chocolate, etc.

In addition, black tea is also a drink containing oxalic acid, so don't use tea instead of water, drink a lot of it every day. According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, a man in the United States drank about 4000ml of black tea a day and did not like to drink plain water. As a result, he found a large number of calcium oxalate stones in his kidney slices. The doctor believes that it is caused by drinking a large amount of black tea for a long time, and the body cannot discharge excessive oxalic acid normally.

Patients should consume high citric acid foods such as lemons and oranges. If the concentration of citric acid in the urine increases, it can be closely combined with the calcium in the urine, thereby inhibiting the formation of calcium oxalate stones. Calcium citrate has a higher solubility and is easier to be excreted from the body. Potassium ions can also inhibit calcium oxalate stones. You can eat more high-potassium foods such as bananas.

● Uric acid stones

Depending on the acidity of the urine, high urine acidity makes it easy to get stones. The eating habits of drinking more alcohol and eating more meat will increase the acidity of urine, so gout patients who love to drink and eat meat are also prone to uric acid stones.

Such patients should reduce the food of high protein in the diet, such as: animal organs, skins, etc., do not drink beer or alcoholic beverages containing wheat, in order to reduce the formation of uric acid. At the same time, eat more vegetables to reduce urine acidity.

Drinking plenty of water is the key to preventing kidney stones

Precautions for Kidney Stone Diet

1. Don't eat foods rich in oxalate

About 60% of stones are calcium oxalate stones. Therefore, you should limit your intake of foods rich in oxalic acid, including beans, beets, celery, chocolate, grapes, green peppers, coriander, spinach, strawberries and vegetables from the Brassica family. Also avoid alcohol, caffeine, tea, chocolate, dried figs, lamb, stone fruits, green peppers, black tea, poppy seeds, etc.

2. Pay attention to protein intake

Kidney stones are directly related to protein intake. Protein easily makes uric acid, calcium and phosphorus appear in the urine, leading to the formation of stones. If you have ever suffered from calcium stones, you should pay special attention to whether you consume too much protein, especially if you have a history of excessive uric acid or cystine stones. Limit 180 grams of high-protein foods a day, including meat, cheese, chicken, and fish.

3. Eat foods rich in vitamin A

Foods containing vitamin A can maintain the health of the urethral lining and help prevent the recurrence of stones. Such foods include carrots, broccoli, cantaloupe, papaya, and beef liver. However, high-dose vitamin A is poisonous, and it is the most toxic before taking it. Good to consult a doctor.

4. To control the intake of calcium

Clinical studies have found that more than 90% of kidney stones are formed by calcium or calcium-containing substances. Therefore, patients with kidney stones should eat less calcium-rich foods such as soy products, milk, kelp, dried shrimps and sesame seeds. In addition, if a kidney stone patient needs calcium supplementation due to certain diseases, calcium should be used under the guidance of a doctor.

5. Limit the intake of sugars 

High-sugar foods can increase the chance of kidney stones. Therefore, pay attention to eating less sweets.

6. Do not drink milk before going to bed:

Patients with kidney stones should not drink milk before going to bed. Because milk contains more calcium, most kidney stones contain calcium salts. The most dangerous factor for the formation of stones is the sudden increase in the concentration of calcium in the urine for a short time. Two to three hours after drinking milk, it is the peak of calcium excretion through the kidneys. At this time, you are sleeping, urine is concentrated, and more calcium passes through the kidneys, so it is easy to form stones. Therefore, patients with kidney stones should not drink milk before going to bed.

How to prevent kidney stones

1. Drink plenty of water

After the urine is diluted, it is not easy to form stones. Taiwan's National Health Agency recommends that, except for people with water restrictions such as edema or hypertension, ordinary people need to drink more than 2000cc of water a day and do not hold back their urine.

2. Low-salt (low-sodium) diet

When sodium ions are excreted through the urine, calcium ions are also excreted, thereby increasing the calcium concentration in the urine and combining calcium with oxalic acid or phosphoric acid to form calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate stones. Therefore, in addition to reducing the consumption of condiments, it is also necessary to eat less canned food and various processed foods, and not excessive intake of soups and pickled foods.

In addition, a Harvard University study pointed out that drinking carbonated beverages is prone to kidney stones. Drinking too much can also cause problems such as diabetes.

And now the popular vitamin C supplements should be supplemented in moderation. Vitamin C is metabolized in the body to produce oxalic acid. Excessive supplementation of high-dose vitamin C (such as oral tablets) will increase the concentration of oxalic acid in the urine.

 

Misunderstandings of Kidney Stone Diet

Most people think that to prevent kidney stones, eat less calcium-containing foods. In fact, the calcium-containing diet does not require special restrictions. Foods such as milk and tofu can be consumed normally.

 Studies have confirmed that people who eat a lot of calcium are less likely to get kidney stones, because calcium can combine with oxalic acid in the intestines and be excreted, reducing the probability of calcium oxalate stones. Instead, many studies have found that a low-calcium diet will increase the probability of kidney stones. When the digestive tract is unable to provide enough calcium to combine with oxalic acid, the concentration of oxalic acid in the body will rise, increasing the risk of stones.

There are also Internet rumors that mixing spinach with tofu, soy milk and tea will increase the risk of kidney stones. It is believed that the combination of oxalic acid in spinach and tea and calcium in soy products will form calcium oxalate stones. But in fact, oxalic acid and calcium will combine in the gastrointestinal tract, and most of them are excreted in the feces. Unless you eat a lot of sodium (salt), it will increase the amount of calcium ions in your urine