Introduction

If you’ve been staying on top of your diet but still forming stone after stone, you might be making these common mistakes which could be undermining your efforts!

“All stone formers should follow the same diet.”

Don’t be fooled! Following the same diet plan won’t yield the same results for everyone. While there are common causes that lead to kidney stones, everyone’s stone journey is unique. What works for one stone former may not work for another, that’s why it’s so important to follow a personalized diet plan!

Start by asking your urologist for a 24-hour urine test. As its name suggests, this test analyses the urine that you produced in a day to provide a snapshot of your urine chemistry. It measures the levels of calcium, oxalate, and various minerals that may contribute to stone formation. With these results, you’ll be able to determine what’s causing your stones, and what diet changes you should make1.

“Drinking lemonade is the most important diet change you need to make.”

We love our lemonade, but it’s not the cure-all for kidney stones!

Lemonade can be effective for managing your stones, but drinking just a glass or two isn’t enough. To reap the benefits of lemonade therapy, you’ll need to drink 5.9 gm of citric acid daily, which is around 2L of water mixed with 120mL of concentrated lemon juice. And don’t expect results overnight! In a study, researchers from the Duke University Medical Center administered lemonade therapy to participants for over 44 months before observing significant improvements2.

Besides, drinking lemonade is just one of many ways to combat your stones. Remember, the most important diet changes should be made based on your 24-hour urine test results. But if you’ve yet to take one, you should prioritize drinking enough fluids to produce 3L of urine daily3.

And if you’re looking to go the extra mile, here are some diet guidelines you can follow4:

  • Eat enough calcium. You should be having 3 servings of dairy products like milk, cheeses and yogurt to meet the daily recommended calcium intake of 1200mg.
  • Reduce your daily sodium intake. Try cooking with fresh ingredients and avoid highly processed foods like sausage and ham.
  • Cut down on your sugar intake. Swap your sodas for sparkling water to enjoy the fizz without the added sugars.

“If my stones are calcium oxalate, I should cut out oxalate-rich foods to prevent kidney stones.”

The connection is easy to make, but it is simply not true! Low-oxalate diets have gotten extremely popular, but not all calcium oxalate stone formers will benefit from adopting them. In fact, this diet is only recommended for stone formers with high urine oxalate, or those who are eating enough calcium yet still forming stones5.

Moreover, most calcium oxalate stones are caused by having high levels of calcium in your urine, not oxalates6. So, cutting down on your oxalate intake will not make much of a difference.

Instead, focus on your raising your dietary calcium to meet the recommended 1200mg daily intake. That’s roughly 2 glasses of milk, a pot of yogurt and 2 slices of Swiss cheese7. Feel free to incorporate them in your meals or enjoy as snacks throughout the day!

“I haven’t had a stone since I changed my diet, which means I can go back to my original lifestyle soon.”

Unlike the flu, you cannot build immunity against kidney stones. In fact, about 50% of stone formers are likely to develop another stone within the next 5 years8! So, if you think you’re in the clear and can revert to old habits, think again.

Besides keeping a close eye on your diet, having regular follow-ups with your urologist is just as important. During these follow-ups, your urologist will conduct scans and tests to ensure that your stone prevention plan remains on track. Imaging tests such as CT scans and ultrasounds can help to detect any new stones, while repeated 24-hour urine tests can help your urologist fine-tune your diet strategy5.

Remember, kidney stones are rarely a one-off event, so you should never let your guard down. If you’re riding a stone-free streak, stay on it and don’t risk it!

The next time you stumble upon another claim about stone prevention, be sure to run it by your AI-powered stone companion, UroGPTTM first!

References:

  1. Corder, C. J., Rathi, B. M., Sharif, S., & Leslie, S. W. (2024). 24-Hour urine collection. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482482/
  2. Kang, D. E., Sur, R. L., Haleblian, G. E., Fitzsimons, N. J., Borawski, K. M., & Preminger, G. M. (2007). Long-Term lemonade based dietary manipulation in patients with hypocitraturic nephrolithiasis. The Journal of Urology, 177(4), 1358–1362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2006.11.058
  3. Harris, J. (2014). HOW TO DRINK ENOUGH WATER | Kidney Stone Program. The University of Chicago. https://kidneystones.uchicago.edu/2014/08/25/how-to-drink-enough-water/
  4. Kidney Stones | Diet Plan and Prevention. National Kidney Foundation. (2019). https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/diet
  5. Pearle, M. S., Goldfarb, D. S., Assimos, D. G., Curhan, G., Denu-Ciocca, C. J., Matlaga, B. R., Monga, M., Penniston, K. L., Preminger, G. M., Turk, T. M., & White, J. R. (2014). Medical Management of Kidney Stones: AUA Guideline. The Journal of Urology, 192(2), 316–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2014.05.006
  6. Worcester, E. M., & Coe, F. L. (2010). Calcium Kidney Stones. The New England Journal of Medicine, 363(10), 954–963. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmcp1001011
  7. Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). (2022). In brief: How can you get enough calcium? InformedHealth.org – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279330/
  8. Khan, S. R., Pearle, M. S., Robertson, W. G., Gambaro, G., Canales, B. K., Doizi, S., Traxer, O., & Tiselius, H. (2016). Kidney stones. Nature Reviews. Disease Primers, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2016.8

Share this article

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn