Are Kidney Stones a Risk For You?
Are Kidney Stones a Risk For You?
Kidney stones may seem like a far away notion. “It’s some medical condition that people other than me get.” Unfortunately, it is more common than you might think. Research has been done, and it shows that one in 10 people will develop kidney stones at one point or another in their lives. The good news is, you can prevent kidney stones with a bit of an education. Reduce your personal risk and the risk to your family by reading on.
What are Kidney Stones?
Kidney stones are a mass of crystal-forming substances, such as calcium, oxalate, and uric acid. If your urine contains these substances in excess and cannot dilute them, they can crystallize and form a painful stone. Kidney stones can also occur if a person lacks the necessary matter to prevent crystallizing substances from bonding.
How You Can Reduce Your Risk
A number of methods can be used to reduce your risk of kidney stones. Here a few to consider:
- Drink lots of water. This will help dilute your urine.
- Avoid excessive sweating cause by saunas or hot tubs
- Combine oxalate foods with calcium rich foods to increase the likelihood of them bonding in your stomach, not kidneys (i.e. have a glass of milk (calcium) with fruits, vegetables, quinoa (oxalate))
- don’t be afraid of eating calcium-rich foods. Eating too little will actually increase your risk of kidney stones.
This should give you a practical place to start.
Switch Up Your Diet
Now, there are a couple different “kinds” of stones.
- calcium oxalate
- calcium phosphate
- uric acid
None of these are fun, and you can avoid them by:
- reducing sodium intake (sorry to tell you, your favorite nachos contain A LOT of sodium)
- reducing animal proteins like eggs, fish, beef and pork
- Limit those high oxalate foods (wheat brans, nuts, spinach)
Of course, “all things in moderation” is something to live by. We’re not telling you never to have your favorite nachos again. Just limit the intake of foods like we’ve mentioned, up the intake of water, and if you suspect that you have a kidney stone or could be at risk, visit an urgent care facility. We’d be happy to talk you through things and make sure you are healthy.
