Kidney Stones

What are Kidney Stones?

Before we proceed with this topic, below is an interesting video I found on youtube on how someone dealt with his kidney stones.

Kidney stones are stones that are almost always made up of calcium oxalate. Calcium oxalate  is created when oxalic acid binds with calcium resulting in stones instead of being flushed out in the urine.These stones or to be exact crystals can cause severe pain in the back and stomach area.

Symptoms of Kidney Stones

• One of the notable symptoms of kidney stones is the terrible pain in the middle back and stomach area. It can in some cases be so terrible that the patient is almost incapacitated due to the pain
• The other symptom is fever.
• The other is nausea and vomiting.
• Another side effect could be blood in the urine.

Causes of Kidney Stones

• one of the causes of kidney stones could be poor diet. A diet full of fizzy drinks which contain phosphoric acid which can increase kidney stone formation.
• The other cause could be the build up of calcium oxalate. Foods such as dairy products and black tea contain oxalic acid one of the ingredients in kidney stones
• Another cause of kidney stones is uric acid build up in the body.
• Taking too much coffee  can also contribute to kidney stone formation.
• Taking too much meat and refined foods and foods deficient in fiber can also contribute towards kidney stones.
• Last but not least is high sodium intake.

How to Prevent Kidney Stones.

There various ways to prevent kidney stones and the following are some of them:-

• Make sure that you consume foods rich in fiber such brown rice  to  enhance the digestive system by slowing the movement of food and to bind calcium to the digestive tract. This ensures that less calcium is sent into the blood stream.
• The recommendation of at least two liter of water every day is in order here. This will improve the digestive system and other processes of the body. We should not forget that 50 to 70 percent of the body is made up of water. Some herbalists encourage the addition of a few drops of lemon to the water to cut down on uric acid.
• Another remedy or preventative solution to kidney stones is to make the calcium oxalate more soluble and therefore enable it to leave the body when one urinates.This is done by consuming foods that contain magnesium which makes the calcium oxalate more soluble. Examples of such foods are green leafy vegetables, seaweeds, lima beans, raw shelled hemp seeds and fish.
• Potassium rich foods such as brown rice, avocados, sunflower seeds and legumes can help to balance the sodium and magnesium in the body. This will help in proper utilization by the body of calcium. Taking cranberry juice also aids in the reduction of kidney stones.
• Another remedy is to reducing the calcium content in urine by taking foods such as rice bran which is well know to reduce calcium.

What are the Medicinal Herbs and Supplements for Treating and Preventing Kidney Stones.

• The most important herb in treating kidney stones is dandelion root. This herb is better taken as a tea.
• There are also some herbs such as uva ursi which have been traditionally used for kidney stones.
• Other herbs that help in curing yourself of kidney stones are spirulina and chlorella.
• One can also take digestive enzymes with meals to aid digestion and therefore easy the pressure on the kidneys to work to produce enzymes for digestion.

Let us also remember that for kidney stones patients there are foods that should be avoided. These foods include very spicy foods as they put pressure on the kidneys when the body is trying to process them, dairy products , pepper, tomatoes, spinach and rhubarb. I hope you have gained valuable information on kidney stones.