Kidney stones are small -- usually between the size of a kernel of corn and a grain of salt. When your body has too much of certain minerals, and at the same time doesn’t have enough liquid, these pebble-like objects can form.
The stones can be brown or yellow, and smooth or rough. Both men and women can get kidney stones, but men’s chances of getting them are about double that of women’s.
Causes
It’s often hard to figure out the reason you got a kidney stone. But they are created when your urine has high levels of certain minerals. These include:
calcium oxalateuric acid
Think about stirring up your favorite drink from a powder mix. If you don’t add enough liquid -- say, water or juice -- the powder will clump up and turn into hard, dry chunks.
Similarly, if you don’t have enough urine in your body to water down the high concentration of minerals, stones can form.
5 WAYS TO PREVENT KIDNEY STONES BY MANAGING YOUR DIET
1) Drink lots of water: On an average, a person must be drinking at least 3 liters of water every day. If you live in a more hot and humid climate, your water intake must be even more than that, so that on an average, 2.5 liters of urine is passed throughout the day, which decreases the chance of unnecessary retention of minerals from the urine and release them more easily from the body.
2) Continue eating foods rich in calcium: It is a common misconception that calcium accelerates the formation of kidney stones. Calcium is digested by the intestine, only excess calcium cannot be digested by the intestine and is sent to the kidney. Continue consuming calcium rich foods unless your doctor prescribes you against it. Make sure your diet includes enough dairy products such as milk, cheeses, etc., or other calcium rich foods, such as oats and broccoli.
3) Limit intake of oxalic acid: Oxalic acid is mostly found in foods obtained from plants. It restricts the absorption of calcium in the intestines and as a result, more calcium is passed into the kidneys; thus, forming calcium oxalate, or oxalate stones. Try to avoid foods, such as rhubarb, Swiss chard, nuts, tea, sweet potatoes, etc.;mainly leguminous plant products.
4) Decrease the ingestion of sodium salts, sugar and meat protein : Salts and sugars, mainly found in packaged foods are used to prevent them from expiring. They increase the release of calcium and oxalates into the blood, which thus increases the chance to develop kidney stones. Meat contains fibers which affect certain nutrients in the kidney, thus aggravating the formation of stones.
5) Increase the consumption of insoluble fibers: Insoluble fibers are those rough fibers which are not soluble in water during the process of digestion. They are found in rice, wheat, barely, etc., and are found to decrease calcium absorption in the kidney. They attach themselves to the calcium and oxalates, which enable them to be released as stool instead of urine .Should you have any concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!