Kidney stones are one of the most painful urologic conditions.  And they are one of the most common problems of urinary tract.  Kidney stones are bothering people since ancient times: they were found in an Egyptian mummy. But it does not mean that you have to suffer from kidney stones. Because the formation of new kidney stones can be prevented.

Think about it: kidney stones are salts most likely calcium oxalate, that our body cannot prevent form making crystals in the kidneys.  So what happened to your body? Is it at fault? Or may be you are not giving your body what it needs for proper functioning?  Or may be we are giving our body too much junk it cannot get rid of? Probably both. Obviously what we eat is the most important. 

Our standard american diet ( SAD ) is a problem because of high alcohol consumption, high refined carbohydrates, high fat content, especially high animal fat amount, low fibers and vitamin D enriched products.  Prolonged use of antibiotics can change gut flora, which leads to increased absorption of oxalate, which is a component of kidney stones. 

High stress level is among risk factors for kidney stones. Another reason for calcium oxalate kidney stones formation may be lack of bacteria, that consumes oxalate as a food.  If you are lacking this bacteria because of antibiotic use or gut dysbiosis, oxalate in your gut is not consumed by bacteria and therefore absorbed into the blood and excreted by the kidney in the amount, much higher, then it is supposed to be.  This leads to kidney stone formation.  Solution: get your beneficial bacteria back!

So what needs to be done to prevent kidney stones?

1. Drinking enough water is the most important thing you can do.  Especially before going to sleep, because urine becomes concentrated at night: no water! So drink enough water even before sleep, provided that it is not disrupted by urination. The easiest way to check if you are drinking enough water is to look at the color of your urine: should not look dark yellow.
2. Avoid alcohol.
3. Loose weight.
4. Decrease your stress load.
5. Eat more fibers, leafy green vegetables, lima beans, barley, bran, corn, brown rice, avocado.
6. Decrease intake of meat, spinach, black tea, rhubarb, beat leafs, cranberry, parsley, nuts.
7. Change position when sleep.  Do not sleep on one side!
8. Check your gut bacteria! Replace if you have dysbiosis!

What about you:

1. Do you have kidney stones?
2. If yes, the how you treat them?