If you or someone you know has been told that they have a kidney stone, it might sound scary. The thought of having tiny rocks in your body can be a scary one.
Kidney stones are not too hard to deal with and are easy to avoid. You can avoid many of the main things that lead to kidney stones by making changes to your diet and other parts of your lifestyle.
Why do people get kidney stones?
Some of the most common reasons why people develop kidney stones include the following:
Dehydration
To understand how water helps keep kidney stones from forming, you need to know a little bit about chemistry.
Minerals make up kidney stones, and all of those minerals can break down a little bit in water. But there are limits to how much they can dissolve. When the amount of these minerals in the urine produced by the kidneys is too high, kidney stones, or crystals, can form. This happens when the amount of these minerals in the urine is higher than a certain level.
So, if you don’t want to get kidney stones, you should try to lower the amount of these minerals in your urine and kidneys. If you drink enough water, your urine will be thin enough that it won’t cause any problems. Make sure you drink enough water so that your urine is a pale yellow color. If it is a different color, you may be dehydrated or have another problem.
Getting enough water is easy to say but hard to do, especially for people with busy lives. Set yourself reminders to drink often, and don’t be afraid to do so. Keep in mind that kidney stones take a long time to form, so drinking enough water is an important part of living a healthy life.
Sodium Rich Diet
A high salt intake already gets bad press because it can hurt your heart, but it can also make you more likely to get kidney stones. When the body gets rid of a lot of sodium through the urinary tract, this makes it easier for kidney stones to form.
Spices might be a better way to add flavor to your food than salt. Your urologist can also give you advice on how to cut down on salt without losing interest in food.
Uric Acid Build Up in High Protein Diet
Uric acid is made by your body when it breaks down protein. Like other minerals, too much uric acid can form a crystal in your kidneys, which is called a kidney stone. Uric acid also makes your urine more acidic, which can make it harder for other minerals to stay dissolved.
Some people who want to avoid getting kidney stones might find it helpful to cut back on how much protein they eat. Some people have high levels of uric acid because they have metabolic disorders. If this is you, you would need to control your condition with a healthy diet and medicine to keep from getting kidney stones.
You can avoid developing a kidney stone by reducing the amount of stone-forming minerals in your diet and by drinking more water to dilute your urine. If you have abdominal pain or lower-back pain, see a skilled urologist who can diagnose and treat your condition.
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