Both patient and doctor have the responsibility to prevent the recurrence of kidney stones, even after they are completely dislodged.
Diet changes are essential if you are trying to prevent the chance of having recurring stones.
The first thing doctors do when making the right choice of food for each patient is analyze the urine and the composition of the stone dislodged. Proper dietary and hygienic regimen requires chemical analysis of the stone in order to discover which is the dominant mineral, or in other words which foods contribute to its creation.
It is proven that by following a proper diet regimen only 20% of the patients have the chance of having recurring stones. On the other hand, if the patients do not follow any special dietary and hygienic regimen, the number of patients having recurring stones increases by 80%.
Specific dietary regimens are just part of the treatment, and there are other general prevention measures for colds and inflammations caused by the kidney stones. These measures include drinking enough fluids, at least a glass every two hours, and before bedtime patients should drink about three liters of water.
Large amounts of water can be only dangerous in cases of hypertonic diagnosis and heart or kidney diseases. At the same time you should try to prevent any possible loss of fluids through excessive sweating, heavy physical activities, tanning, exposure to high temperatures, excessive physical activity, and excessive use of medications for bowel cleansing.
It is important to avoid stress, alcohol, carbonated drinks, concentrated sugar, including honey and fruit syrup, sweets, artificial sweeteners and salt.
If the analysis shows that calcium and oxalates (calcium-oxalate stones) are dominant in the stone, the patients should avoid green vegetables, and beetroot as well, and from the fruits these patients should reduce the consumption of apples, grapefruit, currants, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and plums.
Lamb and mutton are also on this list, followed by coffee, cocoa, chocolate, Coke and strong tea. It is also important to be more careful when consuming homemade tea, including mint, chamomile, parsley and fruit tea.
If the kidney stones show large amounts of phosphates, the patient should avoid fish, yolk, eggs, milk (not more than 1 glass of milk daily and half a liter of yoghurt) and dairy products. It is especially important to avoid old full-fat (sheep) cheese and hard yellow cheese, including Edamer, Emmental and Parmesan cheese.
These patients should also avoid beans, peas, lentils, green beans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, coffee and carbonated drinks.
In cases of urate stone and sand, the patients should avoid consuming internal organ meat, including liver, brain, kidneys, bone marrow (found in soups). These patients should also avoid eating peas, beans, lentils, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, soybeans and mushrooms.
Drink a lot of water
Water helps the kidneys eliminate toxins and stops the creation of kidney stones and infections, and the dehydration increases the risk of kidney disorders by 20%. If you still can not drink large amounts of water, carry a water bottle with you – this will remind you to drink more even in cases when you do not have it on hand.
Do not forget to drink more yoghurt and milk
High blood pressure can damage the small vessels in the kidneys, so they can not filter the waste materia properly. Maintain your blood pressure by including two glasses of yoghurt and a glass of milk in your everyday menu. Several studies have confirmed that low-fat dairy products reduce the blood pressure.