How to Stay Prevented Against Kidney Stones Naturally

Abstract

Kidneys are a pair of reddish-brown bean shaped organs located behind your belly, side of your spine and below your ribs. Main function of the kidney is to filter the blood and maintain the exact level of electrolytes. It is also responsible for the removal of body waste and maintains body fluid balance. Blood enters the kidney, minerals, water and salt are absorbed and adapted. Filtered blood turns back into the body and waste converts into urine. Sometimes clumps of waste stick together in your kidney. This cluster of waste are the root cause for diseases such as kidney stone.

In this article we are going to discuss the cause and symptoms and home remedies to prevent kidney stones.

Introduction

Kidney stones are also termed as renal stones or nephrolithiasis. Kidney stones are most commonly developed in the renal pelvis but can be found anywhere in the urinary tract. Renal stones are the hard clumps of the waste deposits inside the kidneys. Kidney stones are different in sizes (tiny to very large) and are also varying in numbers (one stone or many stones). Small size stone is not such a big problem, but large size stone may block the part of the urinary system. This results in vomiting, bleeding and severe pain. There are four types of kidney stones. These are:

• Struvite stones: Urinary tract infection in which bacteria like Proteus, pseudomonas, Staphylococcus etc. are responsible to change urea to ammonia that build up in the urine. These build up results in the deposited crystals inside the kidneys known as Struvite stones.
• Uric acid stones: It is the major type of kidney stones. It includes all other types of kidney stones i.e. Calcium stones (calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate), Cystine stones and Struvite stones.
• Cystine stones: Cystinuria disorder is responsible for the formation of cystine stones. It is a very rare disorder. It is developed when a natural chemical cystine leaks into the urine. Excess amounts of cystine in the urine may cause kidney stones.
• Calcium stones: It is the most general type of kidney stone. This type of stones develop from natural chemical found in several foods i.e. Calcium oxalate. Sometimes it develops from Calcium phosphate.

Symptoms

Kidney stones usually will not cause any kind of symptoms, but if the size of kidney stone is large. A renal colic that is manifested by severe pain in the loin region which is associated with episodes of  nausea or vomiting and may radiate to the groin region is the classical clinical presentation of renal stone/urolithiasis. Some other common symptoms are observed:

• Bleeding in urine
• Vomiting and Nausea
• Burning sensation or pain while urinating
• Severe pain in lower abdomen and back
• Foul-smelling or cloudy urine
• Brown, red or pink urine
• Fever

Causes

Some common causes/risk factors of kidney stones are:

• Obese or overweight.
• Overconsumption of food items that are rich in protein, sodium or sugar
• Inherited from your family
• Previous medical surgery i.e. gastric bypass surgery or intestinal surgery
• High level of Oxalate, Uric acid, Calcium and Cystine in urine
• Certain medicines (Calcium based antacids, Diuretics)
• Dehydration
• Previous Kidney diseases (Cystic Kidney Disease or Polycystic Kidney Disease)
• Irritation and swelling in joints

Home Remedies to Protect Kidney from Stones

By little modification in lifestyle and dietary habits, one can  protect the kidney from stones. These modifications are:

1. Drink Plenty of Fluids

• Water: To protect the kidney from stones, drink more water. Low urine output results in concentrated urine that dissolves urine salts in less amount and causes stones.
• Orange juice and Lemonade: Orange juice and lemonade are also best options because they contain citrate. Citrate retards the formation of stones.
• Basil juice: Basil juice contains acetic acid and it is helpful to reduce the pain and it is also beneficial in the breakdown of kidney stones.
• Celery juice: it is helpful to clear all those toxins which are contributed in the formation of stone.
• Pomegranate juice: This juice is used to lower down the acidic level of urine. Decrease in acidic level of urine may diminish the risk of kidney stones.
• Apple cider vinegar: This vinegar contains acetic acid. 2-3 spoons of vinegar is mixed thoroughly with 60-80ml of water. It is used to reduce the pain of stones and also beneficial to protect kidney from stones

2. Reduce the Intake of Oxalate Rich Food Items

Oxalate binds with calcium and enhances the risk of stone formation. Reducing the intake of oxalate rich foods will protect the kidney from stones. Avoid the consumption of oxalate rich food items such as Tomato, Chocolates, Spinach, Sweet Potato, Soy products, Peanuts etc.

3. Consume Calcium Rich Food Items

Kidney stones due to calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate are very common. Many people avoid taking calcium rich food items. Despite that, a low calcium diet may enhance the risk of stones. Some examples of calcium rich food items are low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, low fat milk etc.

4. Reduce Sodium Intake

Overconsumption of sodium may lead to calcium stones type of kidney stone. Higher amounts of sodium in urine prevent the reabsorption of the calcium. This leads to high calcium contents in urine that result in kidney stones.

5. Keep Away from Vitamin C Supplements

High doses of Vitamin C may double the risk of kidney stones.

6. Avoid Animal Protein

Rich animal protein food items are highly acidic and enhance urine acid. Increased uric acid results in calcium oxalate and uric acid stones. Some rich animal food proteins are fish, fork, beef etc.

Ayurvedic View

According to Ayurveda, some herbs are beneficial to prevent kidney stones. These are:

• Bhoomi Amla (Phyllanthus niruri) is also called as “stone breaker”. It is the most common active herb which is used in the herbal therapy for kidney stones.
• Punarnava (Boerhavia diffusa) is used to retard the formation of Struvite stones. It also helps to throw out kidney stones.
• Varunadi vati: It contains many herbal ingredients such as Gokshur (Tribulus Terrestris), Varun (Crataeva nurvala) etc. The daily use of Varunadi vati is beneficial for stone problems. It retards the formation of kidney stones.
• Hajrul Yahood Bhasma (Lapis judaicus) is also known as “Ber pathar”. Lithontriptic is the main property of Hajrul Yahood Bhasma.
• Chandraprabha vati is formulated by the combination of more than 30 herbal ingredients such as Guggul (Commiphora mukul), Shilajit (Asphaltum), Haridra (Curcuma longa) etc. It helps to dissolve and push the kidney stone.
• Gokhru Panchang (five parts of Tribulus terrestris) is beneficial to remove all types of stones from the body due to its diuretic properties.

Conclusion

At the end of this article we concluded that there is no specific treatment of kidney stone in Modern medicine. They just have surgical procedures which have their own side-effects and also recurrence of stones. So by following Ayurvedic treatment as we discussed above, we can treat this disease from its root cause.