Best Natural Remedies for Kidney Stones and How to Prevent a Reoccurrence

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Kidney stones tend to run in families and are more common in men than women. However, once you have developed a problematic kidney stone, chances are good that you will have a reoccurrence. If you have had a kidney stone in the past, or if you think you might be a good candidate for developing a kidney stone, you might want to try some of the remedies below for preventing the formation of stones.

1. Cut Back on the C

Although it’s true that vitamin C is vital for the immune system, in very high doses (more than 3,000mg daily) it can become a problem for those who tend to get stones. Your body converts vitamin C to oxalate, which is part of what makes up kidney stones. Try to get your daily vitamin C from foods and not from supplements. Vitamin C is essential to the body, so don’t go without it, but the recommendation of 90mg per day for men and 75 mg for women are a bit low. Consuming 500mg of vitamin C daily is a good recommendation to avoid stones, but still give your body the vitamin C it needs.

2. Cut Back on Oxalates

Although eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is vital for good health, some produce gives your body too many oxalates, which can form stones.

If you have a tendency to get kidney stones, cut back on coffee, beets, nuts, peanuts, spinach, tea, strawberries, rhubarb, and chocolate.

3. Drink Plenty of Water

Sometimes the only thing people need to do to pass stones and to keep them from forming is to drink plenty of water. 8 eight ounce glasses of water is the minimum you should drink each day, and 10 to 12 glasses if you can manage it would be even better. Read more which water you should drink.

4. Eat Less Meat

If you have passed a kidney stone and your doctor told you that it was made of uric acid, this is probably due to a high protein diet. Animal protein speeds the formation of uric acid and calcium in the urine, which can cause stones to form in the kidneys. You don’t have to stop eating meat, just moderate your consumption.

5. Nettle Leaf Tea

Nettle leaf has a long history of being a safe and natural diuretic. When fluid is flowing through the kidneys and bladders, nettle can help stop crystals from forming into stones. Nettle tea also helps to keep a healthy balance of electrolytes in the urine, which stops minerals from clumping together into stones. Two or three cups of nettle tea each day can help prevent kidney stones.

Be sure you include plenty of exercise in your normal routine. Exercise helps move calcium out of the bloodstream and into your bones, rather than into your kidneys to form stones.

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