Kidney stones can cause severe pain. If you have had a kidney stone before, there is a 30% chance that it will happen once more within 5 years. In order to prevent recurrence of kidney stones, it is usually recommended to make changes to your diet.
Recently, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in the US published a study showing that a diet rich in calcium and potassium can prevent the recurrence of symptomatic kidney stones.
The research team conducted a dietary survey on 411 patients who experienced kidney stones for the first time and 384 control subjects. The results showed that lower calcium and potassium intake, as well as water intake, increased the risk of kidney stones.
Among the first-time stones, 73 patients recurred stones within 4.1 years of follow-up. Further analysis showed that low calcium and potassium intake might predict the recurrence of kidney stones.
Also, if you drank less than 3.4 liters of water per day, you were more likely to develop stones. Daily water intake included water intake as well as food intake such as vegetables and fruits. Low fluid and caffeine intake can be one factor in the formation of stones, as they produce less urine and increase urine concentration.
According to the researchers, low calcium and potassium intake was a more important predictor of kidney stone recurrence than water intake. “I’m not saying it’s not important to drink a lot of fluids,” said Dr Andrew Rul, a nephrologist at Mayo Clinic.
The researchers said that taking 1200 mg of calcium per day may help prevent kidney stones. This is consistent with the daily recommended amount recommended by the US Department of Agriculture. Potassium intake should also be adequate, but this study did not specify a recommended intake. Potassium-rich fruits and vegetables include bananas, oranges, grapefruit, melons, apricots, potatoes, mushrooms, peas, cucumbers, and zucchini.
The results of this study were published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings under the title ‘Dietary Risk Factors for Incident and Recurrent Symptomatic Kidney Stones’.
Reporter Jeong Hee-eun [email protected]
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