A diet high in calcium and potassium may help prevent recurrence of kidney stones, a study has found.
A research team led by Prof. Andrew Ruhl, a kidney disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, conducted a study on 411 patients who were first diagnosed with kidney stones and 384 patients without kidney stones (control) at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and Florida between 2009 and 2018. Medical Express reported on the 10th that a study revealed this fact.
Overall, insufficient dietary calcium and potassium, water, caffeine, and phytate intakes were associated with an increased risk of developing first kidney stones, the researchers found.
In particular, those who consumed less than 3,400 mL of water per day, including water from fruits and vegetables, had a higher rate of first diagnosis of kidney stones.
Lack of fluid and caffeine intake may promote the risk of stones by reducing urine output and increasing urine concentration, the researchers said.
Phytic acid is an antioxidant found in whole grains and nuts that increases calcium absorption and urinary excretion of calcium.
Of those who developed a first kidney stone, 73 had another kidney stone within an average of 4.1 years.
As a result of examining the dietary habits of only these individuals, insufficient dietary calcium and potassium intake was found to be a risk factor for the recurrence of kidney stones.
Lack of dietary calcium and potassium intake may be associated with a higher risk of kidney stone recurrence than lack of fluid intake, the researchers found.
Even when risk factors other than diet were taken into account, insufficient dietary calcium intake was still effective as a predictor of kidney stone recurrence.
However, insufficient dietary potassium intake continued to be effective as a predictive marker for kidney stones only when diuretics or calcium supplements were not taken.
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
/yunhap news
