This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by Doctor Department of General Surgery and Anesthesia, Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Sometimes, from simple eating habits and daily activities, it is one of the causes of kidney stones. To effectively prevent kidney stones and avoid recurrence of kidney stones, it is necessary to eliminate these bad habits early.
1. What are kidney stones?
Kidney stones are a phenomenon in which minerals in the urine are deposited in the kidney, and over time, they coalesce to form stones. Kidney stones are small or large up to a few centimeters. If the kidney stone is small, it can be pushed out through the urine and the patient does not need to worry. But in the case of a large stone, it can fill the renal pelvis and the tubes that carry urine from the kidney to the bladder. Or with their large size, they move and rub against the urinary tract, which can cause back pain and blood in the urine.
Kidney stone disease can block the urinary tract, back up urine, cause inflammation, long-term will lead to fibrosis of the urinary tract. At the same time, it reduces the urinary contractile function, causing fistulas in the bladder and ureters, causing kidney failure. This is a dangerous complication after having a kidney stone that the patient should not ignore.
2. Why are kidney stones easy to recur?
From daily eating habits Habits in your daily diet greatly affect the health of your body. Too little calcium will cause the body to absorb more oxalate in the intestine and lead to increased oxalate in the ureters to form stones. When the body absorbs many typical oxalate-containing foods such as tea, soda, animal protein, or beetroot, salad, ... is also one of the causes of kidney stones. Animal proteins are proteins that contain a lot of purines. These substances, after being metabolized, will create waste products called urea, excreted in the urine, when deposited in the kidneys, they will form stones. This type of protein is abundant in shrimp and crab, the meat is red.
In addition, most cases of kidney stones are formed because the body is not absorbing enough water: drinking less water during the day, exercising too much in sports... or having an excess of crystalline minerals from water. urine. The minerals can be mentioned as: Oxalate, calcium, sodium, uric acid, cystine, phosphorus... They combine into solid blocks called urinary stones.
Not drinking enough water Drinking not enough water causes waste products to be deposited in the kidneys, the risk of recurrence of stones. The average person should drink 2 liters of water per day. For patients with a history of kidney stones, this amount should be increased, from 2.5 to 3.5 liters per day.
Moreover, many people often skip breakfast without understanding that then bile will not have food to digest, bile will stay in the gallbladder longer, for such a long time, bile will accumulate in the gallbladder. and intestinal tract, cholesterol secreted from the bile will easily form kidney stones.
From daily living habits Sports and poor physical activity also easily lead to the formation of stones in the kidneys. Hard exercise and sports can reduce the risk of kidney stone formation by more than 30%. People who have had kidney stones in the past, but are not physically active, the risk of recurrence of the disease is twice as high as normal.
Poor absorption and excretion The stomach has the ability to absorb and digest food by secreted gastric juices in the stomach wall. After the mouth has the function of helping to crush food, the stomach is responsible for softening those foods and bringing them down to the small intestine, the small intestine will, along with digestive juices, add an extra amount of food to convert into nutrients. nutrients to be absorbed and absorbed through the small intestine wall into the bloodstream to provide nutrients to the body.
Poor absorption If in case the body poorly absorbs excess nutrients, including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, ... and some other mineral salts, they will be pushed out of the body by urine or sugar. defecation.
Poor elimination Organs of elimination include urinary kidneys, anal defecation and sweat glands through the pores. If one of these organs is not working properly, it will cause the accumulation of waste products that form stones.
Calcium supplements not prescribed According to medical experts, the use of calcium supplements can cause recurrence, as well as make kidney stones worse. People with kidney stones should not abuse calcium supplements, but use natural foods that are safe for health. A moderate calcium diet is required. Because when eating a lot of foods containing calcium will cause calcium oxalate stones in the kidney. If the diet is too poor in calcium, it will lead to the body's absorption of oxalate from the intestine more and the cause of stone formation.
Structure of the ureter: Urinary tract obstruction is a very favorable factor for bacteria to invade and grow, causing ureteritis, leading to edema and ulceration in the lining of the renal calyces, easily leading to fibrosis of kidney function, causing the renal tubules and blood vessels to be compressed. After inflammation, the remains of white blood cells, bacteria, and epithelial cells in the renal calyces will fuse to form stones in the kidney.
So, when you have any problems with the ureter, it is difficult to pass urine, remember that this time is at high risk of you getting kidney stones.
Underlying medical conditions According to medical professionals, thyroid tumors can affect the function of the parathyroid glands. The parathyroid gland plays a very important role in regulating calcium metabolism in the body. When there are malignant tumors in the thyroid gland, they can affect the parathyroid glands, and lead to calcium deposition in the kidney area, the risk of kidney stones will increase.
3. Measures to prevent recurrence of stones
In fact, the number of patients after treatment for kidney stones has a 20% risk of recurrence later. The main cause of the recurrence of kidney stones lies in the daily lifestyle and diet. Careful precautions should be taken to avoid recurrence in the future:
3.1. Increase water intake Drink lots of water and don't hold your urine: Drink 2.5 to 3 liters of water a day, need to urinate as soon as you have a need, it's best to practice the appropriate biological clock to avoid fasting. urine. Can add tapioca starch water, black bean juice, or cool fruit juice, which can help eliminate calcium. Continuously replenishing water makes you urinate more often, avoids recurrence of kidney stones, and helps eliminate small stones if any.
The amount of water you should add depends on your weight and perspiration system. This row, you should drink 2 to 2.5 liters of water to ensure enough water your body needs. In addition, can be based on the number of times you urinate and the color of urine during the day to assess the body's water needs. If you urinate 4 to 6 times a day, accompanied by bright white and clear urine, then you have replenished enough water your body needs.
3.2. Improve the diet Add foods that help diuretic and easy digestion Diet and drink diuretic will have the effect of excreting stone fragments, small stones, blood fluid, blood residue, tangible components On the kidney, the ureter follows the catheter down to the bladder, urine out. Diuretic foods: Celery, orange or lemon juice, vegetables, beets, boiled young corn juice or corn silk juice, black bean juice (no sugar or low sugar)... Easy-to-digest diet The chemical helps the patient to absorb quickly to restore health, heal the damage to the mucosa - the ureteral wall. Of course, the diet avoids constipation, helping the patient to pass stools to avoid straining. Thereby reducing intra-abdominal pressure when defecating will avoid impact on the ureter, into the bladder touching the catheter should limit pain and hematuria. Foods that are easy to digest: sweet potatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes, jute vegetables, spinach, tofu, bananas, cauliflower,... Minimize oxalate and calcium Foods to limit: Shrimp, crab, seafood. Drinks should be limited: condensed tea, coffee. Vegetables and grains should be limited: water spinach, bran powder.
Limit refined salt In the processing of dishes with too much sodium, it is easy to create kidney stones. High sodium salt concentration interferes with the absorption of calcium in the urine, easily forming kidney stones. Sodium can cause increased levels of the amino acid cystine, leading to cystin stones.
Reduce sugar The foods and drinks with high organic sugar, easily increase the risk of forming and developing kidney stones. If you eat too much sugar, the level of calcium found is also increased, urine output is reduced, a favorable environment for stone formation in the kidneys.
Limit animal protein, protein Should limit the consumption of protein from animals such as pigs, cows, chickens or eggs. This protein-rich food source, when tolerated in large amounts in the body, can easily lead to uric acid kidney stones. Limit dishes made from the brains of animals, and foods containing a lot of purines that cause kidney stones such as: dried fish, dried meat, dried shrimp, sausages, fish sauces, pork intestines, beef intestines...
Protein can cause measured calcium to increase and citrate to decrease, citric acid will act as a catalyst inhibiting stone formation.
Regulate food groups rich in calcium Excess calcium causes stagnation of substances in the digestive system and contributes to kidney stones. Foods rich in calcium such as milk, cheese... Every day should drink no more than 3 cups of fresh milk or consume a calcium intake of about 800 to 1300 mg equivalent from butter, cheese.... You should not cut the group completely. This food because it will cause a nutritional imbalance in calcium supplementation, our body will absorb more oxalate from the intestine, which will create kidney stones.
If you have had recurrent kidney stones many times, the tests will show polycalcium in the ureter, you need to abstain from calcium intake, you should only take in about 400mg of calcium per day, equivalent to 1, 5 cups of fresh milk.
Enhance drinks containing vitamin C Should drink a lot of fresh orange, lemon, and grapefruit juice: These drinks contain a lot of citrate to help prevent stone formation.
Add appropriate green vegetables and fruits. It is recommended to add more green and fresh vegetables to benefit the fast digestive system, reduce the absorption load of kidney stone-forming substances. People who have had kidney stones can prevent recurrence of stones with a few good foods such as steamed green papaya, grilled pineapple or star-shaped banana and then decoction... these are all useful folk remedies for kidney stones. People who have had recurrent kidney stones many times.
3.3. Medical intervention Supplementation of drugs to control the rate of urine minerals Should follow the doctor's prescription to add some drugs to control the rate of urine minerals. A diet and drink with antibacterial substances will help enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics. After the end of oral antibiotics, these “vegetal” antibiotics are useful against retrograde infections caused by ureteral catheters. Natural antibacterial foods: onions, chives, garlic, ginger, honey, turmeric, cabbage...
Periodic health check-up every 3 to 6 months Periodic health check-up will help detect diseases early body problems encountered and early detection of kidney stones if any, timely treatment right from the onset of the disease. Initially, it is only necessary to adjust the diet, do physical exercises so that the small stones and stones are eliminated from the body through the excretory system without the need for painful surgical interventions.
Treatment and prevention of kidney stones with herbs and spices Kim primrose or psyllium ... are precious herbs, very good for kidney stone disease, helping to reduce the size of stones. Besides, cilantro or Chinese coriander... are also good spices for people who have been or are suffering from kidney stones.
At the Urology Department, Vinmec Times City International Hospital is currently applying the method of kidney stone lithotripsy and treatment of urinary tract stones with the most advanced and new generation of equipment. Here, doctors use a computer control panel, a digital screen, and a combination of electro-optical - ultrasound, which helps doctors locate the exact location of the stone with three-dimensional 3D space. The modern imaging system, flexible endoscopic system, and the qualifications from a team of experienced doctors in lithotripsy can bring the best results to limit complications during and after surgery to treat stones. kidney when indicated.
Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.
