Diet for people with kidney stones

The article is professionally consulted by Doctor Department of General Surgery and Anesthesia, Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.

Kidney stones are one of the common urinary - genital diseases in Vietnam. Kidney stones are caused by mineral metabolism disorders. Therefore, people with kidney stones need to have a suitable diet to avoid making the condition worse. Issues such as what to eat with kidney stones and what to abstain from now become very important.

What people with kidney stones should eat will be decided on the basis of the following nutritional principles:
Calcium supplements: Many people believe that the nature of stones is calcium, so it is necessary to completely abstain from calcium in the daily diet. days to prevent stones from developing. However, the process of stone formation is not necessarily caused by calcium but also by many other factors. Many people don't eat calcium-rich foods but still get kidney stones; On the contrary, there are people who eat a lot of shrimp, crab, milk... but do not get sick.
In fact, using a lot of calcium-containing foods with the right amount can help reduce the risk of kidney stone formation. Excessive abstinence from foods containing calcium also causes an imbalance in the body, leading to osteoporosis and causing the body to absorb more oxalates, increasing the likelihood of kidney stones. Therefore, people with kidney stones should still include in the menu milk, yogurt, cheese - foods that help supplement calcium.
Drink lots of water: People with kidney stones should drink a lot of water every day, so that the amount of urine a day is greater than 2.5 liters. Frequent urination will make the stones less likely to recur. Regardless of the type of kidney stone, you need to drink plenty of water. Can drink filtered water, fruit juice and broth with meals.
Foods rich in vitamin B6 and vitamin A: These are two very good vitamins for people with kidney stones. Vitamin B6 can reduce the possibility of oxalate stone precipitation, while vitamin A helps regulate the urinary excretion system, preventing the formation of kidney stones.

Protein: According to doctors, there is a close relationship between eating a lot of protein and kidney stones, because it increases the amount of acid, calcium and phosphorus in the urine. Therefore, people with kidney stones should only eat about 200g of protein per day; Salt: A patient can only eat up to 3g of salt a day. Eat as light as possible. Limit processed foods, canned foods because these foods contain a lot of salt; Sugar, greasy food; Limit carbonated drinks, soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer, alcohol...; Do not arbitrarily add supplements and functional foods without consulting your doctor.

Diet plays an important role in determining the effectiveness of the treatment of kidney stones. Therefore, patients need to strictly follow the nutritional notes mentioned in the article to completely treat the disease, to avoid prolonged and recurrent kidney stones that affect health and daily life.