Herbs for Prevention of Kidney Stones
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Name not given
Posted on: September 25, 2002
I have frequent attacks of kindey stones: once every year for about 3 years,
then it stopped for
about 3 years and now I have multiple stones in both kidneys. The doctor said it
looks like they have
been there for a very long time. I just had the lithotriptor done on the
right kidney this week and am
scheduled for the left one in another 2-3 weeks. The stones I had a few years
ago were made of
calcium, as I am sure these are too. He also said there was as much calcium,
if not more, in meat
as there is in dairy products. I don't eat or drink many dairy products or
any more meat than the
average person. My question is, is there an herb that will PREVENT the stones
from forming?
Kidney stones are 60% less common in vegetarian diets. A high fibre,
high fluid, low protein diet is the best preventative medicine. Diets
high in animal protein encourage stone formation. Kidney stones are
usually formed of calcium and oxalic acid.
Herbal medicine promotes investigation of the factors involved in kidney
stones. Rather than just recommending herbs to prevent stone formation,
it is more beneficial to look at the various factors, including a high
calcium diet, frequent ingestion of antacid tablets and irregular
activity of the thyroid gland, the parathyroid gland and other metabolic
disturbances. Because your particular system is predisposed to form
kidney stones, you will benefit by following the general recommendations
for prevention.
General preventative medicine includes:
· Water: drink at least 2 large glasses of water 4 times a day between
meals to flush out stones and avoid bacterial build-up
· A high fibre diet: lots of fruit and vegetables
· Extra magnesium daily (200-400 mg) to help absorb calcium, rather
than excreting it
Minimizing:
· Animal protein: meat and dairy products. Replace some animal protein
with vegetable protein, like beans and grains combinations
· Coffee, alcohol
· Antacid tablets
Avoiding:
· High sodium foods. Sodium can stimulate calcium excretion: Salt and
high-sodium foods such as bacon, other cured meats, smoked fish, and
processed food like canned soups and canned and frozen dinners
· Sugar
· phosphoric acid in soft drinks
· high oxalate foods: chard, beets, parsley, rhubarb, coffee, black tea,
chocolate, grapefruit, parsley, peanuts, strawberries, tomatoes
· Refined flour
· Tap water which may be high in calcium. Use bottled spring water with
a low calcium content
Helpful herbs include:
- Marshmallow leaf tea is soothing to the urinary system and may help
break up stones
- Gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum) is soothing and astringent. It
helps keep the kidney free of stones and gravel. Matthew Wood, in "The
Book of Herbal Wisdom, (Publisher North Atlantic Books) says Gravel Root
"promotes and strengthens kidney excretive power in small doses, but
exhausts the kidney in large ones." For chronic problems Wood
recommends using very low doses (a few drops) of a tincture, or
homeopathic formulations
A Journal of Urology study recommends lemon juice:
Research performed at the University of California in San Francisco
showed that patients with kidney stones, and who could not tolerate
traditional pharmaceutical approaches, were asked to supplement their
diet with reconstituted lemon juice, four ounces per day. Lemon juice is
a very inexpensive form of citrate, and 4 oz. gives 5.9 grams of
citrate, five times as much as orange juice. This level easily increases
urinary citrate levels and lowers urinary calcium excretion, which is
what is needed to prevent kidney stone formation (J Urol
96;156:907-909).
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