GrownUps New Zealand

Kidney stones

Approximately 5 -10 percent of the New Zealanders develop stones. Kidney stones are more common in men, up to three or four times more common than women. You have a 50% chance of recurrence within 8 years of the first episode. They occur more commonly in persons aged above 30 years.

How do kidney stones form?

Normal urine contains substances that can inhibit crystal formation. Oversaturated (concentrated) urine has a high level of calcium, oxalate and uric acid. These encourage crystals to form and grow. This results from:

Coffee and kidney stones and osteoporosis

I can still remember my grandfather in Holland, when I was 11 years of age, showing me a bottle of what seemed like stones in weird shapes. He said that when he was in his 40s, he underwent surgery to remove countless kidney stones from both his kidneys.

Granddad also suffered badly from gout, and like many Dutch people of his generation would routinely drink anywhere between 10 to 15 cups of filtered coffee each day. It is now known that excessive caffeine consumption causes kidney stones due to caffeine increasing urinary calcium excretion. And that is also why those who drink too much coffee can potentially end up with osteoporosis, like my mother and grandmother. Both Dutch and both huge coffee drinkers!

Coffee also contains uric acid, which is responsible for many cases of kidney stones and gout. I’ve not met many coffee drinkers who drink 6 – 8 glasses of water, and dehydration occurs due to the diuretic nature of caffeine. This is yet another reason why high coffee drinkers can be potentially stone formers.

What symptoms do kidney stones cause?

If you get an attack of kidney pain

Drink plenty of water! It helps to flush the stone through. If pain becomes worse call your Doctor at once. Admission to hospital may well be necessary. Stones 5 mm or less in diameter usually often pass on their own. Nearly all those who form one stone will produce another unless preventative measures are taken. The cause of stone formation should be investigated.

What happens when you have kidney stones?

Kidney stones can be diagnosed by way of an x-ray or ultrasound.

Medical solution: surgical removal or lithotripsy

Can kidney stones be prevented?

Your chance of developing another stone is greatly reduced if you:

A 3-week kidney detox for stone treatment & kidney infection

I like using herbs, and particularly herbal teas with kidney ailments. It stands to reason why. You drink lots of tea, and then you pee! And by urinating a lot, you are ensured that the herbal residues reach their target goal: the kidney tubules. Don’t be surprised after this if you shed a lot of fluid or your blood pressure starts to reduce marginally, I’ve seen this happen after a good kidney detox. Try this approach once per year.

1. Take a herbal kidney tea (supplied by your Herbalist) made with filtered water. Drink lots of filtered water. Add fresh lemon juice from a freshly cut lemon. Use filtered water for all drinking and cooking. The whole idea during this 21 day period is to drink to the point where your urine is constantly clear, not yellow!

2. Avoid all saturated fats, fried foods, meats, sugar, soft drinks, cooked spinach, rhubarb, puha, alcohol, coffee, black tea, chocolate and similar processed foods. No oxalate or uric acid containing foods please for three weeks.

3. Have a cup of tea made with a tbsp of dried and crushed corn silk three times daily during the kidney detox. You could also simmer a large bunch of parsley (with roots) for ½ hr, strain, and sip small amounts.

4. Try to cleanse the kidney with a good detox diet (no meats, only vegetables and fruits) for a few days drinking plenty of fresh dilute raw vegetable juices. Celery and parsley are great additions here.

5. Magnesium, about 400mg (combined with 50 – 75mg Vitamin B6 per day, taken along with a B-complex) may cause partial elimination of kidney stones in many patients and some studies claim as high as a total elimination of smaller stones in quite a high percentage of patients!

6. Take one to two Potassium-Magnesium Citrate capsules per day for three weeks. You will pee better.

7.
Recurrent urinary tract infection? Try a herbal medicine containing a high percentage of berberine. Berberine-containing plants have used medicinally in virtually all traditional medical systems dating back at least 3,000 years for urinary tract infections.

8. 
Are you a smoker? I would recommend a hair analysis to determine your cadmium level. Cadmium is a heavy metal which is quite toxic to the kidney. Over the years I have seen several smokers with lower back pain with high levels of cadmium in their bodies. See your Naturopath.

 

By Eric

Read more from Eric Bakker ND