Kidney Stone Formation Linked to Antioxidants

According to a large population-based study, lower serum levels of certain antioxidants may be involved in the development of kidney stones.

Investigators Peter A. Holoch, MD, and Chad R. Tracy, MD, of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, showed that the average levels of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin are significantly lower in people who have experienced kidney stones. The researchers have concluded that these antioxidants could play a significant role in preventing stone formation. Consequently, the lower the level of these antioxidants the greater you are at risk for kidney stones.

Foods high in alpha-carotene include pumpkin, carrots, squash, corn meal, melons, tangerines, passion fruit, and plantains. Beta-carotene includes some similar foods as well as peppers, lettuce, kale, spinach, apricots, cherries, and pistachios. Beta-cryptoxanthin is found naturally in peppers, pumpkin, squash, persimmons, tangerines and peaches. Foods high in lutein include kale, collard greens, spinach, parsley, mustard greens, and okra. Lycopene is found in high amounts in tomatoes, guavas, watermelon, and grapefruit.

While the results of this study are interesting, stone formers must be aware that many of these foods are also high in oxalates, and oxalate intake and the body’s ability to metabolize oxalates is central to the process of stone formation. It would be wise to carefully assess each of these antioxidant containing foods by cross-referencing them with the list of foods to avoid before introducing any of these items into your diet in any sufficient quantity.

Until next time...cheers! 

Watch Out for "Instant" Kidney Stone Cures

There are a number of “Instant Cures” for kidney stones making the rounds on the Internet these days. I have reviewed a number of them. Most of them claim to reduce your stones to “slush” so that the stone or stones can be painlessly passed through the urinary tract. Do not be fooled. The problems with these so-called remedies should be immediately obvious to the stone sufferer. First, if these preparations worked, then why has modern medicine failed to adopt them? Contrary to popular belief, neither your physician nor the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have a vested interest in continuing to see you suffer. If these preparations worked, they would already be in the process of clinical trial. The hawkers of these remedies often mention that these preparations are not drugs, but rather natural substances not regulated by the FDA. If that were the case, your urologist would be all over these “cures”.

The most obvious tell, however, is the fact that these supposed cures are not cures at all, but rather solutions after a stone has already formed. Even if they worked, you would still have to experience the agony of that stone until the healing relief of the potion kicked in. Given that we know that stones are formed from minerals and are literally small rocks, common sense should prevail over the claim that some natural potion will dissolve these small rocks into slush. Further, these so-called cures do not address the most important issue, which is how can we prevent stones from forming in the first place. Why would you be satisfied only with resolving a very real problem that you already have? We should all be much more interested in doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the problem does not occur.

Until next time...cheers!