What are kidney stones?

Kidney stones are the crystallized form of oxalate, calcium, salts, and uric acid. Urine is the liquid that retains various wastes from the body and when the amount of these wastes increase and too little liquid form is there in the urine, crystals starts to form. Eventually with time, more wastes get accumulated on these crystals and they start to form a larger and solid mass that is difficult to pass out from the body through the urethra.

It remains in the kidney or passes down to the uretes creating a back up urine in the kidney. Though kidney stone is seen more in men but large number of women also suffers from the problem. Thus in order to prevent the stones women should consider the following given points.

ways to prevent kidney stones in women

1. Drink Plenty Water

Drinking plenty of water is the most preferable way to prevent kidney stones in women. Though yoga and other exercises are good enough for your health, you have to remember that these exercises will lead to loss of water through sweating. Excessive sweating is prone to kidney stones. So hydrating with water is the best way to avoid this problem.

2. Measure your Urine

Measuring the amount of fluid you are taking every day is not possible all the time. Hence it is easy to measure your urine output which will provide a better indication of how much fluid you have to intake; in fact doctors do ask patients with kidney stones to practice this step. Form medical perspective your body should fabricate 40-45 ounces urine per day.

3. Check your Diet

Now-a-days women have become very health conscious which leads  them to incorporate lots of fruits and vegetable in their diet. However it has to be noticed that these foods contain oxalate which give birth to kidney stones. Foods like beet, cola, coffee, nuts, spinach, strawberry, rhubarb, tea contain excess oxalate. Hence before inclusion of these foods to your diet, consultation with your health provider is necessary.

4. Avoid Excess of Vitamin C

This vitamin is an essential element of human body; but this compound can be a potential problem to those who have the tendency of forming kidney stones because the body will convert vitamin C into oxalate. Avoiding high doses vitamin C supplements will be preferable for you. Try to accumulate this necessary element from foods only in moderate amounts.

5. Eat Moderate Animal Protein

Animal proteins accelerate formation of uric acid and calcium in urine which can cause stones to your kidney. Purines in protein foods enhance the formation of stones. Consequently you have to be moderate while incorporating foods like fish roe, mackerel, herring, sardines, beer, brains, wine, hearts etc.

6. Take more Natural Citrate

Research shows that lemonade and other fruits and juices high in natural citrate can prove to be  beneficial for kidney stone prevention.  Citrate will prevent the binding of calcium with other constituents which can lead to stones. Exclusion of sugar in this regard is necessary as it can increase the risk of kidney stones.

7. Control your Weight

Especially women are vulnerable to the risk of kidney stones caused due to obesity or over weight. Higher BMIs which can be described as a measure of weight in relation to height will increase the risk of kidney stones. According to research 5% of women are suffering through this problem due to obesity. Hence weight loss is the only potential treatment in this aspect.

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