Ever had pain so severe in your sides, flank, or your lower stomach that caused you to your knees or even unable to get out of bed. This pain can be sharp and/or burning. In addition, you may have noticed some blood in your urine. After a few days the pain may have seemed to "pass" and so did the blood.
You may have just been subject to a kidney stone. And it is exactly as it sounds; a stone forms in your kidney and either it remains in the kidney or it passes out in your urine. Many Americans each year suffer from this condition. Some are required to go to the hospital for pain medications and others have kidney stones that are so large that specific procedures are done to break the stone into smaller pieces in order for them to pass.
Kidney stones have been described as equal or worse then pregnancy. If you have never had one it would be hard to believe. But if you have experienced a kidney stone then you know exactly what I am talking about.
Often the future prevention of kidney stones is at the top of the list for discussion by patients and their providers. Often individuals are encouraged to change their diet such as caffeine, sodas, chocolates, and others.
Often discussion about the benefit of fruit juices are in the mix. The hopes is that citrus juices may protect against the formation of calcium oxalate stones. These stones are one type of stones found in kidney stones and are the most common.
But are all juices equal?
It appears that the answer is no.
Often the juice recommended is Lemonade or diluted lemon juice along with dietary changes has been
found to be helpful.
But a study by the "National Institutes of Health" compared lemonade with Orange juice and it found that orange juice decrease levels of stones more efficiently then lemonade.
Other juices such as Apple and Cranberry did well with certain stones and bad for others. These two juices actually raised the risk for calcium stones but helped with the less common brushite stones.
Grapefruit juice appeared to fail completely and raised the risk of all stones.
Finally
Therefore a couple essential things have been noted. First, dietary changes are essential. Second, knowing the type of stone can be helpful. Third, try to avoid grapefruit juice if you are at risk for kidney stones.
Lastly, some individuals will only have one stone and they will be done. Others, despite the attempts at modifying diet will always be at risk. Drinking fruit juices my help reduce that risk but it doesn't mean that you won't ever have kidney stones again.
