Ananya entered the clinic with a severe left side pain and less urination so I suggested her to get her sonography. When she received she found out that she had multiple kidney stones in both her kidneys! She came to my clinic again and this is the conversation that we had. I hope it helps you.
Dr Nidhi: Aren’t you drinking enough water?
Ananya: I drink around 5-6 glasses of water Doc, not more than that as I don’t feel that thirsty.
Along with drinking water, I also eat well and am very conscious about my health.
Dr Nidhi: Listen, when minerals and salts present in food tend to crystallise in the kidney they create hard deposits called kidney stones. Although they get formed in the kidney, they can affect the urinary tract as well.
Ananya: Why is that?
Dr Nidhi: Passing a kidney stone is often considered extremely painful and thus, patients seek holistic health treatments. But don’t worry kidney stones are a common problem these days due to sedentary lifestyle and eating junk and processed food more on regular basis.
Unfortunately, people who have got them once are more prone to get them again. For your kidney stones try these natural remedies for relief besides Homeopathic constitutional medicine which will prevent further formation of stones and help to break it faster.
Have more than 12 glass of water in a day as staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways to treat and prevent kidney stones. You should always pay attention to the colour of your urine – Dark yellow is a sign of dehydration – one of the risk factors for kidney stones.
Ananya: Twelve Glasses! That’s a lot.
Dr Nidhi: (chuckles) it’s needed. Today the AC environment may not get us thirsty enough to drink twelve glasses of water but our body needs it to carry the necessary body functions.
If you don’t like plain water, there are so many things that you can add that will change its flavor and keep you hydrated.
Make a detox water for your kidneys by putting coriander leaves, mint leaves and half lemon juice to one liter water which you can sip whole day . Coriander and mint leaves clean our system from all the heavy metals and lemon works like an antibiotic to protect the mechanism.
Ananya: I like the idea of mint leaves. I shall definitely try it.
Dr Nidhi: It’s not just mint leaves there are so many other things that you can drink that will help you fight the kidney stones. For example
Coconut water is one of the healthiest drinks and is considered to be good for the dissolution of kidney stones. You can have it in daytime around half an hour before or after meals. It is also found effective in relieving the burning sensation during urination.
These are the things that you can get your hands on easily and that will benefit you a lot.
Tulsi ( Basil leaves ) is very effective in balancing the fluid, mineral and uric acid balance in the kidney. Have Tulsi leaves a few times a day as tea, juice or with honey. This will help in expelling kidney stones from the urinary tract.
Ananya: These are amazing remedies doc, I thought you would suggest a list of distasteful juices of exotic plants but coconut water and tulsi leaves, I can have it all day long.
Dr Nidhi: That’s great! If you like the tulsi leaves, you also want to try Wheatgrass Juice that has to be consumed on an empty stomach so that it boosts urine production. This allows your stones to pass easily and reduces their future formation.
Ananya: I shall try it at your bidding Doc.
Dr Nidhi: Wonderful! Now there are some things that you can have to break the stone formation.
Take one tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar half an hour before meals to break the stone formation. It contains citric acid that may help dissolve calcium deposits.
Ananya: I can have apple cider, I kind of like it.
Dr Nidhi: Ok we have discussed fair amount of fluids now let’s see the things that you must eat in order to help your situation.
Kulthi dal or horse gram can be soaked into water for one hour and then you can prepare it as you prepare any other grams or dal. Have it every alternate day to excrete the kidney stones faster.
Ananya: I hope I can add a little flavor to the horse gram; it’s a pain to eat it plain.
Dr Nidhi: Yes of course, just don’t make it too spicy otherwise it will affect your stomach.
Ladyfinger or okra can be soaked overnight in water and eaten first thing in the morning to reduce the formation of stones.
Ananya: I shall give it a try (she said halfheartedly)
Dr Nidhi: I know it doesn’t sound that appealing but it’s rich in magnesium and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that prevent the crystallisation of chemicals in the kidney thus making it an excellent remedy for kidney stones.
(Ananya noded)
Now let’s look at the things that you must avoid eating.
Ananya: Here comes the difficult part.
Dr Nidhi: (laughs) it might be a little difficult on you but it will be super easy on you kidneys
Ananya: Ok Doc, shoot.
Dr Nidhi: Avoid unhealthy foods like sugar, processed foods, sugary drinks, sodas, alcohol, black tea and chocolate. Reduce the intake of milk, meats, eggs and poultry which are likely to increase the amount of acid in urine.
Ananya: That’s almost all of it Doc. There is hardly anything left for me to eat.
Dr Nidhi: There are so many things that you can eat as an alternative such as whole wheat bread, vegetables, pulses and sprouted grains; all these foods are a great source of proteins, nutrients and fibres that reduce the risk of kidney stone formation.
Ananya: Ohh, I am so focused on fancy dishes that I almost forget this whole other section of food.
Dr Nidhi: Along with the above mentioned foods you must also reduce salt intake in your diet to prevent kidney stones formation. If you eat a lot of sodium which is an ingredient in salt it raises the amount of calcium in your urine. So limit canned foods, packaged meats, fast foods on a day to day basis.
Ananya: Ok, I haven’t been a fan of can foods so I can easily avoid that.
Dr Nidhi: Great! You follow these steps regularly and your kidney stones will as good as gone.
So this was our conversation, Ananya went home and followed all the remedies quite religiously. I soon heard that she was rapidly recovering from her kidney stones.
Holistic health treatments protect you from the harmful side effects of loads of medicines and laser treatments which are needed to remove kidney stones. You can always check with a doctor at an integrated healthcare in Pune centre and take the necessary steps to treat and prevent kidney stones. Word of caution – All the above remedies can’t be used by all so consult a doctor before trying it.