News: DASH diet reduces kidney stones.
By admin
Published: August 8, 2009
kidney stones
photo credit: manda_wong
The DASH diet which is an eating plan that follows heart healthy guidelines to limit saturated fat and cholesterol, was found to reduce the incidence of kidney stones in an article published in the august issue of the Journal of the american society of nephrology.
The study was carried out because diet is thought to play a major, yet not entirely clear role in the development of kidney stones. The dash diet was chosen because it represents a novel potential means of preventing stone formation. The increased consumption of fruits and vegetables increases urinary citrate, which inhibits calcium stone formation with a normal to high calcium intake which decreases oxalate absorption from the intestines. However due to increased levels of vitamin C (which is also associated with kidney stone formation) the researchers were unclear if the diet would have an overall beneficial effect.
The study combined three large prexisting groups of patients over 50 years of follow up. The conclusions arrived at are therefore likely to be statistically sound.
The overall conclusion of the study was that a diet high in fruits and vegetables moderate in low-fat dairy products and low in animal protein (which has been essentially replaced by plant protein including legumes and nuts) decreased the risk of kidney stone formation.
Importantly this statement was independent of age, body size, hypertension, diabetes, total caloric intake, fluid intake, caffeine and alcohol intake.
Therefore one of the most important things you can do to prevent kidneys stones is to have a healthy diet along the guidelines that have previously been put forward, see the DASH diet PDF download at the start of the article.
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About Roger: Dr. Roger Smith is a nephrologist currently employed to the government of Jamaica. He is the Nephrologist in charge of Spanish Town Dialysis Unit. His interests are lupus nephritis and other glomerulopathies. He was previously a lecturer in Nephrology at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Internal Medicine and Coordinator of the Urogenital Module before moving into private and government practice. |
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