Dealing with calcium oxalate stones? If so, you've probably spent time trying to find a calcium oxalate diet that can work for you. During your research, you've realized that consuming oxalate is unavoidable. There are oxalates in many types of foods, so you have to take a smarter approach to prevent calcium oxalate stones.
Here is a strategy you can follow to control your condition:
1. Avoid Foods High in Calcium Oxalate
The easiest thing you can do is to avoid certain foods. This includes leafy greens, nuts, oranges, beans, beets, coffee, and beer just to name a few things. This can be quite restrictive, so you should start looking for low oxalate recipes that you're going to want to eat.
You can also make better choices with foods high in calcium oxalate. For instance, tea is considered to have high oxalate content. But what you can do is to brew one packet of tea in a kettle instead of in a single cup so the tea is diluted. You can also have tea with milk. This facilitates the calcium binding with the oxalates so that less of the oxalates ultimately enter into your kidneys. Better yet for liquid consumption, make water your drink of choice throughout the day.
2. Eat a Balanced Diet
The calcium oxalate diet is all about finding balance. Just because you're limiting the amount of oxalate you're consuming may not be enough. You will still need to regulate your salt intake as well as make sure you're not consuming too much protein to minimize the growth of the stones.
And just because you have to stay away from high oxalate foods doesn't mean you can't eat them at all. It's all about moderation. Having a small bit of chocolate once or twice a month isn't going to ruin you. It's all about maintaining a healthy habit and eating balanced meals.
3. Stay Hydrated
Water is key to helping you flush out your system. You need to help your kidneys keep your urine saturation limit higher and remove any small crystal stones beginning to form. Crystals make stones – no crystals no stones!
Kidneys supersaturate urine by extracting water in excess of calcium, oxalate, and phosphate, the main stone components. Because promptly eliminated these components in urine, water in 'excess' of needs prevents kidneys from supersaturating urine as much as they would have otherwise. Try to get at least 6 eight ounce glasses of water spread throughout each day. If you exercise often, you'll need to drink more water to compensate for all the fluids you are losing.
4. Herbal Remedies Can Help
A popular herb called Chanca Piedra, a.k.a Stone Breaker, is known to help with the breakdown of calcium oxalate stone. Another newer supplement on the market is Kidney C.O.P. Calcium Oxalate Protector and they advertise that they performed studies against a 5:1 Chanca Piedra extract and Kidney C.O.P. was found to be five times more powerful at inhibiting the rate of calcium oxalate crystal growth. If your condition doesn't seem to get better naturally, these supplements may help make the difference. When buying supplements, make sure you read through the ingredients and customer reviews to see if the product actually works and they are safe to consume both in the short term and long term.
5. Work with Your Doctor
A healthy and active lifestyle can help prevent calcium oxalate stone growth . This is a health condition that's strongly correlated with obesity. It will be beneficial to work with your doctor to deal with this health challenge. Your doctor may even be able to prescribe you certain medications that can help.
The bottom line is that you can't completely avoid consuming oxalates in your diet. But there are many things that you can do to prevent stone growth and improve your condition.
