Tips for kidney health

6 Avoidances for Kidney Stones, from Food to Habits

Written by Ilham Fariq Maulana.Date updated : 12/02/2024

If you have kidney stones, you may need to follow a special diet or eating pattern. The reason is, kidney stones can recur if there are no preventive measures. You need to know a number of restrictions on kidney stones that can trigger a recurrence of symptoms. 

The following is a complete explanation of foods and habits that are taboo for kidney stones.

Food and habits to avoid kidney stones

Kidney stones are hard deposits composed of chemical compounds in the kidneys and can affect the urinary tract. 

Stones can come from calcium which binds to the chemicals oxalate or phosphorus in the urine in the kidneys which accumulate and harden.Uric acid buildup can also lead to the formation of kidney stones. 

Because the urinary tract is not designed to excrete solid substances, one of the symptoms of kidney stones is pain when urinating and renal colic (pain along the side of the body). 

You need to follow a dietary regimen to prevent recurrence of kidney stones if you have been diagnosed with this disease before. 

Some restrictions on kidney stones include the following. 

1. High salt intake

Excessive consumption of foods high in sodium (salt) can cause kidney stones because it increases the leakage of calcium into your urine. 

Sodium and calcium in the blood will go through a filtering process in the kidneys. If the sodium content in the blood is high enough, this can cause calcium to leak into the urine during the blood filtering process. 

Therefore, consuming foods high in salt is taboo for kidney stones. Harvard Health Publishing suggests limiting total daily sodium intake to 2.3 grams. 

If salt has been the cause of kidney stones in the past, try reducing your daily salt intake to 1.5 grams. 

Besides preventing kidney stone complications, reducing salt intake is good for your blood pressure and heart.

2. Foods high in oxalate 

Oxalate is an organic compound that is often found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, chocolate and tea. 

In the kidneys, calcium can bind with oxalate to form calcium oxalate crystals. 

When salt levels increase in the kidneys, the amount of these two compounds will increase, causing a buildup of calcium oxalate crystals. 

If there is not enough fluid to carry these crystals away through urine, calcium oxalate deposits, which are a type of kidney stone, will form. 

Therefore, you need to limit your intake of oxalate sources, but still have to meet your calcium needs. Why is that? 

Calcium and oxalate actually easily bind to each other. So, calcium can also bind oxalate in the stomach before it enters the kidneys. 

This means that when the amount of calcium in the body is sufficient and oxalate is reduced, no or only a small amount of excess oxalate is excreted into the kidneys. 

This reduces the possibility of calcium oxalate stones forming in the kidneys. 

Some examples of foods that are prohibited for kidney stones that have high levels of oxalate include peanuts, spinach, beets, Swiss chard, chocolate and sweet potatoes. 

Meanwhile, the recommended calcium intake to prevent kidney stones is 1000 – 1200 mg per day. 

You can get calcium intake from milk, yoghurt and cheese, along with foods rich in oxalate. 

3. Animal protein

Eating too much animal protein, such as red meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood, will increase uric acid levels and can cause kidney stone.

A diet high in protein also reduces levels of urine acidity, a chemical in urine that helps prevent stone formation. 

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recommends abstinence from animal protein for kidney stones as follows. 

• Beef and poultry. 
• Egg 
• Fish and shellfish.

Even though you have to limit the amount of animal protein in your daily intake, you still need to make sure you get enough protein. 

Consider replacing meat and animal protein with beans, peas, and lentils, which are plant foods high in protein and low in oxalate. 

Consult with your doctor about the amount of animal or vegetable protein intake.

4. Fizzy drinks and high in sugar 

Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology: CJASN (2013) notes that carbonated drinks contain high levels of phosphate, another chemical that can encourage the formation of kidney stones. 

Too much phosphate will draw calcium from the bones so that more calcium needs to be filtered in the kidneys. 

When the amount of fluid in the kidneys decreases, calcium will more easily bind with other compounds such as oxalate or phosphorus and form kidney stones. 

BMC nephrology (2018) also notes that added or artificial sugars such as fructose are included as taboos for kidney stones. 

Fructose can increase the excretion (removal and removal) of calcium, oxalate and uric acid through urine, thereby increasing the recurrence of kidney stones. 

5. Certain medications

Kidney stones can also be caused by a number of drugs used to treat certain diseases, such as bacterial infections. 

A review published in the journal Drugs (2018) explains that these drugs can cause metabolic abnormalities that lead to the formation of kidney stones. 

Drugs that cause kidney stones are magnesium trisilicate, ciprofloxacin, and diuretic drugs such as triamterene, indinavir, or ephedrine. 

If you are prescribed this type of medication by a doctor and have a history of kidney stones, you should consult again to prevent recurrence of kidney stones.

6. Drinking less water 

Lack of body fluids will result in the formation of kidney stones. Fluids, especially water, help dilute the chemicals that form kidney stones. 

Lack of fluids (dehydration) will actually produce concentrated urine and result in the volume of urine excreted being less than 2.5 liters per day. 

Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology: CJASN (2013) explains that several types of fluids such as water, coffee and lemonade have the beneficial effect of preventing kidney stones. 

If you have had a history of kidney stones, review your diet or eating patterns and habits. Avoid several kidney stone restrictions that can cause kidney stone recurrence. 

Apart from that, consult a doctor so that you get the right diet recommendations according to your condition and disease history.