HOW TO PREVENT KIDNEY STONES

Many people mistakenly believe
that there's nothing you can do
to prevent kidney stones. In
reality, many risk factors are
under your control, and many are
remarkably simple.
1. Drink Plenty of Water
The number one risk factor
for kidney stones is not
drinking enough water. If
you aren't drinking
enough, your urine will
simply have higher
concentrations of
substances that can form
stones. I
recommend drinking
enough water to produce
at least 2 quarts of urine
in every 24-hour period,
but a simpler way to know
if you are drinking enough
water is to check the color
of your urine; you want
your urine to be a very
light yellow.
Every person's water
requirement is different,
depending on your
particular system and
activity level, but simply
keeping your urine light
yellow will go a long way
toward preventing kidney
stones. Remember to
increase your water intake
whenever you increase
your activity, and when
you're in a warmer
climate.
If you happen to be taking
any multivitamins or B
supplements that contain
vitamin B2 (riboflavin),
the color of your urine will
be a very bright nearly
fluorescent yellow and this
will not allow you to use
the color of your urine as a
guide to how well you are
hydrated.
2. Make Sure You Get
Adequate Magnesium
Magnesium is responsible
for more than 300
biochemical reactions in
your body, and deficiency
of this mineral has been
linked to kidney stones. It
also plays an important
role in your body's
absorption and
assimilation of calcium, as
if you consume too much
calcium without adequate
magnesium, the excess
calcium can actually
become toxic and
contribute to health
conditions like kidney
stones.
Magnesium helps prevent
calcium from combining
with oxalate, which is the
most common type of
kidney stone.
Green leafy vegetables like
spinach and Swiss chard
are excellent sources of
magnesium, and one of the
simplest ways to make
sure you're consuming
enough of these is by
juicing your vegetables.
Vegetable juice is an
excellent source of
magnesium, as are some
beans, nuts and seeds, like
almonds, pumpkin seeds and
sesame seeds. Avocadoes
are also a good source.