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Kidney Stones |
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Kidney Stones |
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KIDNEY STONES (Renal Calculi) AND THEIR RELATION TO DIET There are five types of
kidney stones: 1. Calcium phosphate
stones are common and easily dissolve in urine acidified by vitamin
C. 2. Calcium oxalate
stones are also common but they do not dissolve in acid urine. 3. Magnesium
ammonium phosphate (struvite stones) are much less common, often appearing after an
infection. They dissolve in vitamin C acidified urine. 4. Uric acid stones
result from a problem metabolizing purines (the
chemical base of adenine, xanthine, theobromine [in chocolate] and uric acid). They may form
in a condition such as gout. 5. Cystine stones result from a hereditary inability to
reabsorb cystine. Most children's stones are
this type, and these are rare. The Role of Vitamin
C in Preventing and Dissolving Kidney Stones: Acidic urine will also dissolve
magnesium ammonium phosphate stones, which would otherwise require surgical
removal. These are the same struvite stones
associated with urinary tract infections. Both the infection and the
stone are easily cured with vitamin C in large doses. BOTH are virtually
100% preventable with daily consumption of much-greater-than-RDA amounts of
ascorbic acid. Think grams, not milligrams! A gorilla gets about
4,000 mg of vitamin C a day in its natural diet. The US RDA for humans
is only 60 mg. Someone is wrong, and I don't think it's the
gorillas. The common calcium
oxalate stone can form in an acidic urine whether
one takes vitamin C or not. However, if a person gets adequate quantities of
B-complex vitamins and magnesium, this type of stone does not form. Any
common B-complex supplement twice daily, plus about 400 milligrams of
magnesium, is usually adequate. Ascorbate (the active ion
in vitamin C) does increase the body's production of oxalate. Yet, in
practice, vitamin C does not increase oxalate stone formation.
Drs. Emanuel Cheraskin, Marshall Ringsdorf, Jr. and
Emily Sisley explain in The Vitamin C Connection
(1983) that acidic urine or slightly acidic urine reduces the Furthermore, you
can avoid excessive oxalates by not eating (much) rhubarb, spinach, or
chocolate. If a doctor thinks that a person is especially prone to forming oxalate stones, that person should
read the suggestions below before abandoning the benefits of vitamin C.
Robert F. Cathcart II, M.D. writes
on “Why Don’t Massive Doses of Ascorbate Produce Kidney Stones?”
“Years ago when Linus
Pauling wrote his book "Vitamin C and the Common Cold", the critics
immediately labeled the taking of large doses of vitamin C dangerous because
it would produce calcium oxalate kidney stones. This practice of telling
people that vitamin C caused kidney stones continues today by the critics of
vitamin C despite the lack of clinical evidence of kidney stones in people
taking vitamin C. “It was hypothesized that
since a significant percentage of ascorbate was metabolized into and excreted
as oxalic acid that this oxalic acid should combine with calcium in the urine
and deposit as calcium oxalate kidney stones. It is true that those of us who
take large doses of ascorbate have elevated oxalic acid in our urine but no
kidney stones. With the millions of people in the world taking vitamin C, if
vitamin C caused kidney stones there would have been a massive epidemic of
kidney stones noticed by this time. There has been none. “I started using vitamin C in massive doses in-patients in 1969. By the time I read that
ascorbate should cause kidney stones, I had clinical evidence that it did not
cause kidney stones, so I continued prescribing massive doses to patients.
To this day (2006) I estimate that I
have put 25,000 patients on massive doses of vitamin C and none have
developed kidney stones. Two patients who had dropped their doses to 500
mg a day developed calcium oxalate kidney stones. I raised their doses back
up to the more massive doses and added magnesium and B6 to their program and
no more kidney stones. I think that the low doses had no effect and they, by
coincidence, developed the kidney stones because they were not taking enough vitamin C.” (If you
want to read more by Dr. Cathcart, a quick website search for “Cathcart”
from the www.doctoryourself.com main
page will bring up a lot for you to look at.) Ways for ANYONE to reduce the risk of kidney stones: 1. Maximize fluid
intake. Especially drink fruit and vegetable juices. 2.
Control urine pH: acidic urine helps prevent urinary tract infections, dissolves
both phosphate and struvite stones, and will
not cause oxalate stones. 3. Eat
your veggies: studies have shown that dietary oxalate is generally not a
significant factor in stone formation. I would go easy on rhubarb and
spinach, however. 4.
Most kidney stones are compounds of calcium and most Americans are calcium
deficient. Instead of lowering calcium intake, reduce excess dietary
phosphorous by avoiding carbonated soft drinks, especially colas. Soft
drinks contain excessive quantities of phosphorous as phosphoric acid.
This is the same acid that has been used by dentists to etch tooth enamel
before applying sealant. Remember that
Americans get only about 500 mg of dietary calcium daily, and the RDA is 800
to 1200 mg/day. Any nutritionist, doctor or text suggesting calcium
reduction is likely in error. 5.
Take a magnesium supplement of AT LEAST the US RDA of 300-350 mg/day (more
may be desirable in order to maintain an ideal 1:2 balance of magnesium to
calcium) 6. Be
certain to take a good B-complex vitamin supplement daily, which contains
pyridoxine (vitamin B-6). B-6 deficiency produces kidney stones in
experimental animals. In high doses, it is also used medically to treat
kidney stones. Remember: * B-6 deficiency
is very common in humans * B-1 (thiamine)
deficiency also is associated with stones (Hagler
and Herman, "Oxalate Metabolism, II" American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 26:8, 882-889, August, 1973) 7.
Additionally, low calcium may itself CAUSE calcium stones (L. H. Smith, et
al, "Medical Evaluation of Urolithiasis"
Urological Clinics of North America 1:2, 241-260, June
1974) 8. For
uric acid/purine stones (gout), STOP EATING MEAT!
Nutrition tables and textbooks indicate meats as the major dietary purine source. Naturopathic treatment adds
juice fasts and eating sour cherries. Increased vitamin C consumption
helps by improving the urinary excretion of uric acid. (Cheraskin, et al,
1983). Use buffered ascorbate "C". 9.
Persons with cystine stones (only 1% of all kidney
stones) should follow a low methionine diet and use
buffered C. 10.
Kidney stones are associated with high sugar intake, so eat less (or no)
added sugar (J. A. Thom, et al "The Influence of Refined Carbohydrate on
Urinary Calcium Excretion," British Journal of Urology, 50:7,
459-464, December, 1978) 11.
Infections can cause conditions that favor stone formation, such as overly
concentrated urine (from fever sweating, vomiting or diarrhea).
Practice good preventive health care, and it will pay you back with
interest. REFERENCES: Pauling, Linus. "Are
Kidney Stones Associated with Vitamin C Intake?" Today's Living,
September, 1981 Pauling, Linus. " Pauling, Linus. How to
Live Longer and Feel Better, Freeman, 1986 Copyright C 2008, 2005
and prior years Andrew W. Saul. Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE
YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at
http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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