Try to prevent illnesses first, as much as possible. If you live a healthy lifestyle, eat and exercise well, you will have less likelihood of becoming ill. If you are ill, you can take home remedies or visit a physician depending on the symptoms and the severity. There are home remedies available for many diseases, including kidney stones. If you are suffering from kidney stones or you have had them in the past, one of the most important things to do is to make sure you drink plenty of water. It is important to increase your intake of fluids. It is a good idea to drink 8 oz of water a day, or even more if you can. You can drink it alone or with a herbal infusion or cordial. Drinks containing caffeine such as tea, coffee and cola and alcohol aren't counted in this 8oz but you can also drink fruit juices and other drinks.
Measuring your urine output is a good way of knowing whether or not you are drinking enough fluids. You can get a measuring device, which fits in the toilet bowl, from a pharmaceutical store. Your body should produce 40 or 45 oz of urine per day. If not, you will need to drink more liquids. Most people don't drink enough water but if you are dehydrated, even mildly, you will also have symptoms such as listlessness, sleepiness and a lack of energy. If you can go for hours in the daytime without needing to urinate, you are probably in need of more water.
Another kidney stone home remedy is to make sure your diet is on track. It is important to make sure you are eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables. This ensures you are getting sufficient carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals in your diet. It is easy to add fruit and vegetables to your meals. If you aren't keen on them, you can add fruit to smoothies (either based on milk or water), you can puree vegetables or add them to your meals, finely chopped.
As healthy as fruit and vegetables are, you must ensure they don't contain too much vitamin C if you have kidney stones. Citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, grapefruits and oranges contain lots of vitamin C, as do strawberries and kiwi fruits. If you suffer from kidney stones, home remedies don't ban you from eating these fruits but just warn against eating too many. The recommended guideline for vitamin C in kidney stone patients is a daily intake of 90mg for men and 75mg for women.
Eating plenty of fish and less meat is another good home remedy for kidney stones. Animal meat proteins speed up uric acid and calcium production in the urine. This causes kidney stones. Uric acid forms when purines in high-protein food break down, which means if you suffer from uric acid stones, you will want to cut back on your protein intake.
Another home remedy for the treatment of kidney stones is to make sure you take regular exercise. Exercise encourages the calcium to pass from the bloodstream into the bones. There are plenty of different exercises to choose from. You can use the gym, you can walk the dog, you can take part in a sport or you can take another form of exercise. Doing this means you will have stronger bones and less risk of kidney stone formation.
