Written by Dr Pallavi Patri
A lot of my sufferers ask me if they need to keep away from calcium dietary supplements, fearing having them would result in kidney stones. Some even surrender milk and yogurt with out asking. This has stemmed from the various posts they see on social media on the topic. Reality is calcium alone just isn’t accountable for kidney stone formation.
In actual fact, if you happen to devour an insufficient quantity of calcium (the physique wants 1,000-1,200 mg/day relying on age), then your physique begins dissolving bones to launch calcium to take care of satisfactory quantities in blood. This results in extra excretion in urine and crystallization to type stones.
Kidney stone illness is quite common in India, affecting about 12 per cent of the inhabitants. Some persons are genetically predisposed to creating kidney stones. Nonetheless, there are a number of modifiable threat components that contribute to stone formation together with diets excessive in salt, low in fluid consumption and excessive in oxalates and uric acid.
DIETARY CALCIUM VS CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS
The big proportion of stones (70-80 per cent) are made up of chemical compounds like calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate (15 per cent) and others of uric acid and different parts. Since most stones are calcium-based, it will appear that limiting calcium consumption in our diets would scale back stone formation. Nonetheless, research present that prime dietary calcium is definitely related to decrease threat of stone illness, decrease than even calcium dietary supplements.
This occurs as a result of calcium from meals binds with dietary oxalate in our intestine leading to decreased oxalate absorption which is excreted as faeces. Subsequently, there’s decreased oxalate excretion by means of the urine.
If calcium dietary supplements are taken alone with out meals, then calcium derived from them can not bind with oxalate within the intestines. Then each calcium and oxalate are absorbed and handed into the urine, resulting in formation of crystals and stones. So, take your dietary supplements together with meals. If in case you have a historical past of kidney stones, then calcium citrate salt, citrate being a pure inhibitor of stones.
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WHY DEHYDRATION IS THE BIGGER ENEMY
If you don’t drink sufficient water, your urine turns into extra concentrated, permitting minerals and salts to crystallise and bind collectively to type kidney stones. Drink no less than eight glasses of water on a regular basis except your water consumption is restricted for different medical circumstances. Cut back consumption of salt and caffeine as they improve calcium excretion within the urine. Take lemon with water as citrate in lemon helps in lowering stone formation.
(Dr Patri is Chief of Nephrology, Manipal Hospital, Sarjapur, Bengaluru)
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