This simple remedy could save you thousands of dollars and a trip to the emergency room.
Passing kidney stones is can be extremely painful, which is why they can completely disrupt your life and make it hard to go about normal activities.
What exactly are kidney “stones”?
Kidney stones are small, hard deposits in the kidney formed by the crystallization of mineral and acids salts. Approximately 80% of kidney stones are made of calcium oxalate. As a result, the majority of research on kidneys stones is related to the prevention of calcium oxalate stones. Other stones consist primarily of calcium phosphate, a mix of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate, magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite stones), and uric acid.
Kidney stone formation thrives in an environment where the components of your urine are out of balance. Although the formation of kidney stones is complex, it is frequently related to either a deficiency in the factors necessary for their prevention, such as glycosaminoglycans, magnesium, or citrate, or the result of supersaturation of the urine with calcium and/or oxalate.
Research has shown that hyperoxaluria (too much oxalate in your urine) appears to play a more crucial role in kidney stone formation than hypercalciuria (too much calcium in your urine). When urine becomes too concentrated due to increased amounts of mineral and acid salts, dehydration resulting in decreased fluid available to dilute the urine, or lack of substances to inhibit their formation, the minerals crystallize and stick together, forming stones.
Excessive amounts of oxalate in your urine may be caused by either your body creating too much of it, or by your intestines absorbing a greater amount of it. It is important to note that hyperuricosuria (too much uric acid in urine) is not only a risk factor in the formation of uric acid stones, but is also responsible for the creation of calcium oxalate stones. This link may be due to uric acid functioning as a medium for the crystallization of calcium oxalate stones. Therefore, it is important to address uric acid levels, in addition to levels of calcium and oxalates in the prevention of calcium oxalate stones.
Do You Have These Kidney Stone Symptoms?
Kidney stones symptoms can include:
- Intense pain along the kidneys (on your side and back below your ribs) — pain can come and go, varying in intensity and lasting between five and 15 minutes (especially when going to the bathroom)
- Lower back pain that can spread down below the kidneys, to your groin and between the thighs
- Cloudy, bloody or foul-smelling urine
- Discoloration of urine, including brown or pink colors
- Persistent urge to urinate more than normal, sometimes with not much urine actually coming out
- Indigestion, nausea and vomiting (especially when feeling intense pain)
- Fever and chills when the problem worsens
The most important thing to know, if you suspect you have a kidney stone, is that you should get checked out by your doctor; even the smallest kidney stones can be incredibly painful, and you should be prepared in case there are complications.
Below are some other ways to help you deal with them, as well as use for preventative medicine so they don’t recur.
Beets are one of the foods that is high in oxalates and can be a issue for some people who are prone to kidney stones. So I was naturally skeptical when one of my clients suggested this remedy using beets to dissolve them.
She had gotten the recipe from an Amish book of natural remedies and everyone she had recommended it to had wonderful results with it.
I found the same thing when I recommended it to friends and family. It worked pretty much every time!
That’s when I started recommending it to my clients anytime they had kidney stone problems.
I’m still not sure why it works so well since beets are contraindicated for kidney stones. I guess if you only drink the water the beets are cooked in, there is something else that is contributing to the effect.
I’ve never been one to need scientific studies to prove why something works. If it works clinically, that’s the most important thing to me. Real world results are what matter, right?