Understanding the stones, Natural remedies for kidney stones!

What are kidney stones?

Our kidneys are the main excretory organs. Their basic function is to collect waste from the body and eliminate it through urine. To remove this waste and extra water, blood enters the kidney and is cleaned as it passes through tiny filters called nephrons inside the kidneys. Coagulation of the salts forms small crystals. Generally, these crystals move out of the body with other waste via urine. But if these don't, they keep collecting and finally form small pebbles or 'stones'. These are popularly called Kidney Stones.

Most stones pass out on their own via urine but doctor intervention is required to remove some large kidney stones. How the balance of salts and water level changes in your body determines the type of kidney stone you have. Most frequent kind of kidney stones are calcium-type which form when the calcium levels in your urine change. Also kidney stones can run in families too.

What do they do?

If they stay in the kidney, they do not cause much pain and just lie in one corner. If they grow to a considerable size they can cause blockage of the ureter (The outlet of the kidneys to the bladder) . This makes natural remedy for kidney stones very important.When they travel out of the body through the tubes of the urinary tract, their movement may cause:

⦁ Sudden pain of high intensity that keeps getting worse in waves most commonly beginning in the lower back and often extrapolating to the genitals. This is coupled with fever and chills.

⦁ Nausea and feeling sick with an inclination to vomit with severe pain on either side of your lower back

⦁ Blood in the urine which can be caused by either stones that stay in the kidney or those that travel out. Another indicator is urine that smells bad or looks cloudy

How to get rid of them naturally?

Kidney stones are very common and are not a major source of discomfort unless they reach a particular size. Hence, they can be taken care of by making just a few lifestyle adjustments. These adjustments can help devise natural remedies for kidney stones. These are:

⦁ Drink more fluids: Drink a lot of water. Keep tab of the amount required by the color if your urine. Aim for it to be light yellow or clear like water. About 8-10 glasses of water should do the trick. If you don't drink much now, slowly increase your water intake.

⦁ Decrease intake of sugary drinks: Sugar and high-fructose syrup should be limited to negligible quantities because these are concentrated drinks with less water.

⦁ Decrease Salt intake: High sodium diets can create imbalance in the water-mineral levels and trigger kidney stones because it increases the amount of calcium in your urine.

⦁ Achieve balance of calcium levels: Getting too little calcium in your diet can cause oxalate levels to rise and cause kidney stones. Getting too much calcium can also lead to formation of calcium crystals. So, aim to achieve a balance.

In addition to these, couple all your high protein diets with good amount of fluid intake throughout the day and cure kidney stones naturally.