By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
3 habits that can give you kidney stones and 3 ways to prevent it
a11891767bb52b49b9b0a4a4dda0bcbc666cd2c9fb7b48f8f69e9b70d046c32b
Do yourself a favor and make these three changes for your health. - photo by Emily Cummings
Dr. Scott Miller isnt the only person who pointed out that passing a kidney stone has been compared to the pain of childbirth. Its a sharp, piercing pain that happens when the kidneys have a little bit of a problem balancing the water, salts and minerals (and other things) in the urine, according to WebMD. All these minerals and other materials stick together and form little pebbles that sometimes just hang out, but sometimes need to come out which isnt a pleasant experience.

Luckily, altering your life habits can drastically reduce your chance of getting these painful stones (which can range to be the size of grains of sand to the size of a golfball. Large stones are usually removed surgically, instead of passing through your body luckily). But to avoid both options, stop doing these things:

Eating lots of meat

If youre prone to kidney stones, you might want to share your steak dinner with a friend. In a European study, Philppe Jaeger MD found that excessive meat intake is one factor to increasing kidney stone production. Experts suggest going from a high protein diet to a medium or even low-protein diet eating about 4 oz. of meat, poultry or fish a day, at most. For reference, 4 oz. of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards.

Not drinking enough water

Low urine volume is one of the biggest factors in kidney stone production, as outlined by the Urology Care Foundation. Not enough liquid means those salts and minerals are more likely to stick together and form a stone not good. Luckily, just drinking more fluids, preferably water, is the easy solution. The foundation suggests three liters (or 100 ounces) each day to produce enough urine that kidney stones hopefully wont form.

Reducing your sodium intake is also crucial avoid foods high in sodium (like soy sauce) and choose to season your foods with things other than salt like a squeeze of citrus. Lemon and limes are also high in citrate, which can mean less kidney stones in your life.

Eating too many foods like this

One of the most common types of stones are called calcium oxalate stones, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Oxalate is one of those minerals that tend to stick together and form those pesky, painful stones, especially when you dont have enough liquid in your kidneys. Cutting down on certain foods that are high in oxalates (like nuts, beets, chocolate, red kidney beans, oat bran and a few others) can help this from happening.

But dont cut out oxalate completely from your diet (it's important). Just add calcium. Eating foods high in calcium with your oxalate foods can also prevent kidney stones from forming, as outlined by the National Kidney Foundation. Calcium and oxalate bind to each other in the stomach before they hit the kidneys, which means the oxalate cant bind to itself to form a stone. Foods high in calcium include dairy products, cucumbers, melons, bananas, cauliflower, cabbage and others.

You can also talk to your doctor about options if you're prone to kidney stones diagnostic tests like blood testing, urine testing and even imaging can let you know if you have a kidney stone before it passes. Your doctor can also help plan a more personalized prevention plan to help make sure you can lower your chances of getting and passing a kidney stone.
Sign up for our e-newsletters
From the book 'Outliers' comes proof that good health is more than just genetics
8ccd7d661f85d37c8298791c9a56bec6e0f8449d4aea5c09c6ffcf527854f186
Friends Jim Young, left, Mike Natale, Jeff Natale and Ryan Kiernan were on Greenwich High School football team together and Jim and Mike were captains. Jim, who was the youngest in Sherry Young's family, was welcome in the homes of the other three boys who still had siblings around and grandparents near. - photo by Sherry Young
As I look back on my life and the lives of others, both personally and in the reading I have done, I am convinced of the necessity of positive human contact in our lives. We are doubly blessed when we are able to make good friends or are a part of a family where we are accepted and loved.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers tells of a time in the 1950s when Dr. Stewart Wolf met a physician who practiced in the area of Roseto, Pennsylvania. Roseto was settled by a group of Italian families from Roseto, Italy, who re-created their life again in America.

This was in the 1950s before drugs and measures to prevent heart disease became important. In their conversation the physician said, You know, Ive been practicing for 17 years. I get patients from all over, and I rarely find anyone from Roseto under the age of 65 with heart disease.

Wolf was surprised by these words as, It was impossible to be a doctor, common sense said, and not see heart disease.

Wolf enlisted the aid of a sociologist and friend John Bruhn to help him. They found, There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didnt have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didnt have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. Thats it.

They checked into diet, genetics and possibilities of something in the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania but nothing made sense.

What they found was that Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in Italian on the street, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. (Researchers) learned about the extended family clans that underlay the towns social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted 22 separate civic organizations in a town of just under 2,000 people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the community, which discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures.

What they found eventually convinced the medical establishment to look beyond the individual and understand the culture people are part of their friends, families and town they came from. They determined that the people we surround ourselves with and the values of the world we inhabit have a profound effect on who we are.

Likely, this study could have been done with other ethnicities. However, my family's experiences with the Italian families in Connecticut ring true to the study. Our hungry and growing sons, especially our youngest son, Jim, who was left home alone with two beady-eyed parents, all had some memorable experiences being fed and loved in the Cos Cob multigenerational families. Proof of the African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child.

We live in an age when the contact we have with people often is on the internet, and many of us live among strangers. Unless we make the effort to reach out, we will become isolated, especially as we age. The Rosetan study is proof that reaching out and communicating may be good for our health.
Latest Obituaries