Urinary Tract Calculi IV: Nutrition Therapy and Prevention

Medical therapy for renal calculi focuses on nutrition and fluid intake based on the type of stone.

For calcium stones, limiting calcium-rich foods, such as dairy products, and using prescribed thiazide diuretics and ammonium chloride can decrease urinary calcium and lower elevated parathyroid hormone levels.

For uric acid stones, a low-purine diet, often supplemented with allopurinol, is recommended to lower uric acid.

Management of cystine stones involves a low-protein diet and alkalinizing the urine with potassium alkali salts.

For oxalate stones, it is crucial to maintain diluted urine by increasing fluid intake and reducing oxalate-rich foods like spinach and chocolate.

Post-treatment advice includes consuming 3 liters of water daily to produce 2.5 liters of urine while avoiding colas, coffee, and tea to reduce the risk of recurrence.

A low-sodium diet of 2 grams per day helps lower urinary calcium. Drinking two glasses of water before bed prevents overnight urine concentration.

Contact a healthcare provider if there are signs of a UTI.