Dietary measures for prevention of kidney stones.
The standard directions doctors give regarding the prevention  of kidney stones aim to minimize the concentrations in the urine of the substances that the stones are consisted of. In other words, less calcium, oxalic acid, uric acid and cystine in the urine are the key points for a person to avoid new incidents of nephrolithiasis.
 If you have been a sufferer in the past, the first thing you have to do is to drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Try to drink 2.5 liters on a daily basis, regardless if you feel thirsty or not. This volume represents seven to ten glasses of water. Drinking such large quantities of fluids is not easy, but if you have already experienced an acute renal colic, you know better than anyone that it is worthy for you to try. With high fluid intake the production of urine increases significantly and washes the harmful wastes away.
A reliable way for you to know, if you take adequate amounts of fluids is to check the color of your urine. Try to produce faintly yellow and not dark yellow urine. The more water you drink the clearer your urine will be.
Please note that in the recommended fluids, apart from water, beverages are included but not alcohol. The latest must be drunk in moderation, because, although it is not responsible for kidney stones development, it helps to that direction in a secondary way, since it tends to lead to body's dehydration and high concentrations of wastes in urine.
Reduce dietary salt intake, because the contained sodium tends to increase the excretion of calcium through the kidneys (hypercalciuria) and reduce the amount of produced urine by retaining water in the body tissues. These actions result in high calcium concentrations and increase the risk for kidney stones.
Do not follow low-calcium diet. It sounds contradictory but studies have shown that such diets increase the risk for kidney stones development. During digestion in the gastrointestinal track, calcium binds to oxalic acid found in foods, forming calcium oxalate. The latest does not pass in the blood stream but it is excreted with the stools instead. If the calcium is not adequate in foods, the free oxalic acid enters the blood circulation and when it reaches the kidneys, it reacts with the calcium contained in urine and produces stones. You may ask how calcium can be found in urine, if the mineral is not taken with foods. Well, it has been proved that low-calcium diets result in bone density
decline
and the released calcium is discharged in the kidneys through the blood stream. In conclusion, low-calcium diets not only don’t they protect from kidney stones but they can result in reduced bone density (osteoporosis), since they tent to alter the equilibrium of the mineral. Apparently, a proper kidney stones prevention plan should involve the minimization of oxalic acid and not the calcium intake instead.
Eat foods and take supplements containing vitamin B6, in order to prevent the development of kidney stones. Studies have confirmed that pyridoxine neutralizes oxalic acid and prevents it to bind with calcium.
Certain foods and beverages must be eaten or drunk in moderation by a person with calcium oxalate kidney stones. The foods that are rich in oxalic acid or oxalate and can largely increase the risk for new incidents of nephrolithiasis include spinach, rhubarb, okras, beans, beets, dried figs, star fruit, cranberries, strawberries, sesame seeds, nuts, chocolate, tea, soy products, wheat bran, collards, sweet potatoes, black pepper, parsley, tomato juice, grapefruit juice, apple juice, coffee, cocoa, draft beer, peanuts and almonds.
Of course the list is quite extensive and in fact does not include all the foods containing significant amounts of oxalate. Of course, a person cannot abstain from all these foods. As it has been already mentioned the above ones should be eaten or drunk in moderation, especially the first fourteen of them which must be included in the diet quite rarely.
Avoid the excessive intake of complete protein. Studies have shown that a high-animal protein diet may increase the risk for calcium oxalate and cystine kidney stones to develop.
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