Can lemons help remove kidney stones? You did really hear correctly. Now let us examine the potential benefits of lemon in the management and avoidance of kidney stones.
Find out how to prevent kidney problems naturally and learn about different ways to utilize lemon juice to treat kidney stones that are either chronic or recurrent.
The Causes of Kidney Stones
When certain elements in the urine, such calcium and oxalate, concentrate greatly, kidney stones might result. This may result in the development of hard deposits in your kidneys, which can be very difficult to remove.
Gallstones vs. Kidney Stones
Knowing the difference between kidney stones and gallstones is essential to knowing how to avoid these excruciating diseases. Although your body can produce both kinds of hard deposits, they develop differently and call for different preventative measures.
Kidney Stones
Obesity is one of the factors that can raise your risk of kidney stones, especially if you don't drink enough water.
Reducing urine volume due to dehydration is the main cause of kidney stones, hence meals that dehydrate the body should be avoided.
The two most frequent forms of kidney deposits, calcium oxalate stones and uric acid stones, can easily form due to the poor urine flow.
Because lemon juice has a high citric acid concentration, studies have shown that it can prevent kidney stones from forming.
Home Remedies for Kidney Stones
Apart from lemons, some additional natural cures can also be useful in preventing recurrent kidney stones:
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Apple Cider Vinegar: According to a study, people who ate vinegar in their food had a lower risk of getting calcium oxalate urinary tract crystals again. One useful cure is to mix apple cider vinegar with water and drink it.
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Citrus Fruits: Limes, like lemons, have citric acid, which aids in preventing the formation of crystals that contribute to stones.
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Dandelion Root Juice and Wheatgrass Juice: Both juices help increase urine production, which keeps minerals from building up and forming rocks.
Always seek medical advice before utilizing home remedies, especially if you take medicine on a daily basis. Certain natural products may have unfavorable interactions with certain prescriptions.
What are Calcium Oxalate Stones?
Calcium oxalate kidney stones are the most common kind. These arise from the combination of calcium and oxalates, which are substances found in some diets, in your urinary tract.
If kidney stones are not properly managed, this combination can cause recurrent or chronic kidney stones by irritating different tissues and forming sharp crystals.
Dehydration
Dehydration reduces the volume of urine produced, which is the main reason kidney stones form.
The likelihood that the minerals and salts in our urine will crystallize and form larger kidney stones increases when there is less fluid available to dilute their concentration.
Dietary Oxalates
Kidney stone production is mostly influenced by dietary practices; those who consume high amounts of nutritional oxalates are more likely to develop kidney stones.
Nuts, wheat bran, spinach, rhubarb, and other foods high in this component necessitate moderation in diet. On the other side, the citric acid found in citrus fruits, such as lemons, can aid in the prevention of stone formation.
Lemon Juice as a Remedy for Kidney Stones
Lemon juice is not just a cool summer beverage, but it also works wonders for kidney stones. Citrates, which are abundant in lemon juice, have the ability to combine with calcium in urine to dissolve kidney stones and prevent new ones from forming.
By doing this, crystals are kept from growing into stones. Citrates also prevent kidney stones from forming by increasing urine volume and lowering urine acidity.
The chance of developing new stones can be considerably decreased by even modest increases in dietary citrate.
Alkalizing Effects
But there's still more. Lemons also contribute to an alkaline pH in the body. Despite being acidic on the exterior, they turn alkaline-forming after they are digested.
According to studies, keeping your body's environment alkaline helps avoid kidney stones among other health problems.
Because an excessively acidic internal environment promotes the building of oxalate crystals, regulating your body's pH levels with foods like lemons can slow down this process and lessen the chance of experiencing these uncomfortable formations.
Low Fructose
Lemons are poor in calcium and sugar. Consuming large amounts of fructose has been associated with a higher chance of kidney stones forming, especially those that are mostly made of calcium oxalate or uric acid.
Lemons only have little amounts of fructose, in contrast to many other fruits that have large amounts, thus when eaten frequently as part of a balanced diet, they are less likely to cause the development of stones.
How Lemon Juice Can Help With Kidney Stones
Thankfully, there are natural treatments that can help dissolve kidney stones that already exist and prevent new ones from forming.
Lemon juice is one such cure.
It is advised to drink one cup of lemon water in the morning on an empty stomach to optimize the benefits of lemon juice against kidney stones.
This gives your body a healthy dosage of citric acid, which helps dissolve various kidney stones, such as calcium phosphate and uric acid stones, and jump-starts your metabolism.
Although it is best to buy fresh lemons and squeeze their juice, if convenience is a top concern, you might also think about buying goods that include lemon juice.
Benefits Of Lemon Water
Apart from beginning your day with a glass of lemon water, continuing to sip it during the day could provide other advantages.
This not only keeps you hydrated and prevents dehydration, which frequently causes larger kidney stones to form, but it also gives you the extra citric acid you need to break down smaller kidney deposits into smaller pieces that are easier to pass via the urinary tract.
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Citrus Fruits: Because of their high citric acid content, citrus fruits like limes and lemons can help avoid kidney stones. Citrus fruits, such as lemons, bind with calcium in urine to prevent crystal growth and lower the risk of stone formation (National Kidney Foundation).
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Dandelion Root Juice: Dandelion root, well-known for its diuretic qualities, promotes urine production and aids in the more efficient removal of toxins from the kidneys.
According to a study published in PubMed Central (PMC), consuming wheatgrass juice in addition to dandelion root greatly reduced the formation of crystals.
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Vinegar: Due to its acidic nature, there is anecdotal evidence that eating apple cider vinegar may facilitate breakdown.
A study published in the Journal of Bioscience Biotechnology Biochemistry revealed that rats fed dietary vinegar were less likely than those fed no vinegar to develop calcium oxalate stones.
Note: Before beginning any new exercise regimen or treatment, always check with your doctor. This is especially important if you take medicine on a regular basis, as certain foods may interact negatively and cause side effects.
In summary
Because lemon juice contains citrates, eliminating kidney stones may be as simple as eating lemons every day. To get the most out of lemon juice's low sugar content and alkalizing properties, dilute it with water and sip it throughout the day.
See your doctor before beginning any new treatment plans or eating regimens. Still, you can take action to avoid and get rid of kidney stones by using the power of lemons.
