What are kidney stones?
The primary function of the kidney is to filter the blood and eliminate the waste products through urine. The waste deposition is sometimes in the form of excessive calcium, uric acid and other undesirable contents. It may cause the urine to get highly saturated. This is when stone like formations take place inside the kidneys. Kidney stones are also termed renal lithiasis or calculi. There are different kinds of kidney stones, which are differentiated based on its varied constituents. Kidney stones cause excruciating pain and uneasiness. Frequent urination, extreme discomfort during urinating and presence of blood in the urine are some of the major signs of kidney stones. The symptoms are not evident if the stones are very small in size.

Causes of kidney stones:

Incorrect calcium intake: High amounts of calcium can lead to high calcium depositions in the kidneys. It is important to keep the calcium intake moderate. Calcium supplements must be checked if you have already included dairy products in your diet.
Abnormal rates of sodium in the body: Sodium, just like calcium, gets deposited in the kidneys.
Excessive animal protein intake: Too much of animal protein intake can make the urine turn acidic, leading to uric acid depositions in the kidneys.
Sugary, aerated drinks: These lead to undesirable waste deposition in the blood stream and eventually in the kidneys.
Inadequate water intake: Not keeping the body well hydrated can cause the urine to turn acidic and increase waste deposition.
Potential risks and complications of kidney stones:

Kidney stones may cause an infection in the kidneys which may eventually spread to the other internal organs and surrounding tissues.
Kidney stones block the ureter and cause severe pain and discomfort that make sitting, standing or any other posture difficult.
Kidney stones rarely cause kidney failures but the severe blockage and infection may cause such detrimental results in the human body.

Kidney Stones - 5 Causes Behind It!

A great alternative to refined sugar, honey is packed with essential nutrients and is really delicious to eat. There are many health benefits of honey. It can be easily added to any diet as a topping, say for fruit salads, ice-creams or as a spread. But are you aware that the jars of this tasty golden liquid can sometimes not be honey at all but syrup that tastes exactly like honey? So, How do you evaluate if you are buying real honey?

In order to boost profits, honey manufacturers dilute their product with adulterants such as flour, syrup or molasses and even sand and chalk. If you want to get the most out of this tick liquid, you should buy only pure honey.

What Is Pure Honey?
Real honey is not produced in factories but from bees. Usually, organic and natural honey are referred to as pure honey. However, it is not always feasible to tell if the honey is pure by just looking at it. Natural honey is made only by honey bees and when these bees are fed only at organically grown flowers, the honey they produced is classified as organic.

What Is Fake Honey?
Also known as artificial, adulterated or impure, fake honey contains additives including corn syrup, glucose, molasses, sugar syrup, dextrose, invert sugar, flour or starch apart from the floral nectar.

How To Find Fake Honey?
Listed below are a few simple tips that you can carry out at the comfort of your home to determine whether the honey you are buying is genuine or fake.



Read The Label: In addition to buying well-known and reputed brands of honey, ensure that you check the label for the logo and brand name. This will guarantee that the jar you pickup is not only good quality but also genuine. The label on the jar should list only one ingredient, honey, no additives, or flavourings.
The Warm Water Test: Add a teaspoon of honey to a glass of warm water. If the honey is pure, then it will sink to the bottom of the glass as a lump or stick to the spoon when the mixture is stirred. If the honey is adulterated with any kind of syrup, it will dissolve in the water.
The Thumb Test: Put a drop of honey on your thumb. If it spreads or spills, then it is not pure. Pure honey is thick in texture and would remain intact on your thumb.
The Flame Test: Honey is inflammable and easily catches fire. Dip a dry matchstick in honey, then strike the matchbox. If the matchstick lights with ease and continues to burn, then the honey is pure. Due to the moisture present as an adulterant in fake honey, a matchstick dipped in fake honey will not light easily.
The Foam Test: Add 2-3 drops of vinegar essence to the honey and mix well. If it becomes foamy within 2-3 minutes, then the product you have purchased is not pure and contains additives.
The Tissue Paper Test: Put a drop of honey on a piece of tissue paper. If it gets absorbed and leaves the paper wet or a watermark on the paper, then it is adulterated and not pure honey.
The Heat Test: If the honey is pure, then on heating, it will caramelize. However, fake honey tends to form bubbles on heating and does not caramelize.
The Bread Test: Pure honey when spread on the bread, makes the bread hardened within a few minutes. On the other hand, the slice of bread remains soft and moisturized if there are any additives present in the honey.
The Crystallization Test: Pure honey has a natural tendency to crystallize over time because of the presence of glucose oxidase, an enzyme that removes water/moisture from honey. Fake honey does not become thick, when stored.
The Egg Yolk Test: When honey is mixed will egg yolk in a bowl and both are blended together, the yolk looks like it is cooked. However, fake honey does not produce this effect on the egg yolk.
You might sometimes be able to spot fake honey by its taste and smell, though not always. Honey being a natural product and produced from the nectar of different flowers, it does not always taste or smell the same. It is also not possible to taste honey before buying it if as the product comes in a sealed bottle or jar. Therefore, it is recommended to only pick branded or organic honey to ensure that the honey you are buying is pure and genuine.

Honey - How To Spot If It Is Fake Or Not?

Kidney stones are caused when certain minerals of your urine are retained and are not fully released, causing them to amalgamate and form a stone. Passing a kidney stone is one of the most painful experiences you may face physically. Its magnanimity is often compared to childbirth, and those who are suffering from kidney stones dread having this experience. If you are not yet affected by kidney stones and do not want to, read further to know what type of diet you need to follow in order to prevent it.

1. Drink lots of water: On an average, a person must be drinking at least 3 liters of water every day. If you live in a more hot and humid climate, your water intake must be even more than that, so that on an average, 2.5 liters of urine is passed throughout the day, which decreases the chance of unnecessary retention of minerals from the urine and release them more easily from the body.

2. Continue eating foods rich in calcium: It is a common misconception that calcium accelerates the formation of kidney stones. Calcium is digested by the intestine, only excess calcium cannot be digested by the intestine and is sent to the kidney. Continue consuming calcium rich foods unless your doctor prescribes you against it. Make sure your diet includes enough dairy products such as milk, cheeses, etc., or other calcium rich foods, such as oats and broccoli.

3. Limit intake of oxalic acid: Oxalic acid is mostly found in foods obtained from plants. It restricts the absorption of calcium in the intestines and as a result, more calcium is passed into the kidneys; thus, forming calcium oxalate, or oxalate stones. Try to avoid foods, such as rhubarb, Swiss chard, nuts, tea, sweet potatoes, etc.;mainly leguminous plant products.

4. Decrease the ingestion of sodium salts, sugar and meat protein: Salts and sugars, mainly found in packaged foods are used to prevent them from expiring. They increase the release of calcium and oxalates into the blood, which thus increases the chance to develop kidney stones. Meat contains fibers which affect certain nutrients in the kidney, thus aggravating the formation of stones.

5. Increase the consumption of insoluble fibers: Insoluble fibers are those rough fibers which are not soluble in water during the process of digestion. They are found in rice, wheat, barley, etc., and are found to decrease calcium absorption in the kidney. They attach themselves to the calcium and oxalates, which enable them to be released as stool instead of urine.

Kidney Stones and Your Diet

There are many food items which would become stale after a few hours, but there are certain foods which may last forever without the need to can them or freeze or dehydrate. If an individual is new to the field of food storage, these staples can be an excellent way to begin.

White rice: There are numerous researchers who have found that polished or white rice keeps up their nutrient content and flavour for almost 30 years if it can be stored in oxygen-free containers in temperatures that range below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Brown rice, on the other hand, doesn t last more than six months owing to the availability of natural oils in the bran layer.
Honey: Honey is preferably the only food that would last forever due to the perfect chemistry and the handiwork of the bees. The nectar extracted from the flower gets mixed with the enzymes present in the bees  bodies which alter the composition of the nectar. The nectar is further broken down into simple sugars and is accumulated in the honeycombs. The processing, as well as sealing of the honey, is primarily responsible for the incredible shelf life.
Salt: Since sodium chloride is a mineral which is taken from the natural components of the earth, its shelf-life should come as a natural consequence. It is used for centuries as a means of preserving other food products as it can extract out all the moisture. But this doesn t indicate that the table salt would last forever. Experts say that the addition of the iodine to the table salt reduces the shelf life of the salt which means that if the label says that it is an iodized salt, it will not last over five years.
Soy sauce: When left unopened, a container filled with soya sauce would last for a significantly long period. But it is also dependent on the type of soy sauce and the additives used. Even if the soy sauce has been opened, this salty condiment will last for many years if stored in the refrigerator.
Sugar: Quite similar to many items, the storage process of the sugar determines whether the sugar is going to last for long or not. Granulated and powdered sugar must be kept under an airtight condition to steer clear of moisture. Although retailers are needed to provide the manufacturing dates of the sugar, manufacturers say that the sugar remains edible even if it has hardened and become brown.
Pure maple syrup: Pure maple syrup, as well as commercial sugars such as granular sugars and honey, has an irresistible life owing to its shield against any kinds of microbial growth. Unopened maple syrup shall last forever, and in case there is the formation of mould, boiling it to a certain degree and skimming the surface and ultimately pouring it to a clean and air-tight container would eliminate all the problems.
Clarified butter: This kind of butter is boiled unless the total moisture is extracted which is the reason that it doesn t go bad. As long as the clarified butter or ghee is stored in sealed container under cool temperature, it would last for about 100 years.

7 Foods That Never Expire!

Are you suffering from kidney stones and looking for an effective, natural treatment? You should choose homeopathy, as it works well in treating kidney stones. A kidney stone is a hard, crystalline, mineral development in your kidneys or urinary tract. The condition is called nephrolithisis. Kidney stones occur due to a reduction in your urine volume, and because of the presence of excess stone-forming substance in your urine. Homeopathic treatment of kidney stones does not involve any side effects, and various homeopathic medicines are used as a part of the treatment. Some of them are as follows:

Belladonna
This medicine is used when a sharp pain is experienced because of kidney stones.
A patient experiences strains and cramps along the ureter during the passage of calculus.
Fever and irritation are also likely.
Benzoic acid
Benzoic acid is prescribed in case of nephritic colic.
Offensive urinary symptoms are experienced. The urine is usually deep red with strong and foul odor.
The urine may alternatively be thick, and clear.
Argentinum nit
This homeopathic medicine is used for treating kidney stones, which develop because of kidney congestion.
Dull backache and ache in the bladder are experienced, along with dark urine, containing deposits of uric acid and blood.
A patient experiences an increased urge for urination, but a very small amount of urine is passed at once.
A burning sensation while passing urine is indicated along with swelling of the urethra.
Cantharis
This homeopathic medicine is used during the paroxysms of renal colic. Extreme pain and excitement are indicated.
The pain may be cutting in nature, and it shoots in various directions, affecting your limbs and different parts of the body.
There is an increased urge to urinate, and an aversion to fluids is developed by a patient in spite of feeling thirsty.
Berberis
This is another effective homeopathic remedy used for treating kidney stones, when the patient experiences a shooting pain radiating from a certain point and he or she becomes unable to move because of the pain.
Also there is a darting pain experienced in the ureter, extending down to your legs.
There is an indication of the development of little pinheads in the pelvis that starts growing down your bladder.
You must consult a licensed homeopathic practitioner before taking homeopathic medicines for the treatment of kidney stones. A doctor will suggest you the best homeopathic medicines based on the symptoms you experience and the severity of the condition.

Kidney Stones - Can Homeopathy Treat Them Effectively?

Water effectively constitutes 70-75% of human bodies and keeps us protected from many harmful things. But many people have a frequent question: is it alright to drink water before you brush your teeth? Will it harm your body? Let us discuss the same in this article.

Many people believe that they should not drink water before brushing their teeth because of the bacterias present in saliva after you wake up. But this is a myth and it does not have any scientific logic. When you drink water after waking up before brushing, your saliva goes with the water down into the stomach which results in the killing of the bacteria due to the high acid content inside it. Therefore there is absolutely no harm if you drink water before brushing teeth.

If you are familiar with Japanese culture then you must know that the Japanese drink two glasses of water every morning immediately after they wake up. Drinking water immediately after you wake up without brushing your teeth does not harm you in any way. Doctors always recommend drinking two full glass or at least one, on an empty stomach. There are several benefits your body receives when you consume water every morning after you wake up.

Drinking water every morning has its own long list of benefits. Let us have a look at them-

Boosts your immunity- Drinking water every morning strengthens your immunity system. Helps you to fight diseases and germs much better.
Clears the bowels- After your drink water in the morning, you will get an urge of flushing out your bowels. This way the bowels remain clear and you do not face any constipation issues.
Speeds up metabolism- Your metabolism gets boosted when you drink water resulting in faster digestion and metabolic rate. It also keeps you hydrated through the day.
Prevents headaches and migraines effectively and it also helps in preventing colon infection because your bowels get cleared easily.
Helps in weight loss- Drinking water every morning helps you to lose weight by a significant margin due to the fact it occupies the stomach killing the desire to eat much in the morning.
Beneficial for skin- Increase in the freshness of your skin complexion which water delivers if you drink it every day in the morning. It flushes out the toxins and dead cells which helps in increase of new and fresh body cells.
Thus as you can see the long list of benefits you will receive if you drink water every day after you wake up.

Is It Alright To Drink Water Without Brushing Your Teeth?

Don't wait any longer, manage your Kidney Stones Diet online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Kidney Stones Diet - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES