How to Use Cranberry to Prevent Kidney Stones

Kidney stones can be so painful they can cause sufferers to pass out. They usually require medical treatment, but you can save yourself the bother by taking preventative measures with natural substances like cranberry.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Fresh cranberries
• Cranberry tea
• Cranberry juice
• Grape juice
• Frozen mixed fruit
• Banana
• Plain yogurt
• Cranberry-orange relish
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground ginger
• Fruit slices

1. Use cranberry juice to reduce the amount of calcium in the urine. Since the major cause of kidney stones is excess calcium with either phosphate or oxalate, reducing calcium lowers the potential for stone formation.
2. Drink two 8-oz. glasses of cranberry juice every day to prevent the buildup of kidney stones. The amount may need to be adjusted according to the amount of cranberry concentrate in the mixture. Ask your health care provider for a treatment regimen for you.
3. Use fresh cranberries to prevent kidney stones if there is a family history of forming either calcium or non-calcium (struvite) stones. Cranberry supplements are available in juice or capsules at health stores and online.
4. Take cranberry for the acidic benefit. The quinic acid in cranberries produces a slightly acidic urine that will prevent phosphate joining with calcium to form stones.
5. Drink cranberry juice to decrease oxalate and phosphate excretion.
6. Expect citrate excretion to increase with the intake of cranberry supplements
7. Drink cranberry tea as a tasty alternative to cranberry juice.
8. Combine 5 oz. cranberry juice, 5 oz. grape juice, 1 cup frozen mixed fruit, 1/2 of a banana and 1/4 cup plain yogurt in a blender for a delicious and nutritional cranberry smoothie.
9. Add cranberry to your diet with a cranberry fruit dip. Combine one 8-oz. carton of vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup cranberry-orange relish, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. ground ginger. Serve chilled with fruit slices.

Tips & Warnings

• Store cranberries in the freezer for several years. Thawed berries must be eaten promptly and not refrozen.
• Increase your intake of essential nutrients when you use cranberries in snacks or main course meals.
• Drinking too much cranberry juice can increase the risk of kidney stones by producing too much acidity in the urine.
• Diabetics should consider sugar-free cranberry juice. Capsules and powdered concentrates are available as alternatives.
• Men are more likely to have kidney stones than women.

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