Washington: A glass of orange juice a day, can keep the recurrence of kidney stones away, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered.
According to the findings of the study, orange juice can help prevent the recurrence of kidney stones better than other citrus fruit juices including lemonade.
The researchers said that although many people assume that all citrus fruit juices help prevent the formation of kidney stones, not all have the same effect.
If the recurrence of kidney stones has to be medically treated, it requires dietary and lifestyle changes.
It also requires treatment including the addition of potassium citrate, which has been shown to lower the rate of new stone formation in patients with kidney stones.
However, since some patients can't tolerate potassium citrate because of gastrointestinal side effect, dietary sources of citrate including orange juice may be considered as an alternative to pharmacological drugs.
"Orange juice could potentially play an important role in the management of kidney stone disease and may be considered an option for patients who are intolerant of potassium citrate,” study's lead author’ Dr Clarita Odvina said.
Kidney stones develop when the urine is too concentrated, causing minerals and other chemicals in the urine to bind together.
Over time, these crystals combine and grow into a stone.
Orange juice, researchers found, boosted the levels of citrate in the urine and reduced the crystallisation of uric acid and calcium oxalate- the most frequently found ingredient in kidney stones.
But lemonade did not increase the levels of citrate, an important acid neutraliser and inhibitor of kidney stone formation.
"One reason might be the different constituents of various beverages," Odvina said.
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