Survey Says . . .

A diet aimed at lowering high blood pressure can also prevent kidney stones, a recent study shows. A study featured in a recent HealthDay News article looked at the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) model and its affect on kidney stones. A DASH-style diet is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, dairy products and whole grains. It’s low in red meat, processed meat and sugary drinks.

The study involved 3,426 people. About half of them ate a DASH-style diet. Researchers studied their urine samples over a 24-hour period. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, people who are prone to kidney stones should try and produce at least 2 quarts of urine every 24 hours to prevent future stones. Despite drinking the same amount of fluid, people on the DASH-style diet urinated more than the other group. This finding suggests that the DASH-style diet might limit the occurrence of kidney stones.

People on the DASH diet also had higher levels of citrate, a compound that helps prevent calcium kidney stones. According to HealthDay News, the study suggests that eating low-fat dairy products and plants, which are both part of the DASH diet, may have “potent kidney-stone fighting properties”.

“We believe our results provide a strong rationale for a randomized trial examining the effect of a DASH-style diet on kidney stone recurrence,” said Dr. Eric Taylor, one of the study’s authors in a news release for the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the journal in which the full article will appear.