Water - it really works

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

We often coach people to go"back to basics" when struggling. I am conducting a small experiment on myself and preliminary results are interesting.

Background, I don't record consumption AND post sleeve I don't care much for plain Water anymore. I drink disguised water - mio drops, crystal lite, Vitamin water etc. and keep a rough tally in my head.... getting about 64 ounces per day. Obviously, those flavor enhancers have artificial sweeteners.

Due to recent kidney stone, I have been advised to drink 2 liters of water a day and to add orange juice or lemonade. I didn't want to add the sugars from juice so he suggested lemon in my water.

I slice and squeeze a whole lemon into a 4 liter pitcher with the goal to drink it 50-50 over 2 days. Of course, I am not having the mio drops etc.

The stubborn water weight from my surgical procedure has dropped since I started this a couple of days ago.

My initial conclusion is that actual water, without artificial enhancers helps your body way better. I am giving this a solid month experiment but I suspect this will help with maintaining AND prevention of the dreaded kidney stones.

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[jane13 2,256]

@@CowgirlJane - my hubby was told to drink lemonade to ward off the stones. His were Calcium based stones due to over active parathyroid glands producing excess calcium.The nephrologist and endocrinologist told him that the lemon helps with the stones.

He drinks the artificial and sugar sweetened version because he is not a WLS patient. I drink the Wylers pink and regular lemonade so I don't develop stones and because I really don't like the other flavors except the generic "Tang" version.

Do you know yet what caused yours?

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I don't know. They did the pulverize procedure and I have captured like 5 grains of sand..don't ask... that I will bring and see if they can analyze. Since 80% ofkidney stones are Calcium based, drinking the lemon Water seems like a rational measure to take. The side benefit is that I have changed no other habits but am dropping down to the low 150s where i was before this nightmare began.

[jane13 2,256]

@@CowgirlJane - he was scheduled to have the second one pulverized but the urologist saw it and took it out. The second one (3 years later almost to the day) was bigger than the first, and he literally took them out when he scoped inside, rather than pulverize them. The nephrologist agreed with the urologist that his kidneys had 'corners' inside making the stones more apt to sit. One of them suggested he see a endocrinologist. The endo discovered that the parathyroid glands were overproducing. They had analyzed the stone. Since the adjustment by the endo (lemonade, Water pill and certain vitamins) he hasn't had a stone in over 8 years.

My mom passed one the size of a nickel :/

[NYLux12 50]

I had one about 2 years ago from high oxalic acid. I was told by my urologist to drink Crystal lite brand lemonade since they add extra citrate to it, which helps break down my type of stone.

Believe it or not, what I think helped lead to my stone was drinking a lot of non-sugar iced tea. Tea has a lot of oxalates. So I've quit the tea and moved on to lemonade and orange flavored Water.

[glitter eyes 1,398]

I think lemon Water really helps kidney stones. Years ago I suffered with recurrent kidney stones. They are so painful. I had read about the cleansing power of fresh lemon added to water and I got in the habit of squeezing the juice of a whole lemon into my bottle of water every morning. Haven't had a kidney stone yet. Could be coincidence, but i say whatever works to keep those painful suckers at bay is worth a try.

[Christinamo7 4,041]

lemon Water is very good for you. I keep a glass on my nightstand and drink it at room temperature every morning. whenever any of us feels a cold coming down it's hot Water with lemon. amazing stuff.

[jane13 2,256]

By the way as you said, 80% of kidney stones are Calcium based. The key, we were told, is to determine if its diet or something else.

Husband went dairy free for a few weeks and the calcium levels increased - leading them to parathyroid glands.

The 1st stone we were told could have been a one in a lifetime thing. When the urologist scoped his kidney for the 2nd one, prepping to blast it, he saw tiny ones inside his kidneys...waiting, not good.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Another option is to drink tea. I drink hot tea with a squeezed lemon in it once or twice a day.

[finallyfree! 84]

I am one week pre-op and started freaking some weeks ago when i read cgjanes post about her kidney stones. That made me drink a squeezed lemon in Water every morning and 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar i water every night while on the pre op fast. I will conti ue with it post op. Ahyone used the apple cider vinegar?

[ausmith 374]

We often coach people to go"back to basics" when struggling. I am conducting a small experiment on myself and preliminary results are interesting.

Background, I don't record consumption AND post sleeve I don't care much for plain Water anymore. I drink disguised Water - mio drops, crystal lite, Vitamin water etc. and keep a rough tally in my head.... getting about 64 ounces per day. Obviously, those flavor enhancers have artificial sweeteners.

Due to recent kidney stone, I have been advised to drink 2 liters of water a day and to add orange juice or lemonade. I didn't want to add the sugars from juice so he suggested lemon in my water.

I slice and squeeze a whole lemon into a 4 liter pitcher with the goal to drink it 50-50 over 2 days. Of course, I am not having the mio drops etc.

The stubborn water weight from my surgical procedure has dropped since I started this a couple of days ago.

My initial conclusion is that actual water, without artificial enhancers helps your body way better. I am giving this a solid month experiment but I suspect this will help with maintaining AND prevention of the dreaded kidney stones.

Sent from my KFJWI using the BariatricPal App

Edited March 28, 2016 by ausmith

[ausmith 374]

I buy fresh ginger, slice it thinly dry it out in the microwave and then store it in a sealed container. Once a day I will have a cup of hot Water with a slice of fresh lemon and 1 or 2 pieces of the dried ginger. It works great

[CBT 450]

Is there a lemon to Water ratio? My water bottles are around 32oz.

[ausmith 374]

I was told 1 slice of lemon per coffee cup of Water or tea. Not sure if there is a difference for cold Water but I wouldn't think so.

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[rnsamantha 352]

I work in urology. Adding lemons to Water, drinking lemonade or crystal light helps increase the amount of citrate you excrete in your urine and is commonly recommended for people who have Calcium oxylate stones (most common type). All these beverages contain citric acid and most people with calcium oxylate stones have low urinary citrate. Now if you have calcium phosphate stones, increasing your consumption of citric acid can actually increase your stone risk so it's important to know what type of stone you had. If your stone was calcium oxylate look up information online about high oxylate foods to avoid (tea, ice tea, beets, rhubarb, strawberries, blackberries, the list goes on). The most important recommendation is drink LOTS of water (80 oz/day minimum). Low salt diet. High Protein diets increase stone risk so as weight loss surgery patients we are at increased risk for them because of this [emoji20].