Lemons for kidney stones

Confirming an old wive's tale, drinking lemonade has been shown to prevent the formation of kidney stones, according to new research at the UC San Diego Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center. The findings revealed that drinking 4 ounces of reconstituted lemon juice in two liters of water per day decreased the rate of stone formation from 1 to 0.13 stones per patient. Lemons have the highest concentration of citrate—a natural inhibitor of kidney stone formation—of any citrus fruit. Other fruit juices have less citrate and are often supplemented with calcium and contain oxalate, one of the principle components of kidney stones. The most common kidney stone is a calcium stone, which is composed primarily of calcium oxalate. Calcium stones can be caused by too much salt in the diet, which stimulates calcium excretion in the urine.