Kidney Stones Diet and Nutrition Guidelines | Foods to Avoid

Diet guidelines to prevent calcium oxalate stone

Limit animal protein: Consuming animal protein increase the risk of developing kidney stones. It’s always recommended limiting animal protein such as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, chicken, mutton, beef, pork, especially organ meats.

Replace animal protein with plant-based foods to have enough proteins in your diet plan, foods such as dried peas, beans, and lentils that are low in oxalate and high in protein.

Reduce or eliminate oxalates from foods: It’s always advisable to reduce or eliminate oxalates completely from your diet, as they may increase formation of calcium oxalates kidney stones. To prevent calcium oxalate stone, avoid or limit:

• Dark green vegetables (Spinach)
• Beer
• Beets / Rhubarb
• Beans
• Chocolate
• Berries / Cranberries
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tea and Coffee

In case of consuming oxalates foods, make sure either eat or drink calcium foods with them. This will help for oxalate to bind with calcium during digestion in the stomach and intestines to avoid oxalates to reach kidneys directly.

Get right amount of calcium from foods: Right amount of calcium can block other substances in the digestive tract that may cause stones. It is best to get calcium from plant-based foods such as cereals, calcium-fortified juices, breads, some types of beans, and some kinds of vegetables.

Reduce sodium consumption: Consuming more sodium in the food will increase the chance of developing kidney stones. Sodium is a part of salt. Sodium is in many packaged, canned, condiments, seasoning, fast foods, and meat.

Look for foods labelled: sodium free, low sodium, very low sodium, less or reduced sodium, light in sodium, salt free, unsalted, no salt added, and lightly salted. Check for hidden sodium, such as baking powder, sodium bicarbonate, disodium phosphate, sodium nitrate or nitrite, monosodium glutamate or MSG.

Diet guidelines to prevent calcium phosphate stones

Limit animal protein: Consuming animal protein increase the risk of developing kidney stones. It’s always recommended limiting animal protein such as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, chicken, mutton, beef, pork, especially organ meats.

Replace animal protein with such plant-based foods that are low in oxalate and high in protein, such as:

• Sunflower seeds
• Legumes: peanuts, dried peas, beans, and lentils
• Soy-based foods: tofu, soy nut butter, and soy milk
• Nuts and nut products: cashews and cashew butter, walnuts, almonds and almond butter, cashews and cashew butter, and pistachio

Reduce sodium consumption: Consuming more sodium in the food will increase the chance of developing kidney stones. Sodium is a part of salt. Sodium is in many packaged, canned, condiments, seasonings, fast foods, and meat.

If you ever had calcium phosphate stones, it’s always recommended consulting dietitian who are specialized in renal / kidney stone diet plan to prevent the recurrence of stones.

Get right amount of calcium from foods: Right amount of calcium can block other substances in the digestive tract that may cause stones. It is best to get calcium from soy milk, lactose-free milk or goat’s milk; plant-based foods such as legumes, cereals, calcium-fortified juices, nuts, seeds, breads, some types of beans, and some kinds of vegetables. Foods with high in vitamin D recommended in a daily diet also found in mushrooms, cheese and fatty fishes (salmon).

Diet guidelines to prevent uric acid stones

High-purine foods such as red meat, organ meats, and shellfish lead to higher production of uric acid. High concentration of uric acid in urine will lead to uric acid stones.

You can prevent uric acid stones, by limiting high-purine foods such as red meat, organ meats, alcoholic beverages, meat-based curries and shellfish. Follow a healthy diet containing fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains. Limit alcohol, sugar and sugar based drinks because it can increase uric acid levels in the blood. No crash diets, very limited food and with few calories which may arise to starvation or hungry feeling.



Limiting animal-based protein and consuming more vegetables and fruits will help decrease uric acid levels in urine, and this also help in reducing the chance of getting uric acid stone formation.

Diet guidelines to prevent cystic stones

Cystinuria is an inherited condition (passed down through a family) that causes cystine to build up in urine, and it cannot be prevented. However, you can prevent the formation of cystine stones by drinking plenty of liquids mainly water, reducing the amount of sodium in your diet and limiting alcohol consumption. Maintaining a healthy diet may reduce the chance of cystine stones formation.

What foods and drinks to avoid if you have kidney stones?

People those have already had kidney stones, consult urologist to know the type of kidney stones, accordingly diet plan can be decided. Based on the type of kidney stone, people may be able to prevent kidney stones by modifying the diet on these parameters:

• Right amount of calcium from food
• Including plant based foods in diet
• Reducing sodium intake
• Limiting or avoiding high oxalate foods
• Limiting animal protein
• Avoiding carbonated drinks

Most kidney stone diet recommendations are based on stone types and customized for each person according to these types of kidney stones:

• Calcium Phosphate Stones
• Calcium Oxalate Stones
• Cystine Stones
• Uric Acid Stones

A dietitian, specialized in renal / kidney stone diet recipes and diet plan, can help in making recommended diet plan to prevent kidney stones. Consult a dietitian to help you in preventing kidney stones.

Diet Chart for kidney stones patients

Foods to be included or eat in daily diet plan:-

• Cereals- Rice, Wheat, Maize, Bread, Barley, Jowar, Rice flakes, Puffed Rice, Cornflakes.
• Pulses and Legumes- Red gram dhal, Black gram dhal, Green gram dhal, Bengal gram dhal, Peas, Soya beans.
• Fruits and Vegetables- Include Low Potassium and Medium 
• Potassium fruits and vegetables.
• Non-vegetarian- Egg white, Chicken (skinless), Fish (fresh water).
• Milk and Milk Products- Milk, Curd & Butter milk (should not exceed 200 ml/day).
• Beverages- Tea, Green tea, barley water.
• Others- Garlic, Sago, Honey, and Olive oil.

Foods to be avoided or limited:-

• Cereals- Ragi, Bajra.
• Pulses and Legumes- Sprouts, Rajmah, Cholae (can be included in small amount by leaching) and in thin daal form.
• Vegetable & Fruits - High Potassium, Vegetables & Fruits.
• Non-vegetarian - Organ Meats, Egg Yolks, Sea foods, Pork, Beef, Ham, Bacon.
• Beverages- Coconut water, Fruit Juices, Instant Coffee, vegetables soups, Aerated drinks & Squashes, Horlicks, Bornvita, Sugar, Honey, Jaggery, to avoid by diabetics.
• Others- Dry Fruits, Processed and Preserved food items like Pickles, Papad, Salt Butter, Sauces, Ketchups, Chips, Salted Biscuits, Baking powder, Cooking soda, Chocolates, Cocoa powder, Salted cheese and Noodles.

Potassium content level of vegetables and fruits

Leaching process

Wash Vegetables in plenty of water and discard excess water. Again boil in excess water then drain water and session it. By this method, potassium content will be reduced from the vegetables. Ragi, Spices & condiment, all pulses (except peas) are high in potassium.

Nutritional Guidelines for Kidney Stone Patients

• Take small and frequent meals.
• Protein quality can be improved by cooking cereals, pulse & milk combinations, khichidi, dhal, payasam.
• Reduce oxalates intake from foods.
• Avoid extra calcium supplements and high doses of vitamin C supplements.
• Use fresh herbs, whole spices, lemon juice (2-3 drops) to flavour food in replacing salt in cooking.
• Avoid salt substitutes like low sodium salt or sodium like Avoid salt adding while cooking.
• Maintain your fluid intake, drink plenty of fluid: 2-3 litres/day
• Include the amount of beverages such as tea, coffee, soups, butter milk etc, and not only water in your daily fluid intake.
• Stores the daily required amount of water in a bottle to keep check on the amount consumed.
• Alternatively, you may simply rinse your mouth with water.
• Sucking on ice cubes is also a good idea to overcome mouth dryness and excessive thirst.
• Chewing gums (sugar free if you are diabetic) help to control thirst.
• Avoid salt and spicy foods as these can make you thirsty.
• Avoid canned foods and market soups as they are rich in sodium and increase thirst.

How does diet affect kidney stones?

Kidneys filter blood, which carry all nutrients that we take in. So if a person doesn't follow balanced Diet with proper hydration, risk to stone formation is fortunate.

Department of nutrition and dietetics