What does "healthy leafy green vegetable" - Spinach have to do with Kidney Stones? Find out if Spinach really leads to kidney stones or more of those cases.
Spinach is a leafy green vegetable native to Asia. It is now also produced in the United States for domestic consumption as demand has grown over the last decade.
Spinach is a rich source of nutrients with several metals including calcium and iron and vitamins. But its calcium and iron contents are not much absorbed in the body as it is also rich in oxalate (double ion) to which these metals bind. Over that this combined precipitates are insoluble. Most percentage of kidney stone cases are formed from Calcium Oxalate.
As the oxalate is insoluble, the intake of more of Calcium and oxalate increases the risk of kidney stones as they combine in the intestines. After that Calcium absorption by the body is affected.
However research showed that the intake of Spinach itself is not going to guarantee kidney stones. It increases the chances. Hence doctors suggest those prone to kidney stones to reduce its intake. Prone is the keyword here. As genetics is also a major factor for kidney stones. So that means those whose body is likely to let these oxalates form and get together to form crystals, they are more likely to get it again.
In some cases, even those who are prone to kidney stones and still take lot of spinach in their diet, did not get kidney stones. For safety one can reduce (instead of avoiding) leafy green vegetables as they are rich sources of oxalates as a precaution. Body will do lot of balancing activity so one need not get panic. However drinking lot of water will help avoid kidney stone formation. Because in reality, kidney stones are always there for everyone. You will pass through your urine everyday. They are small crystals that grow in size with time, if not passed. Drinking lot of water can reduces chances of these stones growing to bigger size (and more dangerous shapes) before reaching kidneys.
Medicine is not a field like mathematics where things can be put into simple equations. Just because spinach has become popular as a salad or as a packaged food product and fills well, one should not go to extreme intake. Luckily our body is designed to balance out changes unless one gets to extreme intake of a single substance. Hence, in general, it helps to avoid too much intake of spinach even if you found that you are not getting kidney stones by taking lot of spinach. You may just be influencing someone else to kidney stones who would take your case as general case.
(Title: Is There Effect of Spinach on Kidney Stones?)
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Spinach is a leafy green vegetable native to Asia. It is now also produced in the United States for domestic consumption as demand has grown over the last decade.
Spinach is a rich source of nutrients with several metals including calcium and iron and vitamins. But its calcium and iron contents are not much absorbed in the body as it is also rich in oxalate (double ion) to which these metals bind. Over that this combined precipitates are insoluble. Most percentage of kidney stone cases are formed from Calcium Oxalate.
As the oxalate is insoluble, the intake of more of Calcium and oxalate increases the risk of kidney stones as they combine in the intestines. After that Calcium absorption by the body is affected.
However research showed that the intake of Spinach itself is not going to guarantee kidney stones. It increases the chances. Hence doctors suggest those prone to kidney stones to reduce its intake. Prone is the keyword here. As genetics is also a major factor for kidney stones. So that means those whose body is likely to let these oxalates form and get together to form crystals, they are more likely to get it again.
In some cases, even those who are prone to kidney stones and still take lot of spinach in their diet, did not get kidney stones. For safety one can reduce (instead of avoiding) leafy green vegetables as they are rich sources of oxalates as a precaution. Body will do lot of balancing activity so one need not get panic. However drinking lot of water will help avoid kidney stone formation. Because in reality, kidney stones are always there for everyone. You will pass through your urine everyday. They are small crystals that grow in size with time, if not passed. Drinking lot of water can reduces chances of these stones growing to bigger size (and more dangerous shapes) before reaching kidneys.
Medicine is not a field like mathematics where things can be put into simple equations. Just because spinach has become popular as a salad or as a packaged food product and fills well, one should not go to extreme intake. Luckily our body is designed to balance out changes unless one gets to extreme intake of a single substance. Hence, in general, it helps to avoid too much intake of spinach even if you found that you are not getting kidney stones by taking lot of spinach. You may just be influencing someone else to kidney stones who would take your case as general case.
(Title: Is There Effect of Spinach on Kidney Stones?)
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