Can I drink alcohol if I have kidney stones?

It is best not to drink alcohol if you have kidney stones. Many people think that drinking some beer is good for kidney stones because beer has a diuretic effect. In fact, beer contains a large amount of calcium oxalate. During frequent urination, new calcium oxalate will be formed and concentrated in the kidneys, which will easily form new stones, which is not conducive to the patient's treatment and may easily aggravate the patient's symptoms.

Can I drink alcohol if I have kidney stones?

Because 65% of kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones, and alcohol can accelerate the formation of calcium oxalate crystals, and can also cause purine metabolism disorders, which can easily lead to kidney stones. Patients with kidney stones will experience severe pain in the waist and abdomen, cold sweats all over the body, nausea and vomiting after drinking.

Although water, drinks and beer are all liquids, there are huge differences between them. Water can dilute urine and help stones be excreted from the body faster, while beer will be broken down into uric acid after being absorbed by the human body. People who drink beer frequently have high uric acid concentrations in their bodies and are very prone to kidney stones. This is why drinking alcohol is different from drinking water. Although both will produce a certain amount of urine, the uric acid produced by drinking alcohol is not good for patients with stones.

Patients should drink more water and can also drink some lemon water appropriately, which is conducive to the production of citrate in urine and is effective in preventing stones. Doctors recommend that in addition to a normal diet, you should drink an extra 1000 ml of water. People who sweat a lot can add a little salt to clean water to replenish the large amount of salt lost through sweating.

It is worth noting that if you drink too much beer, you are likely to develop kidney stones. Because the weather is hot in summer, people sweat a lot and drink less water, the urine concentration is high, and crystals are easily deposited in the urine. In addition, if people do not exercise regularly and do not pay attention to their diet, they are more likely to develop kidney stones. Nowadays, many people replace water with beverages or even beer in summer, which is extremely unscientific. Beer is high in purine, which is broken down into uric acid after being absorbed by the human body. People who drink beer frequently have high uric acid concentrations and are prone to kidney stones. Therefore, drinking too much beer can easily lead to kidney stones.

What should patients with kidney stones pay attention to in their diet?

1. Do not smoke, drink, eat spicy, fried or grilled food.

2. Avoid eating roosters, cows, sheep, dogs, pig's feet, donkeys, turtles, ginseng, deer antlers, tortoise glue, donkey-hide gelatin, longan, lychee, bamboo shoots, onions, betel nuts and all fish, freshwater and marine products, especially shrimps, crabs and other seafood.

3. Avoid taking any Chinese medicine that is tonic, hair-raising, or heat-inducing. The meats you can eat include lean meat, pig heart, pig kidney, pig lung, pig tongue, pig stomach, duck meat, chicken from chicken or hen, milk, etc.

4. All vegetables except leek, pumpkin, onion, eggplant, bamboo shoots and garlic can be eaten.

5. All fruits except lychee, longan, mango, durian and jackfruit can be eaten. You can eat grains, potatoes and beans.

6. Animals in seafood cannot be eaten, but plants can be eaten, such as hair algae, seaweed, and kelp.