Nutrition and Kidney Disease

Calcium and Kidney Stones
Posted: November 2004
Source: UT Southwestern Health Watch

Do women have to choose between strong bones and kidney stones? Extra calcium could raise the risk for kidney stones, but researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas say that healthy postmenopausal women who take calcium citrate supplements are not at increased risk for kidney stones.

Adding a potassium citrate supplement provides even more protection against kidney stones. Taking both calcium citrate and potassium citrate together protects against two types of kidney stones, calcium oxylate and uric acid stones.

If you're trying to prevent osteoporosis but are worried about developing kidney stones, UT Southwestern researcher say make sure to choose the right kind of calcium supplement - calcium citrate - and look for a potassium citrate supplement to take with it. This is especially important for women who are at risk for kidney stones or who have had kidney stones before.