Barbara Quinn: Managing Multiple Nutritional Conditions | Health, medicine and fitness
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QUESTION: My husband was recently diagnosed with kidney stones (a lot!) He was also treated for prostate cancer some time ago and was also diagnosed with osteoporosis. Trying to come up with a predominantly vegetarian diet that manages all three of these conditions seems impossible. Is this something you can tackle? “
REPLY: It is true that nutritional recommendations get complicated when we are dealing with more than one medical condition. On top of that, we each have individual dietary preferences and needs. That is why I would advise you to seek out a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) who can understand all the nuances of your husband’s condition and design a diet that is best for him. To find a nutrition expert in your area, talk to your doctor or go to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics www.eatright.org/find-an-expert.
In the meantime, here are some general guidelines to help you manage your husband’s nutritional needs:
To drink a lot of water. This is probably the most important thing one can do to prevent kidney stones, according to experts. Six to eight cups of water a day is a good place to start, unless you’ve been advised to limit your fluid intake for some reason.
Not all kidney stones are the same, although those formed from calcium and oxalate are the most common. If your husband has oxalate stones, he will need to limit foods high in oxalate such as nuts and nut butters, peanuts, rhubarb, spinach, and beets.
Does not eliminate calcium. It helps build strong bones and believe it or not, helps protect against calcium oxalate stone formation. How can that be? Calcium binds to oxalates in the intestine so that they can be eliminated from the body instead of being absorbed and turned into kidney stones. For example, cheese (a food high in calcium) eaten along with spinach (a food high in oxalate) can help prevent oxalate from being absorbed by the body. If you use soy foods (which are high in oxalates), choose varieties fortified with calcium.
However, do not overuse calcium, especially calcium supplements. Too much calcium can increase the risk of kidney stones and may be linked to a higher risk of prostate cancer. For men and women 51 and over, excess means more than 2,000 milligrams of calcium per day from food and supplements combined.
Cut down on sodium. Too much salt and other foods high in sodium cause the body to lose valuable calcium. When calcium is excreted out of the body in the urine, it increases the risk for some people of forming kidney stones.
Eat a balanced diet to fight cancer and rebuild healthy cells. The Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern that has shown promise in the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer – in addition to providing nutrients for bone building and which can be adjusted to avoid foods high in oxalate. This style of meal includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, fish and olive oil. It includes moderate amounts of cheese, yogurt, and red wine. Meats and sweets are eaten less often in much smaller amounts than our traditional American diet.
Barbara Quinn is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator affiliated with the Monterey Peninsula Community Hospital. She is the author of âQuinn-Essential Nutritionâ (Westbow Press, 2015). Email him at [email protected].)
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