06 Novemberl, 2006

The following are extracted from Dr. Rowen's the excellent Second Opinion news letters.

Simple Home Remedy Wipes Out Kidney Stones

I’ve never had a kidney stone, but my patients tell me it’s one of the worst pains they’ve ever experienced. Imagine, for a moment, a hot searing knife-like pain that hits your back or side without warning. The pain begins just below your kidney and it hits like a missile. It throbs mercilessly and takes you down. You’re sweating and begging for relief. It gradually tears its way down your back to your lower abdomen, causing excruciating pain the whole way.

That’s how my friend Steve described it to me the other day when he called begging for relief. As soon as Steve said, “Hi Doc” I could feel the agony in his voice. “I think I’ve got a kidney stone! I’m in terrible pain. Can you get me some pain relief?”he begged.

I’m not one to let someone writhe in pain. My first duty as a physician is to relieve suffering. So I called in a prescription for pain relievers. However, I also shared with him a unique treatment. It’s a sure fire way to get rid of a kidney stone. Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you more about kidney stones.

There are two main types of kidney stones. The first is uric acid*. But the most common is made of calcium. When you eat too high a protein/fat diet, your body can become too acidic. The excess acids need to be neutralized by alkaline minerals (calcium) pulled from your bones. Your body then eliminates the acids and calcium through your urine. That's when the stones can form. A dietary deficiency of calcium can result in a similar mobilization of calcium from your bones to keep up blood levels of calcium. That’s when the stones form. This home remedy works to dissolve calcium stones.

I told Steve, “I have a sure-fire cure for you.”

“Lay it on me,” he said.

“Simply drink eight ounces of fresh-squeezed lemon juice immediately. Then add one ounce of fresh-squeezed lemon juice to a glass of water and drink it. Repeat this every hour for the next 12 hours. The stone is sure to go!” Steve promised to jump on it.

Lemon juice contains lots of citric acid. Acid dissolves calcium. But this was even better. Citric acid is a natural and extremely powerful binder of calcium. You can drop a tooth into citric acid and watch it dissolve. (Please note that momentarily exposing your teeth to the acids in citrus won’t dissolve them. Your saliva quickly restores alkaline pH.)

I’ve successfully used infusions of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or oral vitamin C to bowel tolerance in the past for kidney stones. Ascorbic acid is another great dissolver of calcium.

Steve took the advice and two days later I got this email message: “Hey Doc, Thanks again for the prescription Friday night and the lemon cure. I’ve not had any more pain since I started drinking the lemon juice. I add a little Stevia (herbal sweetener) and it makes great lemonade.”

Wow, that was fast work. It required nothing more than a simple pain reliever for the urgency of the situation. So the next time you’ve got a painful kidney stone, try this remedy and let me know how it works for you

Extracted from: November 2006 / Volume XVI , No. 11

*Q: Do you have any information on ways to dissolve kidney stones? ­ J.L.K., via e-mail

A: Before you can do anything, you need a lab test to determine what the stone is. If it’s uric acid, you must alkalinize your urine and lower the uric acid in your body. A Living Foods Diet will go a long way on that one.

If it’s a calcium stone, acidifying your urine can help. Vitamin C, as ascorbic acid, is a great start. Your kidneys will eliminate the excess ascorbic acid you take in, and it has the ability to pick up a calcium ion on its way through. You also need to increase your magnesium intake. Take at least 500 mg daily ­ or up to bowel tolerance. Magnesium is calcium’s natural antagonist. Citrate, like vitamin C, is a great chelator of calcium, with or without magnesium.

There are proprietary herb formulas that may help dissolve your stones. One product is called KST from Kroeger Herbs. There are many other herbal formulas available. Many work and they are certainly worth trying. Look on the Internet for formulations. My favorite is the Chinese herbal formulation called Shin Lin Tong. Or see your integrative physician for his favorite.

Extracted from: August 2006 / Volume XVI , No. 8