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Proteins

Woman eating burger but holding her tummy in pain
 by Victoria Santalesa

The Connection Between A High Acid Diet and Kidney Stones

Kidney stones may have been plaguing humans since the beginning of time.  In 1901, archeologist E. Smith found a bladder stone from a 4500-5000-year-old mummy in El Amrah, Egypt.  The Hippocratic Oath, historically taken by newly trained physicians and initiated in the 4th century BC, mentions kidney stones. A painting from 1655 by Carel de Savoyen portrays Jan van Doot, a Dutch blacksmith and amateur kidney stone remover holding a knife and bladder stone after a successful extraction. Luckily, today’s surgeries are a lot less DIY.

Aminerals is a piece of material that forms when substances in the urine, like salt and minerals become highly concentrated.  Small ones can pass with little or no pain.  Larger ones can get stuck along the urinary tract, blocking the flow of urine  and cause severe pain and bleeding. There care four types of kidney stones.  Each requires different dietary plans to follow in order to lessen their occurrence.  Uric acid stones are the product of a high acid content in the urine and require an alkaline diet to balance the high acidity level

Purine
 Red meat and shellfish contain a chemical compound called purines.  Purines are acidic in the body and lead to a lower urine pH, which means urine is more acidic, enabling the formation of uric acid stones.

 To prevent uric acid stones, it is suggested that suffered swap high purine foods for a diet high in fruits and veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.  Sugar-sweetened foods and drinks contain phosphorous and high fructose corn syrup which can increase acidity in urine. Alcohol and crash diets should be avoided as well as rapid weight loss increases uric acid.

Proteins
You’ll want to limit your protein intake, as proteins are high in purine.  You can safely eat 6 oz of poultry, fish, beef, lamb , veal, and eggs,  Limit your intake of beans and peas to two servings per week.  Avoid organ meats like liver, anchovies, mackerel and lobster.  Try incorporating nut and nut butter into your diet as a vegetarian protein alternative.

Dairy
While dairy products tend to be acidic in the body, they provide a great source of calcium and should not be eliminated from your diet. In order to keep the acid level down, choose low-fat or fat-free options when eating milk, yogurt, and cheese.  Saturated fat decreases the elimination of acid and can worsen kidney stones.

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and veggies are always a really good choice for a low acid diet.  They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However, limit your intake of spinach, mushrooms, asparagus and cauliflower to two servings per week.  They are a bit higher in purine.

Grains and Starches
Carbs are great for neutralizing acid.  Indulge in bread, pasta, cereal, rice potatoes and winter starch.  Limit your oats to 2/3 cup per day and wheat bran and wheat germ to 1/4 cups per day and be sure to read the ingredient list on products to check for these.  If they are  near the top of the list, chances are the food is pretty high in concentration of the ingredient. You’re best off skipping that one.

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Woman eating healthy food
 by Mayank

Eating Healthy on 2,500 Calories

Two thousand and five-hundred calories every day might seem like a lot of food (or it might not, it really depends on your mental concepts of such things), but for a respectable portion of the population, it’s actually an appropriate target. Specifically, sedentary men ages 19 to 30, moderately active men ages 31 to 50, active men over 50, and very active women of various ages all may need approximately 2,500 calories in their diet.

But of course, it’s not as simple as calorie-counting, regardless of the target number. Not all calories are created equal, and to eat healthily, you need to balance things properly. Let’s talk about how to do that.

Lean Proteins
Protein is essential for everyone, and lean protein is the best you can get in this regard. On 2,500 calories a day, you need approximately 6.5 ounces of protein a day. An ounce of protein can be found in an ounce of seafood, poultry, lean red meats, an egg, ¼ cup of tofu, ½ an ounce of seeds and/or nuts, and a tablespoon of peanut butter, roughly speaking.

Woman having food rich in fiber.

Lots of Fiber
Also incredibly important is fiber. Following a 2,500 calorie plan, you should get 3 ¼ cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruits a day. Variety is key here, and generally, dark, leafy greens and vibrant red and purple fruits are best. For conversion purposes, half a cup of dried fruit is equal to one cup fresh fruit or fruit juice (no added sugar!), and 2 cups of leafy greens roughly equals one cup of other vegetables

Opt for Healthy Fats
For every source of trans fat and saturated fat, there’s plenty of alternatives. That said, healthy fats are still fats, and shouldn’t be over-consumed regardless. You want about 7 teaspoons of oil a day on a 2,500 plan; any extra is going to interfere with your heart health. Olive oils, coconut oil (in moderation; it is still a saturated fat), and avocado oil are just a few examples of healthier fats.

You Don’t Actually Need Dairy
It’s a common misconception that dairy is a basic food group and essential for good nutrition. This is actually quite false, and humans are not really designed to consume any kind of milk once they stop breastfeeding. That said, we’ve evolved to tolerate dairy, and in moderation, it’s not necessarily harmful (unless you’re lactose-intolerant, of course), so there’s nothing wrong with having a little as a treat now and then, but don’t get tricked into thinking it’s essential.

Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, cashew milk, and coconut milk are a few examples of tasty non-dairy milk alternatives, and can help you avoid the saturated fats of many dairy products or if you can’t tolerate lactose. Skim milk also features less lactose, which might be okay if your lactose intolerance is mild or moderate (as opposed to severe), and it also, of course, contains less fat.

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