Guides
Guides
Every page here names a real author, cites primary sources rather than other websites, and states what it does not cover. Pages that tell you what to do carry a clinician’s name as well, or they do not publish.
Evidence review
What actually prevents kidney stones coming back: the 2026 evidence review
A systematic review published in Annals of Internal Medicine in 2026 assessed 31 studies on preventing recurrent kidney stones. Five things may work, one widely believed measure points the other way, and the review rates its own confidence as low.
Evidence review
Lemon water, lemonade and citrus: what the research says about kidney stones
Lemon water raises urinary citrate, and citrate inhibits calcium crystals — that part is real and measured. Whether it helps you depends on your stone type, and for one common type the answer is genuinely unresolved.
Evidence review
Kidney stone types: why prevention depends on what yours is made of
Calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acid, struvite, cystine. The advice that helps one can be useless or counterproductive for another — and for two of them, the substance in the name is not actually the problem.
Evidence review
How much water should you drink to prevent kidney stones?
Increased fluid intake is the most consistently supported prevention measure there is. It is also the one whose famous target — over two litres of urine a day — rests on a single randomised trial. What the evidence says, and what it does not.
Evidence review
Spinach and kidney stones: what the research actually says about oxalate
Spinach is the food most often named in kidney stone advice, because it is among the highest-oxalate foods commonly eaten. What the literature establishes about dietary oxalate, what it does not, and why the published numbers for spinach disagree.
Evidence review
Soda and energy drinks: what the research says about kidney stones
Sugar-sweetened drinks are consistently associated with higher stone risk in large observational studies. Caffeine is more complicated than either side claims. And the advice to drink more water rests on less trial evidence than almost anyone realises.
Evidence review
Salt, sodium and the DASH diet: what the evidence says about kidney stones
Sodium is one of the few dietary factors with consistent evidence behind it in stone prevention, and one of the few a 24-hour urine test can actually measure. What the reviews found about salt, and why the DASH diet keeps appearing in the protective column.
Evidence review
Cranberry juice and kidney stones: what the research actually found
Cranberry juice is widely recommended for urinary health, which is why people assume it helps with stones too. The measured effects point the other way for the most common stone type. What the studies found, and why the answer depends on which stone you form.
Evidence review
Calcium and kidney stones: why cutting it back is not what the evidence supports
Most people who form a calcium stone assume they should eat less calcium. A 2026 systematic review of 31 studies found the opposite pattern — diets with normal to high calcium were among the things that may reduce recurrence. What the reviews found.
Evidence review
Apple cider vinegar and kidney stones: what the research actually found
A 2026 randomised crossover trial tested apple cider vinegar against coconut water, lemon water and diet orange soda. ACV changed nothing measurable. Two of the others did. What the trial found, what contradicts it, and what none of it settles.