Aug 10, 2019
Today this episode is again focusing on kidney stone prevention. Today’s focus is on a mineral called citrate.
Citrate is a naturally occurring substance. It is a salt or ester of citric acid. Citric acid is found in relatively high amounts in citrus foods and juices, lemon and lime juice have some of the highest amounts of citric acid. Citric acid is not to be confused with Vitamin C which is ascorbic acid.
Urinary citrate is an inhibitor of kidney stone formation due in part to binding of calcium in urine. Citrate in the urine inhibits crystal formation, growth and aggregation. If you don’t have enough citrate in your urine, something we call hypocitraturia, you may be at risk for forming kidney stones.
Here is the point of this episode. If you want to increase your urinary citrate and decrease your kidney stone risk you can drink, you guessed it, lemonade.