I just got into the stuff, feeling all healthy, drinking two bottles of Pellegrino or Fiji a day. Then someone told me it causes kidney stones. I googled a bit, found a lot of info stating that the mineral content isn’t high enough to cause deposits, but most of it was vague and not very authoritative. Not like the stuff my favourite Dopers can find.
The verdict (personal anecdotes are, as always, fine with me if you can’t get the real skinny)?
I’ve always heard the more water you drink the better and that kidney stones were the result of not enough water.
And what does this person suggest you drink? Distilled water?
In any case, it must depends on the type of minera water. Some are even recommanded because they help dissolve kidney stones.
My other had a huge stone and the first doctor who saw her plainly recomanded the surgical removal of the kidney (yes, the kidney, not the stone). The second medical advice she got was instead to drink a lot of a specific brand of mineral water for some months, and the stone actually eventually dissapeared. I was completely baffled at the time that one could receive so widely different and extreme medical advices for the same issue. And as a result decided that I will always ask for a second advice if told I need surgery.
When I lived in Salt Lake city there was so much mineral content in the water that I literally had to chip the stalactites off the faucets in my bathroom, and used three bottles of Lime Away to clean the tub. In the lab, we had secondary and even tertiary water circulation because if you used tap water to cool any apparatusd it soon developed “hardening of the arteries” from deposited minerals.
One of the other grad students refused to drink the local water, convinced that it would give him kidney stones. Of course, he drank bottled water. If yiour contention is correct, and he drank the mineral water type, then he was in worse trouble for not drinking the local stuff.
For what it’s worth, I never heard that SLC had a higher incidence of such calculi (nor do mineral water drinkers, AFAIK). I’ve certainly never had a problem, nor anyone I know.
If you drink a lot of water, it will cause any kidney stones you do have to move around and hurt like hell. That’s hardly the same thing as creating stones, but I can see how some people might make the association.
Try this link from Wikipedia, which is hardly comprehensive but should give a good overview of what kinds of crystals kidney stones are made of.
IANAD but I have had Kidney Stones twice and several long Conversations with an Urologist.
He told me that drinking lots of water is the best thing.
He explained there are 2 types of stones typically. Calcium based or Uric Acid based.
Mine were Uric Acid and he suggested staying away from the Cabbage/Broccoli family.
I explained I would really prefer to stay off Meds and he agreed as the attacks were 8 years apart and once you go on the Meds you should stay on the meds.
He really stressed to not allow myself to dehydrate. He never said anything about mineral water causing Kidney Stones. I drink a lot of water & ice tea every day.
Probably 64 ounces. I also drink diet sodas.
Now if you have a rare type of kidney stone and the mineral water in question contained the same mineral as your stones there may be an adverse effect but I have never heard of this. If you are prone to Kidney stones you should get checked by an Urologist.
I don’t know if any of this helps, but the most recent attack was only 3 years ago and still no Doctor recommendation to stay away from mineral waters.
Jim
In the link I provided, jrfranchi, it mentions that carbonated beverages are high in phosphorus, which can contribute to certain types of stones. Tea is also high in oxalates and may contribute to a different kind of stone.
Water truly is best. I had kidney stones for years and was never advised to avoid mineral water, either.
I am sure you are correct about the soda. But my stones were Uric acid based and the Diet Soda was okayed.
Besides after 64 oz of water flushes my system, Accumulation is in theory very low. Ice tea is really just a flavored water, a gallon of Ice tea equals about 4 cups of hot Tea. (Rough estimate but basically true) I also don’t drink coffee anymore which helps.
Jim
I would think the “water” part would counteract the “mineral” part.
Many dopers are in the Chicago area; Chicago has VERY hard water. Wouldn’t that mean that there would be an abnormally high incidence of kidney stones among dopers?
Well?
A cow-worker of mine had to pass a stone. He claimed it was from drinking Gatorade…he said the stone he passed had a little lightning bolt on it. =PP
There seems to be a lot of info floating around to the effect that bottled water has little to no health advantage over decent-quality tap water. I suspect the straight dope here might be hard to find, but the assumption that the advertising claims made by this multi-billion-dollar industry are valid is probably dubious.
I do not think you would get kidney stones from drinking two bottles a day of mineral water. Many doctors would not even recommend cutting down on milk, which in theory would be far more problematic than water.
Dr_Pap, MD
I drink only mostly water these days. I never was one for much soda, and I do NOT like cowjuice, so, it’s water for me. I get a kidney stone attack probably once every 4 months or so. I don’t drink mineral water, but I do drink plain old bottled water. Nothing fancy. I know drinking only water has no effect on slowing down my kidney stone formation!
Kidney stones. Miserable things they are! I’d rather be in labor than to have a bad kidney stone attack…of course, HAVING a bad kidney stone attack FEELS like you are in labor…
Sometimes (alas), things are not as intuitively sensible as you’d want.
Look at the last line of this abstract.
My friend I think you had better do a search on the dangers of diet soda. Someone gave you some bad info about it being okay to drink. From what I have read it damages the brain. Don’t take my word for it. Do your own research.
Please, be serious. Do you really think that’s the case? That’s so, so, 2005.
Since you are the one making the sensational claim (brain damage), I think it behooves you to come up with a cite or two to support your assertion.
Funny
Not directly related to the kidngey stones question, but why are you buinyt some of the most expensive and wide-travelled mineral waters, instead of from some spring near you? Or are there no mineral water springs in the whole US, and you have to get imported ones or none at all?
Mineral water from local springs is a very popular drink in Germany, and I 've never heard concern about kidney stones. The worries are about:
too high sodium content (depending on the spring, the amount of minerals varies widely), so some brands are classed as “suitable for baby food because of low sodium”
too high sulfur, which ist not harmful as much as it tastes terrible
naturally occurring radioactive minerals in some brands.
But generally, the recommendation by doctors against stones is too drink more, not less.
Where do the antin-mineral water voices come from : soda manufacturers? Conspiracy people worried about fluoride in water? Serious studies? Let them show you the evidence for, not try and find evidence for it not happening.
My son had a kidney stone. The doctor recommended avoiding the vitamin drinks he liked. I don’t know if that was based on a known cause and effect, or just a precaution. It’s not about drinking less water, it’s about consuming less of some minerals.
This thread is nearing 5 years old, the OP probably has moved on from the drink already or really likes it at this point. But that is a good point, if you’re going to bother with bottled water, getting local is better than buying stuff shipped across the country.
You are also correct that more liquid is what most Urologist recommend for cutting down on stones.