Nephrolithiasis and gastrointestinal tract diseases: Can diet intervention help?

Nephrolithiasis is a disease whose prevalence is continuously rising in Western countries. The most common type is idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis (80%), but gastrointestinal disease, especially inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), may represent a significant risk factor. Nephrolithiasis is indeed a frequent long-term extraintestinal complication of IBD. Dietary habits have a direct effect on urinary lithogenic risk factors and on the onset of kidney stones. The main dietary features that can help preventing and treating nephrolithiasis are high fluid intake, high consumption of fruit and vegetables, low intake of salt and proteins and a balanced amount of calcium, lipids and carbohydrates. In this review we briefly describe epidemiologic and physiopathologic aspects of intestinal disease-associated nephrolithiasis and the role of diet in contrasting onset and relapses of kidney stones.