In order for your body to function properly, you need adequate vitamins. Your body can efficiently store certain vitamins, while others must continuously be replenished from the foods you eat. Vitamins do not cause harm to the kidneys if you take the recommended amount. Researchers identified only one specific vitamin -- vitamin D -- to cause kidney problems when patients exceeded the recommended amount.
Vitamin D
Your body can form vitamin D naturally from sun exposure. You can also obtain vitamin D from eggs, milk and milk products. Vitamin D helps to keep your bones healthy and strong by promoting calcium absorption. Additionally, it is involved in regulating cell growth, modulating your body's defense mechanism and reducing inflammation, such as redness, itch, swelling, heat and pain. Although vitamin D has health benefits, it can also cause kidney stones if you accumulate too much of it.
Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are solid masses. Overload of vitamin D leads to a form of kidney stone called calcium stones. Too much vitamin D stimulates an excess release of calcium in the blood, which gets deposited into the kidneys and forms stones. Symptoms of kidney stones include pain in the abdominal region or the sides of the back, pain in the groin area or testicles, abnormal urine color, bloody urine, chills, fever, nausea and vomiting.
Treatment
Small kidney stones can generally pass down along with urine on their own. To help your body get rid of small kidney stones, make sure to drink at least six to eight glasses of water. Pain relievers should help you alleviate the pain from passing stones. You may need prescription medications to help break down stones. Your physician may suggest surgery or other procedures if you have big stones that cannot pass on their own, stones that continuously grow or have blocked the urinary tract, which can lead to infection and kidney impairment.
Recommended Intake Levels
The Food and Nutrition Board has established the recommended intake levels of vitamin D for different age groups and sex. For 14- to 70 year-old males and females, you need 15 mcg of vitamin D daily. To decrease your risk of kidney stones, don't exceed the recommended amount.
