Having a family history of kidney stones puts you at an increased risk of developing kidney stones. The hereditary disease renal tubular acidosis also heightens your risk of kidney stone formation. Clinical reports show that more than 70 percent of people with renal tubular acidosis have developed kidney stones. The risk of kidney stones increases with age. When susceptible individuals do not get adequate intake of vitamin A, they have a very high chance of developing kidney stones. Vitamin A has essential properties that your body needs to keep your tissues and organs functioning properly.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A supports the health of epithelial cells -- allowing them to replicate and function properly -- and keeps your immune system healthy and strong. When your body lacks vitamin A, you become susceptible to infections and might suffer from night blindness. Other functions of vitamin A include the maintenance of skin health, proper bone and tooth growth, and normal reproduction, specifically hormone production and regulation.
Kidney Stones
Kidney stones consist of solid masses -- made of minerals and salt -- that grow inside the kidneys. Chemicals in the urinary tract usually help prevent crystals from forming, but sometimes those chemicals fail to work properly or are not being produced, resulting in kidney stone formation. You can also get kidney stones when your urinary tract contracts an infection.
Relationship between Vitamin A and Kidney Stones
The cells that line the urinary tract -- epithelial cells -- help defend against bacteria and other harmful organisms. The growth and formation of epithelial cells depend on vitamin A, without which, epithelial cells cannot form. Amid a vitamin A deficiency, the cells remain flat and form keratin -- a protein of which your outer skin is made. Vitamin A deficiency will also reduce the production of mucous secretions -- substances that possess antimicrobial properties. When you lack both mucous secretions and epithelial cells, your body becomes susceptible to infections. Your immune system also weakens due to infections -- unable to produce healthy, germ-killing white blood cells due to vitamin A deficiency. Because your risk of developing kidney stones increases with urinary tract infection, which in turn increases with vitamin A deficiency, you need to make sure you get enough vitamin A in your diet.
Recommended Intake of Vitamin A
The Food and Nutrition Board, or FNB, at the Institute of Medicine recommends 900 mcg of vitamin A per day for males age 14 and older, and 700 mcg for females 14 and older.
Significant sources of vitamin A come from fortified milk and other dairy products; eggs; dark green vegetables, such as spinach and leafy greens; and orange-colored fruits such as cantaloupes, oranges and apricots.
