The kidney stones, commonly called kidney stones, they are solid masses made up of small crystals that form in the kidneys. Between 10-12% of all kidney stones are uric acid and usually develop in people who follow a diet rich in red meat, offal and shellfish. Drinking large amounts of alcohol also favors it, since it increases the elimination of uric acid in the urine.
Some time ago, in the renal lithiasis research group of the University of the Balearic Islands we carried out experiments with artificial urine to identify ways to delay the formation of uric acid crystals. And we showed that this was the case for theobromine, a compound found in high amounts in cocoa and derivatives such as chocolate to which multiples are known. (Here we tell you
Dark chocolate against the stones
Of course not all are the same. ANDn 40 g of milk chocolate there are 70 mg of theobromine, well below the 250 mg of theobromine present in 40 g of dark and powdered chocolate.
With this data on the table, we launched a new study, this time in real urine, in which 20 healthy volunteers participated. Four urine samples were obtained from each of the 20 volunteers: urine after not eating chocolate -called “basal” urine-, urine after eating 40 g of dark chocolate, urine after eating 40 g of chocolate in dust and eventually urine after consuming 40 g of milk chocolate, in all cases without changing the rest of your diet, which was identical each day that urine collection was carried out.
The participants were left to freely decide their diet with some restrictions. On the one hand, they could not consume any derivative of cocoa, except those included in the study on the corresponding day. Coffee and any beverage containing caffeine, which is partly excreted in the urine in the form of theobromine, was also banned. Thus we were certain that the results obtained were due to the consumption of the different types of chocolates and not to other factors.
The results obtained revealed that fewer uric acid crystals were produced in the urine after taking dark chocolate and soluble chocolate compared with urine without prior intake of chocolate and urine after consuming milk chocolate. Moreover, the urine after taking dark chocolate was the one that presented the highest value of theobromine, followed by cocoa powder.
In conclusion, both the consumption of cocoa powder and dark chocolate slow down the crystallization of uric acid due to its theobromine content and could prevent kidney stones in high-risk patients. However, the consumption of milk chocolate does not prevent the formation of uric acid crystals in the urine.
Prevention is better than cure (and suffering)
The finding is important if we take into account that, today, the options for the treatment of kidney stones are based on eliminating them once they are formed. Sometimes it is simply waited for the patient to eliminate it naturally through the urine. In others, the stone is fragmented and the patient is expected to expel the fragments. Both processes are, it must be said, extremely painful.
Identifying treatments, either with theobromine or with other alternatives, that prevent stone formation from the start is a fundamental objective of the Renal Lithiasis Laboratory of the University of the Balearic Islands. This will avoid the suffering involved in extracting and removing the stone once it is already formed, in addition to keeping the kidneys healthy for as long as possible.
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