Uric acid stones are a different diet
By Oliver Silen · Updated November 2, 2026 · Not medical advice
If your stone analysis says uric acid, oxalate isn't the number to watch. Uric acid stones form when urine is too acidic and carries too much uric acid, which the body makes from purines in food.
What changes
- Raise urine pH. The American Urological Association guideline recommends potassium citrate to make urine less acidic for uric acid stone formers [1]. Uric acid stones are the one type that medicine can often dissolve.
- Eat fewer high-purine foods, like organ meats, anchovies, sardines and large servings of red meat, and cut back on alcohol, beer most of all.
- Drink enough to make at least 2.5 liters of urine a day [1].
Look up purines per food
GoutSafe, built by the same person as this site, grades foods by purine per serving the same way OxalateSafe grades oxalate, from published studies. Gout and uric acid stones often go together, and its pages cover the same foods.
Some people form both calcium oxalate and uric acid stones. If that's you, both numbers matter, and your doctor can tell you which to put first.