The most important thing to do, to decrease the risk of developing further stones, is to increase your fluid intake.  Typically greater than two litres of fluids (mostly water) need to be consumed per day.  A rough guide as to whether you are drinking enough fluid is to look at the colour of your urine.  If your urine is clear or a light straw colour then you are drinking enough fluids.  If you are exercising / sweating then your fluid intake needs to increase.  If you have any cardiac (heart) issues then please discuss this with your Urologist prior to increasing your fluid intake.  

If your stone contains oxalate then you should decrease oxalate in your diet.  Oxalate is high in certain foods including chocolate, nuts, black tea, strawberries, spinach, beetroot and rhubarb.  If your stone is uric acid in nature then it is important to decrease high protein drinks and foods such as beer, offal, legumes (e.g. lentils), yeast (e.g. Vegemite), sardines, anchovies, mussels and scallops. A moderate amount of chicken, meat and eggs is acceptable.  It is also important to maintain the normal daily calcium requirement, which is two to three serves of dairy products per day.  Ensuring an adequate dairy intake will allow enough calcium to bind to oxalate in the gut, and therefore decrease the absorption and subsequent excretion of oxalate into the urinary tract.  Avoid Vitamin C and Vitamin D supplements as they increase the amount of calcium in the urine.  A reduced salt intake decreases the amount of calcium in the urine.  Try not to add salt or limit the amount of salt added to cooking and foods.  Try to avoid high salted foods such as ham, bacon, sausages, corn beef, Vegemite, soy sauce, etc.  

If a stone can be collected and analysed, appropriate dietary advice can be given.   In the event of forming recurrent stones over a short period of time or developing stones at a young age, further investigation with a twenty-four hour urine collection should be organised.