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IP6 and kidney stones: what the evidence says

Small or mixed human studies suggest IP6 in the diet may lower the risk of kidney stones, but the results disagree and no trial has tested it on stones.

3/5 Limited

Some human evidence: small trials, trials on a related outcome, or population studies that disagree. How we score

A study following 96,245 younger women for eight years found that those eating the most phytate had 37% fewer kidney stones than those eating the least.

A similar study of 45,619 men found no link, and a 2020 study that gave people an IP6 supplement found no change in any urine marker of stone risk.

A Mayo Clinic study found stone patients had eaten less phytate than people without stones, but it could not show cause and effect.

The evidence ladder higher rungs count for more
  1. Meta-analyses of trialspooled randomized trials0
  2. Human studiestrials and population studies4
  3. Case reportssingle people0
  4. Animal studiesmostly rodents9
  5. Lab studiescells, test tubes53

The studies in people, read one by one

ResultTypeWhat they didWhat they found
PositivePopulation study, 2004
96,245 people		Prospective cohort, Nurses' Health Study II, 8 years
Measured: New symptomatic kidney stones		Highest vs lowest phytate intake: relative risk 0.63 (95% CI 0.51–0.78). PubMed 15111375
No effectPopulation study, 2004
45,619 people		Prospective cohort, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 14 years
Measured: New symptomatic kidney stones		Phytate intake was not independently associated with stone risk in men. PubMed 15579526
PositivePopulation study, 2022
795 people		Case-control study, Mayo Clinic (411 stone formers, 384 controls)
Measured: First symptomatic stone		Lower dietary phytate was associated with higher odds of a first symptomatic stone; it did not predict recurrence. PubMed 35933132
No effectClinical trial, 2020Dietary restriction then IP6 supplement, healthy men in two South African groups
Measured: Urine markers of stone risk		No change in any established urinary risk factor; the authors call IP6 as a stone inhibitor unproven. PubMed 31928801

Where the sources agree, and where they don’t

1 of 4 kinds of source point toward a benefit, 1 toward no effect or harm, 1 are mixed, and 1 has no data yet. Agreement between independent kinds of evidence matters more than the number of papers in any one of them.

Kind of sourcePoints toDetail
Large population studiesMixedwomen: 37% fewer stones; men: no link
Supplement studyNo effectno change in urine risk markers
Lab studiesPositive53 papers on crystal inhibition
Public reportsNo datanone readable yet

Beyond Google: 5 findings about IP6 from trial registries, FDA reports and patent offices that a normal search rarely shows. See them

What people report

None of the 41 public reports we read so far were about this condition. See all reports on the IP6 page.

Every other paper we found

PubMed returned 93 papers for this search on 2026-10-27. We read the human studies above ourselves. The rest are sorted by type automatically from PubMed's labels, which are sometimes wrong. We removed 3 papers that only mention the words, such as radioactive "phytate" tracers used in surgery.

Animal studies 9
  1. High-phytate/low-calcium diet is a risk factor for crystal nephropathies, renal phosphate wasting, and bone loss. Elife, 2020
  2. Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of inositol hexaphosphate in C.B17 SCID mice bearing human breast cancer xenografts. Metabolism, 2011
  3. Phytate acts as an inhibitor in formation of renal calculi. Front Biosci, 2007
  4. Effects of phytic acid on renal stone formation in rats. Scand J Urol Nephrol, 1998
  5. Effect of dietary calcium and magnesium on experimental renal tubular deposition of calcium oxalate crystal induced by ethylene glycol administration and its prevention with phytin and citrate. Urol Int, 1987
  6. [Studies of phytin therapy for calcium urolithiasis with hypercalciuria. 1. Basal experiments]. Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi, 1986
  7. [Studies of phytin therapy for calcium urolithiasis with hypercalciuria. 2. An animal study]. Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi, 1986
  8. [Studies of experimental calcium oxalate stones. 2. The preventive effects of phytin and citrate on renal deposition of calcium oxalate induced by ethylene glycol administration]. Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi, 1985
  9. [Studies of rice-bran therapy for calcium urolithiasis with idiopathic hypercalciuria. III. Effects of rice-bran on calcium balance in rats]. Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi, 1984
Lab studies 53
  1. Management of urinary stones by experts in stone disease (ESD 2026). Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2026
  2. Phytate and L-methionine for preventing recurrence of infection renal stones. Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2026
  3. Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization and Renal Lithiasis. Biomolecules, 2025
  4. Sericin-based nanotherapeutics: A dual-action biological macromolecule for anti-urolithiatic and antibacterial applications. Int J Biol Macromol, 2025
  5. Phytate Effects on Incomplete Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis. J Clin Med, 2024
  6. The phytase RipBL1 enables the assignment of a specific inositol phosphate isomer as a structural component of human kidney stones. RSC Chem Biol, 2023
  7. Phytate Dephosphorylation Products Also Act as Potent Inhibitors of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization. Molecules, 2022
  8. Electrocrystallization of Calcium Oxalate on Electrospun PCL Fibers Loaded with Phytic Acid as a Template. Polymers (Basel), 2022
  9. Rapid recovery of phytic acid from rice brans using chitosan nanofiber-based porous hydrogels. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem, 2021
  10. Interactions Between Phytochemicals and Minerals in Terminalia ferdinandiana and Implications for Mineral Bioavailability. Front Nutr, 2020
  11. Inhibitors of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization for the Treatment of Oxalate Nephropathies. Adv Sci (Weinh), 2020
  12. Potential thermodynamic and kinetic roles of phytate as an inhibitor of kidney stone formation: theoretical modelling and crystallization experiments. Urolithiasis, 2019
  13. Fast determination of bioactive phytic acid and pyrophosphate in walnuts using microwave accelerated extraction. Food Chem, 2017
  14. Enzymatic hydrolysis of phytate and effects on soluble oxalate concentration in foods. Food Chem, 2017
  15. Efficacy of Mixtures of Magnesium, Citrate and Phytate as Calcium Oxalate Crystallization Inhibitors in Urine. J Urol, 2015
  16. On the origin of calcium oxalate monohydrate papillary renal stones. Urolithiasis, 2015
  17. Effects of phytate and minerals on the bioavailability of oxalate from food. Food Chem, 2013
  18. Inhibitors of oxalocalcic lithiasis: effects of their interactions on calcium oxalate crystallization. Urology, 2012
  19. [The evaluation of anti-nutritive components in beer on the example of oxalic acid]. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig, 2012
  20. Minimum handling method for the analysis of phosphorous inhibitors of urolithiasis (pyrophosphate and phytic acid) in urine by SPE-ICP techniques. Anal Chim Acta, 2010
  21. Evolution of post-ESWL residual lithiasis depending on the type of calculus and urine composition. Arch Esp Urol, 2009
  22. Epidemiology of urolithiasis: an update. Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab, 2008
  23. Uric acid as inducer of calcium oxalate crystal development. Scand J Urol Nephrol, 2007
  24. Papillary and nonpapillary calcium oxalate monohydrate renal calculi: comparative study of etiologic factors. ScientificWorldJournal, 2006
  25. Factors affecting calcium oxalate dihydrate fragmented calculi regrowth. BMC Urol, 2006
  26. Oxalate and phytate concentrations in seeds of soybean cultivars [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. J Agric Food Chem, 2005
  27. Factors affecting the regrowth of renal stones in vitro: a contribution to the understanding of renal stone development. Scand J Urol Nephrol, 2005
  28. Oxalate and phytate of soy foods. J Agric Food Chem, 2005
  29. An experimental study on residual lithiasis after shock wave lithotripsy. Urol Res, 2005
  30. Calcium may cut kidney stone risk in younger women. Harv Womens Health Watch, 2004
  31. Determination of phytic acid in urine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Anal Chem, 2003
  32. Synergism between the brushite and hydroxyapatite urinary crystallization inhibitors. Int Urol Nephrol, 2002
  33. Effects of exogenous inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP(6)) on the levels of InsP(6) and of inositol trisphosphate (InsP(3)) in malignant cells, tissues and biological fluids. Life Sci, 2002
  34. Study on concretions developed around urinary catheters and mechanisms of renal calculi development. Nephron, 2001
  35. Determination of phytic acid by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy: application to biological samples. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci Appl, 2001
  36. Urinary phytate in calcium oxalate stone formers and healthy people--dietary effects on phytate excretion. Scand J Urol Nephrol, 2000
  37. Effects of phytate and pyrophosphate on brushite and hydroxyapatite crystallization. Comparison with the action of other polyphosphates. Urol Res, 2000
  38. Uric acid urolithiasis and crystallization inhibitors. Urol Int, 1999
  39. [Urolithiasis]. Hinyokika Kiyo, 1999
  40. Urinary lithogen risk test: usefulness in the evaluation of renal lithiasis treatment using crystallization inhibitors (citrate and phytate). Arch Esp Urol, 1999
  41. Urinary lithogen risk test: usefulness in the evaluation of renal lithiasis treatment using crystallization inhibitors (citrate and phytate). Arch Esp Urol, 1999
  42. Experimental model to study sedimentary kidney stones. Micron, 1998
  43. Vitamin A and urolithiasis. Clin Chim Acta, 1998
  44. Study of the early stages of renal stone formation: experimental model using urothelium of pig urinary bladder. Urol Res, 1996
  45. Study of the effects of different substances on the early stages of papillary stone formation. Nephron, 1996
  46. Artificial simulation of the early stages of renal stone formation. Br J Urol, 1994
  47. [Idiopathic hypercalciuria and bone density]. Rev Rhum Mal Osteoartic, 1992
  48. [Studies of rice-bran therapy for calcium urolithiasis with idiopathic hypercalciuria. II. In vitro experiments on binding of calcium and rice-bran]. Nihon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi, 1984
  49. Urinary phosphorylated inositols and renal stone. Lancet, 1980
  50. The influence of glucose and crude fibre (wheat bran) on the rate of intestinal 47Ca absorption. The influence of glucose and wheat bran on calcium absorption. J R Nav Med Serv, 1979
  51. Does a medical treatment for calcic renal lithiasis exist? Nouv Presse Med, 1976
  52. [Association of phytic acid and benzthiazide in renal lithiasis]. Rein Foie, 1966
  53. Prevention of phosphate stones by phytate, phosphate and hexametaphosphate: experimental urolithiasis. XV. J Urol, 1959
Reviews 15
  1. Updates on renal phosphate transport. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens, 2025
  2. Phytate Intake, Health and Disease: "Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food". Antioxidants (Basel), 2023
  3. Key Aspects of Myo-Inositol Hexaphosphate (Phytate) and Pathological Calcifications. Molecules, 2019
  4. Horse gram- an underutilized nutraceutical pulse crop: a review. J Food Sci Technol, 2015
  5. Fad diets and their effect on urinary stone formation. Transl Androl Urol, 2014
  6. Optimum nutrition for kidney stone disease. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis, 2013
  7. Phytate in foods and significance for humans: food sources, intake, processing, bioavailability, protective role and analysis. Mol Nutr Food Res, 2009
  8. [Calcium kidney stones. Diagnostic and preventive prospects]. G Ital Nefrol, 2007
  9. Protection against cancer by dietary IP6 and inositol. Nutr Cancer, 2006
  10. Renal lithiasis and nutrition. Nutr J, 2006
  11. Recent advances in nutritional research on urolithiasis. World J Urol, 2005
  12. Role of nutrition in the formation of calcium-containing kidney stones. Nephron Physiol, 2004
  13. Calcium oxalate stone disease: role of lipid peroxidation and antioxidants. Urol Res, 2002
  14. Rice-bran products: phytonutrients with potential applications in preventive and clinical medicine. Drugs Exp Clin Res, 2001
  15. Phytate (IP6) is a powerful agent for preventing calcifications in biological fluids: usefulness in renal lithiasis treatment. Anticancer Res, 1999
Other papers, not yet read by us 9
  1. Management of urinary stones by experts in stone disease (ESD 2025). Arch Ital Urol Androl, 2025
  2. Rising phytate and oxalate intake, declining calcium intake, and bone health in United States adults: 1999-2023, a serial cross-sectional analysis. Am J Clin Nutr, 2025
  3. [The role of phytates in human nutrition]. Vopr Pitan, 2023
  4. Temporal Trends of Dietary Risk Factors after a Diagnosis of Kidney Stones. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, 2022
  5. Dietary Zinc and Incident Calcium Kidney Stones in Adolescence. J Urol, 2017
  6. Urinary phytate (Myo-inositol hexaphosphate) in healthy school children and risk of nephrolithiasis. J Ren Nutr, 2014
  7. Effects of Mediterranean diets with low and high proportions of phytate-rich foods on the urinary phytate excretion. Eur J Nutr, 2010
  8. [Papillary and cavitary monohydrate calcium oxalate lithiasis: comparative study of etiological factors]. Arch Esp Urol, 2006
  9. A case-control study of dietary intake of renal stone patients. II. Urine biochemistry and stone analysis. Urol Res, 1986

Other conditions IP6 has been studied for

Checked against PubMed on 2026-10-27. Everything we know about IP6