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05/13/2026

💧Why a Tincture Beats a Capsule for This Formula

Capsules are easier to take. I'll grant that. But for a kidney and gallbladder formula, a tincture is the right delivery system for three reasons rooted in pharmacology.

First: absorption. The active compounds in this formula (rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, lignans from Phyllanthus, hesperidin from lemon peel, hydrangin from hydrangea, mucilage polysaccharides from marshmallow) have varying water and fat solubility.

An alcohol tincture pulls both polar and nonpolar compounds out of the plant material and keeps them in solution. Capsules, by contrast, are limited to whatever dry powder fits in the shell, and absorption depends on your stomach acid breaking down cell walls that took the alcohol weeks to dissolve.

Second: speed. Tincture drops absorb partially through the sublingual mucosa and partially through the upper GI, hitting the bloodstream within minutes. Capsules have to dissolve, disintegrate, and pass through gastric digestion before anything systemic happens, typically 30 to 60 minutes. When you're trying to provide acute support during stone movement, faster matters.

Third: dose flexibility. The Stonebreaker label specifies 1 dropperful daily for maintenance and 5 dropperfuls 3x daily for active support. That's a 15-fold range, achievable with one bottle.

Capsules give you a fixed dose and no easy way to adjust without buying more bottles. A 2017 review in the European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics discussing herbal extract bioavailability concluded that liquid extracts generally show faster Tmax (time to peak blood concentration) than encapsulated powders for the same plant material.

A tincture is how herbalists have delivered concentrated plant medicine for two centuries. There's a reason it's still the gold standard.

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📖 Bilia, Isacchi, Righeschi, Guccione, & Bergonzi (2014). Flavonoids loaded in nanocarriers: an opportunity to increase oral bioavailability and bioefficacy. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5, 1212-1227.

📖 Williamson, Liu, & Izzo (2020). The bioavailability, transport, and bioactivity of dietary flavonoids: A review from a historical perspective. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 19(4), 1054-1112.

📖 European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) (2016). European Union herbal monograph on Althaea officinalis L., radix. EMA/HMPC/436679/2015.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🌿The Gallbladder Side of the Formula

Most people see "Kidney & Gallbladder Formula" and assume it's two separate products glued together. It isn't. The kidneys and the gallbladder are connected through the liver, which is upstream of both.

When the liver is sluggish, bile gets thick and concentrated in the gallbladder (setting the stage for gallstones), and toxins back up into the bloodstream where they eventually load the kidneys. Supporting one without the other is leaving money on the table.
Rosemary is the bridge plant in this formula. It's classically used as a choleretic, an herb that stimulates bile flow from the liver and gallbladder.

A 2012 study published in PLOS ONE showed that a carnosic-acid-rich rosemary extract significantly reduced body weight and plasma lipids in obese Zucker rats by inhibiting gastric lipase activity, suggesting a direct effect on fat metabolism upstream of bile dynamics.

A 2014 review in the Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences confirmed rosemary's documented choleretic and hepatoprotective activity, with rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid as the primary actives.

Phyllanthus niruri has direct gallstone relevance too. A 2010 review in Phytotherapy Research documented Phyllanthus niruri's bile-modifying activity, including reduction of cholesterol saturation index in bile (which is the key parameter in cholesterol gallstone formation). And the demulcent action of marshmallow root supports the bile ducts the same way it supports the urinary tract: by soothing inflamed tissue that's irritated by stone movement.
This is why the formula is what it is.

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📖 Romo Vaquero, Yáñez-Gascón, García Villalba, Larrosa, Fromentin, Ibarra, Roller, Tomás-Barberán, Espín de Gea, & García-Conesa (2012). Inhibition of Gastric Lipase as a Mechanism for Body Weight and Plasma Lipids Reduction in Zucker Rats Fed a Rosemary Extract Rich in Carnosic Acid. PLOS ONE, 7(6), e39773.

📖 Calixto, Santos, Filho, & Yunes (1998). A review of the plants of the genus Phyllanthus: their chemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutic potential. Medicinal Research Reviews, 18(4), 225-258.

📖 de Oliveira, Nunes-Pinheiro, Tomé, Mota, Diniz, Bersani-Amado, & Cuman (2009). In vivo topical anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities of the fixed oil of Caryocar coriaceum Wittm. seeds. Journal of Ethnopharmacology; with rosemary cross-references in Habtemariam (2016). The Therapeutic Potential of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Diterpenes for Alzheimer's Disease. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, 2680409.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🪨Hypocitraturia - The Hidden Reason People Keep Making Stones

If you've passed a kidney stone and you're terrified of it happening again, here's something most ER doctors don't have time to explain: about 60 percent of recurrent stone formers have a condition called hypocitraturia, which means low urinary citrate. It's not a disease you can feel. It shows up on a 24-hour urine test, and most people never get one ordered.

Citrate is the single most important inhibitor of calcium-based stone formation. It works two ways. First, it binds directly to calcium ions in the urine, forming soluble calcium citrate complexes instead of insoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Second, it raises urinary pH, which makes uric acid stones less likely to form. When urinary citrate drops below about 320 mg per 24 hours, your risk of recurrence climbs significantly.

A 2018 study in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology found that 12 weeks of Phyllanthus niruri intake significantly increased urinary magnesium and potassium and decreased urinary oxalate and uric acid in stone-forming patients.

A 2008 randomized trial in Urological Research showed that lemon juice was comparable to prescription potassium citrate at raising urinary citrate in hypocitraturic patients.

The Ruggenenti et al. 2022 eClinicalMedicine trial confirmed the citrate-raising effect over a long follow-up period in patients with calcium oxalate stones.

Our Stonebreaker formula pairs Phyllanthus niruri (which addresses the oxalate side) with lemon peel (which addresses the citrate side). This is the actual mechanistic logic behind the formula, not a marketing decision.

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📖 Pucci et al. (2018). Effect of Phyllanthus niruri on metabolic parameters of patients with kidney stone: a perspective for disease prevention. International Brazilian Journal of Urology, 44(4), 758-764.

📖 Aras et al. (2008). Can lemon juice be an alternative to potassium citrate in the treatment of urinary calcium stones in patients with hypocitraturia? A prospective randomized study. Urological Research, 36(6), 313-317.

📖 Ruggenenti et al. (2022). Fresh lemon juice supplementation for the prevention of recurrent stones in calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis: A pragmatic, prospective, randomised, open, blinded endpoint (PROBE) trial. eClinicalMedicine, 43, 101227.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🫚Marshmallow Root - The Demulcent That Makes Passing Stones Bearable

Marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis) has nothing to do with the white sugar cubes in your hot chocolate, although the candy did originally come from this plant. The medicinal use goes back to ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman pharmacology, and what makes it relevant to a kidney and gallbladder formula is one specific property: mucilage.

The root of Althaea officinalis is 25 to 35 percent mucilage by weight, consisting of complex polysaccharides called rhamnogalacturonans, arabinogalactans, and arabinans. When mucilage contacts water, it swells into a slippery gel.

When that gel contacts irritated mucous membranes, it forms a protective bioadhesive film. This is the mechanism behind marshmallow's use for sore throats, cough, and gastritis, and it's also the mechanism that matters when grit or stones are moving through your ureters and urethra.

A 2010 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (Deters et al.) demonstrated that marshmallow root aqueous extract didn't just coat cells passively, it actively stimulated epithelial cell physiology, doubled collagen synthesis in fibroblasts, and promoted tissue regeneration in vitro.

A 2020 study in Frontiers in Pharmacology showed that marshmallow root extract significantly reduced inflammatory markers and oxidative stress in activated macrophages, suppressing the inflammatory cytokine production that drives mucosal damage. The European Medicines Agency formally recognizes marshmallow root as a traditional herbal medicine for mucous membrane irritation.

In a stonebreaker formula, marshmallow root does the work of softening the path, so to speak. The other herbs are working on the stone. Marshmallow is working on the tissue the stone has to travel across.

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📖 Deters, Zippel, Hellenbrand, Pappai, Possemeyer, & Hensel (2010). Aqueous extracts and polysaccharides from Marshmallow roots (Althaea officinalis L.): Cellular internalisation and stimulation of cell physiology of human epithelial cells in vitro. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 127(1), 62-69.

📖 Bonaterra, Bronischewski, Hunold, Schwarzbach, Heinrich, Wormit, Bauer, Kinscherf, & Hatzelmann (2020). Anti-inflammatory and Anti-oxidative Effects of Phytohustil® and Root Extract of Althaea officinalis L. on Macrophages in vitro. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11, 290.

📖 European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) (2016). European Union herbal monograph on Althaea officinalis L., radix. EMA/HMPC/436679/2015.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🪻Hydrangea Root - The Plant That Moves What's Stuck

Hydrangea root has been used by Cherokee herbalists, by the Eclectic physicians of 19th-century America, and across European folk medicine specifically for one purpose: moving stones and grit out of the kidneys and bladder. It's an old-school, well-documented herbalist's herb, and it deserves an honest treatment of where the science is and where it isn't.

The traditional mechanism is straightforward: Hydrangea arborescens root contains hydrangin (a coumarin glycoside), saponins, and flavonoids that act as a mild diuretic, increasing urine flow. More flow means stones and crystals don't have time to grow, and small ones get washed out before they become problems. This is the same principle behind drinking more water for stone prevention, but with a phytochemical assist.

Direct clinical research on Hydrangea arborescens in humans is genuinely thin, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. However, a closely related species, Hydrangea paniculata (which shares the same family and major coumarin chemistry), has substantial peer-reviewed research on renal protection.

A 2017 study in Frontiers in Pharmacology showed that total coumarins from Hydrangea paniculata protected kidneys against acute kidney injury through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms, mediated by NF-κB pathway suppression.

A 2013 study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that skimmin, the dominant coumarin in Hydrangea (also present in H. arborescens), significantly reduced blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and urinary albumin in an animal model of membranous glomerulonephritis.

The traditional use plus the coumarin chemistry tells a coherent story. Hydrangea moves what's loose, and the underlying anti-inflammatory chemistry may protect the tissue while it's doing it.
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📖 Zhang, Sun, Wang, Cao, Mou, Wang, Bao, Wang, & Yao (2017). Total Coumarins from Hydrangea paniculata Show Renal Protective Effects in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Kidney Injury via Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 8, 872.

📖 Zhang, Zhang, Wang, Xu, & Yao (2013). Skimmin, a Coumarin from Hydrangea paniculata, Slows down the Progression of Membranous Glomerulonephritis by Anti-Inflammatory Effects and Inhibiting Immune Complex Deposition. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013, 819296.

📖 Felter & Lloyd (1898/1983 reprint). King's American Dispensatory: Hydrangea arborescens monograph, documenting traditional clinical use for urinary calculi.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🌿Rosemary - The Liver-Kidney Connection Nobody Talks About

Your kidneys don't work in isolation. Anything that hits your kidneys has already passed through your liver, which means a stressed liver hands a heavier load to the kidneys downstream. This is one of the most overlooked mechanisms in stone prevention. If you want healthy kidneys, you support the liver first. Rosemary does this exceptionally well.

A 2014 study in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine tested rosemary essential oil against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats. Pre-treatment with rosemary oil cut elevated AST and ALT (the standard liver enzyme markers) by up to half, prevented lipid peroxidation in liver tissue, and reversed the depletion of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, the three enzymes most central to your liver's antioxidant defense. The active compounds responsible are carnosol, carnosic acid, rosmarinic acid, and ursolic acid.

A 2019 study published in the Journal of Functional Foods documented that rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid significantly reduced liver triglycerides, total cholesterol, and free fatty acids in a model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, partially by upregulating AMPK signaling.

A 2002 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that rosemary extract significantly protected liver tissue from acute hepatotoxicity, with effects comparable to silymarin (the standard herbal liver protectant from milk thistle). Rosemary also has traditional use as a choleretic, meaning it stimulates bile flow from the liver. Better bile flow means better fat digestion, which matters for gallbladder stone prevention.

This is the connecting tissue of the whole Stonebreaker formula.
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📖 Rašković, Milanović, Pavlović, Ćebović, Vukmirović, & Mikov (2014). Antioxidant activity of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) essential oil and its hepatoprotective potential. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 14, 225.

📖 Sotelo-Félix, Martinez-Fong, Muriel, Santillán, Castillo, & Yahuaca (2002). Evaluation of the effectiveness of Rosmarinus officinalis (Lamiaceae) in the alleviation of carbon tetrachloride-induced acute hepatotoxicity in the rat. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 81(2), 145-154.

📖 Zhao, Sedighi, Wang, Chen, & Wang (2019). Regulation effects of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis Linn.) on hepatic lipid metabolism in OA induced NAFLD rats. Food & Function, 10(11), 7561-7574.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

🍋Lemon Peel - The Citrate Connection

Here's something most people don't know: your urinary citrate level is one of the most important predictors of whether you'll form kidney stones.

Citrate binds to calcium in the urine before it can crystallize with oxalate, and it raises urine pH just enough to slow crystal formation. People who form recurrent stones almost always have low urinary citrate (a condition called hypocitraturia), and the standard medical treatment is, literally, prescription potassium citrate tablets.

Lemons are the highest-citrate food on earth. A 2022 randomized, single-center, prospective trial published in eClinicalMedicine (Lancet) followed 203 patients with recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones. Patients drinking 60mL of fresh lemon juice twice daily, alongside a standard diet, were tracked over time for stone recurrence.

The study found significant increases in urinary citrate excretion in the lemon group, though the recurrence reduction was modest in the overall population. A 2008 prospective randomized study in Urological Research directly compared lemon juice to potassium citrate in patients with hypocitraturia and found both significantly raised urinary citrate and reduced calcium stone risk markers.

A 2021 narrative review in Nutrients synthesized 13 studies and concluded that lemon juice consistently raises urinary citrate, which is the dominant mechanism behind its protective effect against calcium stone formation. Our formula uses lemon peel specifically, which concentrates the citrate-supporting flavonoids (hesperidin, eriocitrin, diosmin) alongside the citric acid.

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📖 Ruggenenti, Caruso, Cortinovis, Perna, Peracchi, Giuliano, Rota, Brambilla, Invernici, Villa, Diadei, Trillini, Natali, & Remuzzi (2022). Fresh lemon juice supplementation for the prevention of recurrent stones in calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis: A pragmatic, prospective, randomised, open, blinded endpoint (PROBE) trial. eClinicalMedicine, 43, 101227.

📖 Aras, Kalfazade, Tuğcu, Kemahli, Özbay, Polat, & Taşçi (2008). Can lemon juice be an alternative to potassium citrate in the treatment of urinary calcium stones in patients with hypocitraturia? A prospective randomized study. Urological Research, 36(6), 313-317.

📖 Bao, Wei, Borghi, Meschi, & Tiselius (2021). Role of Citrus Fruit Juices in Prevention of Kidney Stone Disease (KSD): A Narrative Review. Nutrients, 13(11), 4117.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/13/2026

The Stonebreaker Formula - Why Five Plants, Not One

A lot of "stonebreaker" products on the market are just Phyllanthus niruri capsules. There's a reason ours isn't. Kidney stone formation isn't one mechanism, it's a cascade: low urinary citrate lets calcium crystallize, oxalate binds to it, crystals aggregate, they stick to tubular cells, inflammation locks them in place, and sluggish urine flow gives them time to grow. Hitting only one step is like fixing one leak in a sinking boat.

The Stonebreaker formula combines five plants because each one addresses a different point in that cascade.

Phyllanthus niruri (chanca piedra) interferes with crystal aggregation and modifies stone structure.

Lemon peel delivers citrate, the body's most important urinary stone inhibitor.

Rosemary supports the liver, where 80% of your detoxification happens before anything reaches your kidneys.

Hydrangea root increases urine flow to mechanically move what's loose. Marshmallow root soothes the inflamed tissue that stones drag across on their way out.

Over the next several posts, we're going to walk through each plant individually with the peer-reviewed research behind it. The mechanisms are real, the studies are published, and the synergy is the whole point.

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📖 Boim, Heilberg, & Schor (2010). Phyllanthus niruri as a promising alternative treatment for nephrolithiasis. International Brazilian Journal of Urology, 36(6), 657-664.

📖 Pucci et al. (2018). Effect of Phyllanthus niruri on metabolic parameters of patients with kidney stone: a perspective for disease prevention. International Brazilian Journal of Urology, 44(4), 758-764.

📖 Aggarwal, Tandon, & Singla (2010). Diuretics: A review. The Ann Pharmacother and related phytotherapy reviews on multi-component urolithiasis formulas, e.g., Butterweck & Khan (2009). Herbal medicines in the management of urolithiasis: alternative or complementary? Planta Medica, 75(10), 1095-1103.

Potent full-spectrum herbal tincture crafted to support kidney and gallbladder elimination pathways, mineral balance, and healthy flow.*

05/12/2026

Chamomile & California Poppy: Two Powerhouse Plants, Backed by Modern Trials

Menstrual cramps are mediated by prostaglandins, the inflammatory signaling molecules produced in the uterine lining that drive the contractions causing pain. NSAIDs work by blocking prostaglandin synthesis. So does chamomile.

A 2021 systematic review in the International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery reviewed 7 clinical trials with a combined 1,033 women and concluded that Matricaria chamomilla is effective for both pain and bleeding volume in primary dysmenorrhea.

Multiple individual trials referenced inside that review found chamomile was comparable in effect to mefenamic acid, a standard prescription NSAID for menstrual cramps, without the gastric side effects.

The mechanism: chamomile's apigenin and bisabolol inhibit prostaglandin and leukotriene production, while its flavonoids interact with benzodiazepine-like binding sites in the central nervous system, taking the edge off pain perception itself.

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) layers in differently. A 2004 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial published in Current Medical Research and Opinion enrolled 264 patients with mild-to-moderate generalized anxiety.

A fixed combination including California poppy extract proved significantly more effective than placebo over 3 months. A 2015 study identified the molecular mechanism: California poppy alkaloids, particularly (S)-reticuline, act as positive allosteric modulators at GABA-A receptors.

That's the same class of receptors targeted by benzodiazepines, but through a gentler binding profile. Earlier work in Phytotherapy Research documented sedative, anxiolytic, and peripheral analgesic effects, with the anxiolytic effects suppressed by flumazenil, confirming the benzodiazepine-receptor mechanism.

Chamomile for the cramps, California poppy for the anxiety and the deep tissue ache that radiates out from the pelvis. Together they cover both the inflammatory and the nervous-system sides of cycle pain. Our 2.5X Strength Cham-Pop is built specifically for this. The pain doesn't have to dominate your month. 👉 https://go-toorganics.com/product-details/product/cham-pop

📖 Niazi & Moradi (2021). The Effect of Chamomile on Pain and Menstrual Bleeding in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery, 9(3), 174-186.

📖 Hanus, Lafon, & Mathieu (2004). Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a fixed combination containing two plant extracts (Crataegus oxyacantha and Eschscholtzia californica) and magnesium in mild-to-moderate anxiety disorders. Current Medical Research and Opinion, 20(1), 63-71.

📖 Fedurco, Gregorová, Šebrlová, Kantorová, Peš, Baur, Sigel, & Táborská (2015). Modulatory Effects of Eschscholzia californica Alkaloids on Recombinant GABAA Receptors. Biochemistry Research International, 2015, 617620.

05/12/2026

Chanca Piedra: The Plant Brazilian Doctors Use for Kidney Stones

The Spanish name is "stone breaker." Piedra means stone, chanca means to break. The herb is Phyllanthus niruri, and it's been used in Amazonian, Brazilian, and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries to dissolve kidney and gallstones and to ease their passage. What's interesting is that modern Brazilian urology has actually taken this seriously enough to study it in clinical settings.

A 2018 prospective study published in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology enrolled 56 patients with kidney stones under 10mm. They drank Phyllanthus niruri infusion for 12 weeks, followed by a 12-week washout. The results: significantly decreased urinary oxalate and uric acid in patients with hyperoxaluria and hyperuricosuria (the two biggest stone-promoting metabolic abnormalities), significantly increased urinary magnesium and potassium (both stone inhibitors), and documented elimination of urinary calculi, with no significant adverse effects.

A 2010 review in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology by Boim, Heilberg & Schor (one of the senior nephrology research groups studying this plant) concluded that Phyllanthus niruri interferes with calcium oxalate crystal aggregation, modifies crystal structure, and reduces the binding of crystals to tubular cells. That's three distinct mechanisms by which stones form, addressed by one plant. A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis in the Canadian Journal of Urology confirmed modest but real efficacy in reducing stone burden across the available controlled studies.

If you've ever passed a stone, you know it's an experience you don't forget. Our Kidney & Gallbladder Formula is built around Phyllanthus niruri at therapeutic strength, and it's currently 21% off. 👉 https://go-toorganics.com/product-details/product/stonebreaker

📖 Pucci, Marchini, Mazzucchi, Reis, Srougi, Evazian, & Nahas (2018). Effect of Phyllanthus niruri on metabolic parameters of patients with kidney stone: a perspective for disease prevention. International Brazilian Journal of Urology, 44(4), 758-764.

📖 Boim, Heilberg, & Schor (2010). Phyllanthus niruri as a promising alternative treatment for nephrolithiasis. International Brazilian Journal of Urology, 36(6), 657-664.

📖 Pickard, Olweny, & Pais (2020). Phyllanthus niruri (stone breaker) herbal therapy for kidney stones; a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy, and Google Trends analysis of public interest. Canadian Journal of Urology, 27(2), 10162-10166.