Is fish oil good for kidney stones?

The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment.

Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, the show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Hello, Jeff.

How's it going? Got all the bright colors now. Such a such a shift from where we were before.

I'm still in my regular uniform of black or, other than a couple weeks ago, I had a white shirt. But…

I almost fell off I almost fell off my chair when I saw you in white. I'm like, " oh. Wow."

Yeah, that's what happens when we're at the beach.

But, yeah. So, it is fun with all these new colors and I know we're We've introduced a bunch of colors into the clothing at Kidney Stone Diet, too, which we don't normally We haven't talked about too much, but there are like hoodies and tees and different things in case you are interested in also I guess representing the brand, but also having that little bit of inspiration to remind you to stay on track.

Yeah, the latest ones we have they're called we have Rockstar T-shirts and tanks and hoodies and stuff. So, because, you know, we are a community of stoners here, so I so we made one that says Rockstar. It doesn't doesn't tell people that you have kidney stones, but you know you do, so.

But the whole goal here is so you don't you don't have to wear that shirt. But, yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff at the shop, Kidney Stone Diet. All kinds of things, go to the merch page, people love it, water bottles, all kinds of stuff.

Lots of fun things. And, yes, we are bringing in a lot of colors. I was always a black-wearing person and, yeah, I've just I'm enjoying looking like a bag of Skittles almost these days.

Plus, it's summer, you know, so you could wear lots of tank tops and stuff, and it's like it's going to be 102° here this week. So, you know, got to wear I All I do is wear tank tops in the summer. It's just so hot.

So, I'm real excited about the colors, and I've adjusted to it. So, change is change for everybody. Even me, so, yeah.

Well, yeah. And we might even think that change just changing what we're wearing, our style, that like, "Oh, well, that's nothing. It's just a color on a shirt." But all of it goes against our just core nature.

Like, we just, as humans, we want everything to stay the same. That's just how we're we're wired. So, it is, even a small change like that is can be dramatic for some.

It can be. And it's so true. It's like, you know, when I'm talking to people every day, my private clients, and they're like, "You know, Jill, I've had the same lunch since I was 15 years old." you know, because people are creatures of habit.

So, to ask people to eat a variety of food like I'm always doing, they're always They're just like it's it's very difficult for people. They just want to know what they're eating every day. They don't want to think about it.

Just go on autopilot. And I push back. How could you not be thinking about how you fuel your body?

Wouldn't Doesn't that deserve some kind of thought to eat responsibly? But that's what I hear all day, "I don't want to have to think about this." But without your body, you don't have anything. So, I think it's not like you have to sit there writing a dissertation on what you're going to have for lunch, but can you mix it up a little?

Just add some vegetables. I mean, it's a bologna sandwich every day with mayonnaise, really? You know, so I do always push back with that.

It's like just add a wide variety of food is super important to your body. It's it's a And we should be thinking a little bit more about how we're going to fuel this machine of ours. It's super important.

You know, I'm not winning any friends and some people hang up, "Oh, well, too bad. So sad." It's the way it is.

Yeah, it's just important. But, yeah.

It is. Yeah.

I think we'll dive into this week's question. It's another listener question. That number is 773-789-8763 if you have a question.

But let's dive right in.

Okay.

Hi, Jeff. Hi, Jill. This is Jane in Dallas, Texas.

Thank you all so much for all the work that you're doing. I know so many of us really appreciate it. Just a question on fish oil.

I read somewhere where taking salmon supplements fish oil was not only good for the kidneys, but also helped with kidney stones. I don't know if they were talking about prevention or not, but wanted to ask you about that and get your opinion. All right.

Thank you.

Who What was the name?

That is Jane in Dallas.

Jane. Okay, Jane in Dallas. Honey, I know it's hot there for you.

My goodness. So, Omega-3s, fish oil pills. If you Any supplement in the world, they'll say, "It's good for this, good for that, good for this, good for that." Is there good research saying it is?

So, look at my pill box. I know not everyone's watching on YouTube. Some are on Spotify, some are on Audible, some are on Apple Hoozy-Boozy, wherever the hell you're looking.

But look what I take every day: Omega-3 fish oil. I take that, I take my vitamin D, 'cause mine is low. Boop.

And then I take my B12, 'cause mine's always low 'cause of my bowel issues. So, that's that's what I take. Do I think it's preventing stones?

That would be no. I do not. So, there So, there's no research, good research, that says fish oil is going to prevent kidney stones, none that I've ever seen.

So I don't agree with that statement. Do I, however, think there's great health benefits to Omega-3 fish oil? Yes, I do.

It has shown to be lowering in cholesterol. There are a lot of good things about it. Does everyone need to take it?

Maybe not. Is that something you should talk to your doctor about before you start? Perhaps, you should.

I don't just take supplements without telling talking to my doctor and my doctor saying, "Yeah, Jill, you might want to take that." I'm always low in my B vitamins because I don't eat red meat and I have bowel disease and due to my cancer, and the vitamin D is low 'cause I live in Chicago. It's tested every year. And then the fish is because I have genetically The fish oil, I have genetically high cholesterol.

I'm not on meds for it, so my doctor also recommended that for me. But, please, vitamins, people, are not like Pez candy, that it's just, "Oh, I just think a vitamin's not going to hurt anything." You'd be surprised what I've heard vitamins hurt. And there are certain vitamins that can increase your kidney stone risk, like vitamin C.

So, just don't take vitamins willy-nilly, people. And they also have side effects, and they're also not studied that well. And the labs that put them out, nobody's checking them.

They're not FDA approved. There's all kinds of things. So, I treat them as medications, quite frankly.

But, to answer your question, Jane, is the Omega the fish oil pills going to help kidney stones? No. There's There's some things that will say it will low it's it's good for kidney stone prevention, it will lower your citrate.

Guess what? We don't want low citrate. We want higher citrate!

So, I don't even know how somebody can write that and put it on the internet. I've seen some things that say it can lower urine calcium and lower urine oxalate. No good research around that.

A lot of claims, but no good research. Okay? So, I think it's an excellent question.

I would not suggest to use that for kidney stone prevention. Here's the other reason I'm not a fan for supplements. But, Jane, so I answered your question, but I'm going off a little 'cause she's like, "What the hell?

I didn't ask about all this." I know, Jane, but I want to talk a little bit more about supplements. I've had a lot of patients come to me because their naturopaths and holistic doctors put them on hundreds of dollars a month on of supplements, and then they got a kidney stone because of some of those supplements, okay? So, pay attention to that.

The other thing is when we take supplements, we there's a lot of false hope given each time you take that supplement. "Oh, if I take this, I never have to worry about a cold. Oh, my immune system by taking this is like I'm like Superman here." Don't forget about diet and exercise.

If you want to boost your immune system, stay away from sick people, move your bum, and eat well. And all food within moderation, including healthy food, as a lot of stoners found out. Too much healthy food, spinach and almond products, cause the kidney stone.

So, also So, I'm taking these vitamins because my doctor suggested that I do based upon blood tests. Vitamins are not Pez candy. Vitamins should not be used to think you're boosting your immune system.

Because what I have is patients taking these vitamins, thinking that everything's great now that they're on a supplement, and their diet sucks, and they haven't moved in 10 years! So, vitamins do not supersede nourishing your body and moving your body. I just want to make that clear, 'cause I'm a pain in the neck and we all know it.

But that's just an important thing. I can't tell you how many people are like, "Well, Jill, I thought I was I was taking these pills, I thought I was good." Yeah, but you're you're eating junk food all day long. You know, those don't take over or they're not cancelling a poor diet and not moving your body.

And moving your body is many different things. It doesn't have to be lifting weights, it doesn't have to be yoga, it has to do the thing it has to be the thing that you enjoy. And that's what you'll do consistently.

So, Jane, there's nothing miracle There's nothing miraculous with kidney stone prevention and Omega-3s. So, but if you and your doctor think that would be beneficial for you, please do take them if your doctor and you decide they're beneficial for you, but they're not going to prevent your kidney stones.

Yeah, it's easy to just assume, or not assume, but we're hopeful. We're hopeful that all of this will move the needle, like this one thing, this simple task, which because it feels like activity and doing things, like that doesn't feel simple. But if we look at it just more as a binary, either I'm being active or I'm not, then suddenly it's like more simple.

It's like, "Oh, I went I walked out to get the mail. I walked you walked Finn." It could be going to the gym, it could be doing different things, but like it doesn't have to be so complex. And it But it's hard to think about, say, activity just as the example 'cause it came up, but as in the same way that we would about like a pill, like some sort of supplement, if it's like, "Oh, this will make my life better," it feels easy, just pop it in, "Okay, now I'm going to be better."

Exactly. It's the, you know, the quick fix that we all want, of course. I'm going to say, "You want to do something n-" "Well, Jill, vitamins are natural." No, they're not.

It's a pill! Food's natural. Food is natural.

So, start with the Kidney Stone Diet. That's where you want to start. And you're going to say, "Well, yeah, because that's what you do." Yeah, it's what I do and it works.

So, is it the end-all, be-all? Up to 80% of stones can be just taken You will never make another stone again. Up to 80% of you, we can stop recurrence by doing the Kidney Stone Diet and sometimes medications along with the Kidney Stone Diet.

How do you know if you need a medication to prevent kidney stones? You do a 24-hour urine collection because there's things in there that you would never know you have until you did that. So, that is a must.

Number one, first thing you must do is that. Drink more water, can start that right away, too. Lowering your salt and added sugars.

Starting the Kidney Stone Diet is a benign thing, meaning it's good for anything: heart disease, diabetes. I mean, we're we're telling you to lower your salt and lower your sugar, right? It's the DASH diet, but with the oxalate part of it.

And the DASH diet is always rated number one diet. So, it's the DASH diet, and we call it the Kidney Stone Diet, Dr. Coe and I, because of the oxalate part of it.

But it's just a healthy diet. So, if you want to do something natural to prevent kidney stones, do the diet. All right?

And then, if you need supplements because the doctor has asked you to start some supplements based upon lab testing, do that, too. But there's not a lot of supplement There's no supplements that are going to prevent kidney stones. Although, technically, potassium citrate is You need a prescription for it, but it is technically a supplement because both of those things are found in our body, so that constitutes a supplement.

That can help prevent kidney stones if it's needed. And, again, the only way you know if that's needed, don't ever generically take that 'cause you could be making matters worse, is by doing a 24-hour urine collection.

And that only works for certain types of stones as well.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Yes.

Yeah, so just so it's definitely not a blanket statement that can There's no magic pill across the board. Everything is different, everything is just it matters. The urine analysis that's on the site, that's something that we haven't mentioned for a little bit, but that's so important to do your 24-hour urine collection and then to understand actually what the results are, you can talk to Jill directly and Jill will help walk you through exactly what's what in there because it can be it's a lot.

We don't We don't know what we're looking at.

Yeah, the urine consult the urine analysis consult is it's complicated, actually. Those Many doctors don't understand how to interpret that report, and that's true. They're surgeons, so, you know, they're doing something different than that.

So, it's complicated to read and then put together a plan for patients. Now, my job is to help patients understand those reports, so when they go to their doctor's office, they are well-educated and ask really great questions. And from that, they can get on the best kidney stone plan prevention plan for them, so they can decrease their risk.

That service is very valuable. And I Listen, there's so many things in life I'm not good at. The things that I am good at, I am going to sing about, and we all should in life.

I'm just telling you as a patient Sorry, as that's Finn. As a patient myself, I wish that I had somebody to talk to before I went into all my chemotherapy or my doctor office visits, whatever, so I could ask better questions. And because I went through that experience not asking great questions, I came up with this service for kidney stone patients and it's very valuable.

And I don't give a darn if you buy it or not, I'm just telling you, as a patient, that's helpful to have somebody help you before you talk to your doctor. Because also, as a patient, I remember and still to this day, you know, you're afraid your stones are going to come back, you're afraid your tumors are going to come back, and so as soon as you see the doctor, we get nervous.

And so, even me, you know, as much as I know, you just you just lose all rationale when it comes about you, you know? So, it's it's scary in the doctor's office. You never know what kind of news you're going to get, what your CTs or x-rays say, the urine collection says, all that stuff.

There's a lot of anxiety with being ill, a lot. And so, that service makes those doctor office visits, you feel in control, you feel like you got it together, you're proud of yourself. It's all that, that's how you feel, so they're valuable.

Yeah, you can find that and everything else at kidneystonediet.com, including the free Have a Better Doctor's Visit document, which we have on there, too. Just across the board, to have better questions to ask, just trying to add and improve your experience going through this, because we know just how debilitating it all is, and no one should feel alone.

At the end of the day, there's so many people that are going through this, have gone through this, so many people in the community. There's the Kidney Stone Prevention Facebook Group where how many people are How large is that group now? Do you know off-hand?

I think I don't know, 17, 18,000, 17,000, I don't know, it's a lot.

But, yeah, you're not alone, though. There's so many people out there going through the same thing, who many people are on the other side now, thankfully. They've been focused on diet, focused on taking care of themselves, and they also can help just boost you up and sort of let you know there is sort of light at the end of the tunnel.

Right now could be the worst time, but there is positive there are positives in the future when you're focused on your health. So, yeah, you can find everything, kidneystonediet.com, the free email newsletter that comes out every weekend keeping you on track, the urine analysis, the meal plans, the prevention course, and just all the free content on the blog and everything else.

And, yeah, you can find that at kidneystonediet.com. And if you have

Oxalate food list. The oxalate food list, yes, that's very key.

That is huge. That is such an a big part because it uses the Harvard list, which is what you have trusted for decades to have the right information. So, thanks again, Jane, for your question.

If you're out there with a question, the number's 773-789-8763, or you can email [email protected]. You can just send a little voice memo our way, and we'll feature you on a future episode. So, thanks again, everyone, for tuning in, and we will see you next week.

Thanks, Jane. Great question.