Do energy drinks cause kidney stones?

The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting a new 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, my big… Nurse.

Yeah, I like the hand right over the mic right when we cut.

I mean, you know, look, listen, the fact that I even show up and I'm here and recording something on my phone is pretty much miraculous. Now, the fact that I'm not doing it well is not surprising.

Oh no, you're doing well. It's just, we always have our fun moments, that's all. But yeah, actually…

Yeah, look, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. What were you going to say?

No, no, I was going to say something completely different, but did you notice the elevated pollution in Chicago last night?

Oh my gosh, Jeff. I will tell you what, so there's a lot of people in Chicago today wearing masks. Was it last week or the week before, two weeks ago?

It was, we were the worst in the country as far as the air quality. And so, you know, I'm walking little Finn and everything and I love my walks, but I will tell you, the one day, for some reason, I must have been extra busy that day, and I wasn't aware for some reason. And when I got, when I was done with that day, I was in bed and I'm like, oh my god, my throat feels like I smoked a pack of cigarettes, what the hell?

And I'm like, what is the air quality, by the way? And it was really messed up for a few days here. And now today again it is.

It is amazing what those fires in Canada are doing. It's really, it's scary, isn't it? Yeah.

And last night, when I went to bed, I fell asleep, out cold. I woke up sneezing non-stop. I just could not stop because like we always cool the house at night, keep it like a cooler temperature, so the AC was just bringing in all of the particles and it was wild.

Like I couldn't control it at all. So, like today I probably am going to sound a little congested, a little just like rough in the throat, but it's like it's wild what those things can do even despite our best efforts to take care of ourselves. The environment plays a huge role as well.

Absolutely, and you know, well, I'm not going to get into it here because that's a hot, that's a hot topic, but you know, we've got to take what we're doing to the climate, and we've got to be really serious about that because you're darn right, it does affect us, right? So, this is a nice reminder, all this smoke and things, you know, coming in from Canada.

You know, what the environment, like you said, can actually do to our bodies, despite the fact that we're doing everything that we possibly can to live a healthy life, right? So, it's just a little wake-up call, which I think every wake-up call is important in life, and this one is, too. It's like, again, we just take air quality for granted.

It's right? So, I'm always I always marvel at all the things that we take for granted, and the air quality lately has been something, so, yeah. That's, you're absolutely right, couldn't agree more.

Yeah, and we do our best. We have to do our best with what we can control, but there are things that will always be outside of our control that we need to, we need to focus where we can. But yeah, I just wanted to bring that up because that was wild last night for me.

I just couldn't…

Yeah, it's interesting. It's also a reminder that despite all of our efforts, there's just some things in the world we can't control. And the reason I say that, you could say, "Oh my god, well, what the hell am I doing then?

Why am I worried so much about what I eat?" Because there are things we can't control. So with the things that we can, most days, we should try our best to eat well and move, right? Because there's lots of factors, like genetics, air quality, environment, all things that there are real things that we can't, you know, eat, eat, eat, eat or run from, right?

Meaning, there's something. There's there's other factors, so we should be doing our best to do what we can because there are other factors that we cannot control. But originally, what I was going to say is, and it's a reminder to those of us who are perfectionists that we need to chill a little.

It's okay. We're not asking, remember, we're not asking for perfection with a healthy lifestyle. That's really boring.

And that just adds more anxiety to our plates, and we don't want that, right? So nobody here is trying to be perfect. We're just eating as well as we can, given what the day gives us, and we move on and that's it.

So just a little reminder for all the perfectionists out there, which many of you will be if you're coming here and trying to educate yourself. You're somebody who is on the ball, you want to learn, and so we've got to be careful. Not taking education seriously and prevention seriously is a problem.

Overdoing it the other way and making yourself an anxious mess and, you know, overwhelmed, that's just the other side of the coin, and that's not healthy for you, either. So again, along with food, everything in moderation, right? So that means an extra reminder today to be gentle with yourself, be patient with yourself, have compassion, you will get this.

It takes time. You're looking at major changes here, but you will get it day by day. That's what I want to say there, Jeff.

Yeah, absolutely, so important. So what do you say we get into this week's question? We're doing things a little bit differently.

If you have a question you want to leave a voicemail, the number is 773-789-8763. But we're also setting up an email account because Mish on, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, on YouTube commented that she's in Australia and can't actually call the number. So if you want your voice on an episode, you can either call the number or email a voice memo to [email protected] and we will go through those and pick them out for the show.

Also, we won't be responding to any emails at [email protected], just as a little reminder, everything else would go to Jill, this will just come right to the show.

Does that mean, Jeff, that they write an email and they write it and it transcribes into a voicemail? Is that…

So that is a good question. So on your phone, there's an app called Voice Memos. So you can actually just record yourself talking right into your phone, and then you can send an email from there to [email protected], and it'll attach the audio.

Yeah, and then we can just play the audio on the show, just like we do with the voicemails. So, yeah, that'll just be something new starting next time.

Yeah, the young'uns will understand everything Jeff said. All the Meemaws and Meepaws like me are going to be like, " I'll just call the number." But for you young'uns, do what Jeff said.

Yeah, especially if you're out of the country because of the international. But anyway, let's dive right in. So Mish asked, asked, "Hello, I can't call as I am in Australia.

I would like to know if Red Bull No Sugar is bad. It has no sugar, but artificial sweeteners. I would also like to know if vodka is bad.

I know these are not good all around in health, but just speaking of oxalate and with kidney stones. I drink once every two weeks, sometimes once a week. I'm still young and go out to the club/bar here and there.

I have around six to eight shots of vodka and two cans of Red Bull No Sugar when I have my nights out. Thanks, and I would really love to hear from you and your perspective."

Okay, so now I'm reminded that the caller, Mish, asked if, asked in regards to oxalate. She's like, "Listen, girl, I know that this stuff ain't health food, but I'm just I'm wondering, do I have to worry about this for oxalate, Red Bull No Sugar and then, the vodka?" Well, so, good news for you, Mish, there's no oxalate in vodka.

Let me see something for a second. Red Bull No Sugar ingredients. Let's see the ingredients.

Okay, so Red Bull has carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, all kinds of all kinds of good little junk stuff in there. Caffeine, of course, we know that. The fake sugar, yes.

And so it has stuff in there, you know. Is it Is it a health food? Course not, Mish, you know that.

There's a lot of caffeine in those puppies, but I figure if you're dancing all night and you're young, whatever. So what I would say about the Red Bull No Sugar, it's great that you're doing the no sugar version. That's great.

I'm not worried about it for kidney stones, actually. I wouldn't make it a staple drink. There's, you know, it's it's just it's like a diet soda, except it has, you know, it has magnesium in it, it has caffeine in it, it has, you know, sodium bicarb in there.

So there's certain things in it, like citric acid, sodium bicarb, and magnesium carbonate. There's certain things ingredients, I didn't know what was in Red Bull, I looked it up now as Jeff read the question, and so there's certain things in there that may raise your urine pH, may. May.

And you may say, "Oh, good, I want an alkaline urine." Well, you don't know if you do. If you haven't had a urine collection, you don't know if your pH is already high, and having a really high urine pH can increase another type of stone risk, calcium phosphate. So you're just having one here and there, but also, if I were talking to you privately, I would I would drill you a little bit.

If you're young, and you're you said you're only going to the club, you know, maybe three times a month, I would drill you and make sure that's it. Because you're saying you're having one can of Red Bull, but you're having six shots of vodka at a time, not at a time, but throughout the night, okay? Well, that's kind of a lot.

Is it going to make a kidney stone? No, it's not going to necessarily make a kidney stone. If you were drinking that all the time, could dehydrate you, you will be eating crappy food, because no one's looking for health food after six shots of vodka.

That would be burritos, and that would be, you know, junk. That's what people do when they're drunk, or buzzed, or whatever, or drinking a lot, okay? No one's going to their local lettuce store.

So there's different factors. Is the vodka going to increase your stone risk? Does it have oxalate?

No, it does not. It does not have oxalate, so you don't have to worry about that. The Red Bull, if you're truly having one a few times a month, I don't care about that either.

Again, it's the kind you're young, you're going to have fun, you're going to party, I get that. I don't want you doing it every night, obviously, I know you're not doing that, but, you know, I will say six shots, unless you're a big, I don't know if this is a woman or a man. Unless you're a big…

Yeah, this is a woman.

It's a woman, so, you know, how much do you weigh? Six shots, and yes, you may say, "Well, you're old, Grandma." But the thing is, I'm little. It's not about old.

I used to be able I've never been able to drink a lot because of my weight and stuff, so a couple drinks and I'm buzzed. So I've always kind of been a lightweight. But if you let me let me say this.

I know it's taking a while, Mish, but I want to say this. If you're able to deal with six shots of vodka, are you really only drinking a couple times a month? Because I'd be on the floor with six drinks of vodka, six shots, if I my body wasn't used to that.

So I'm just going to push a little back, and I want to hear, and this is a this is a very loving, supporting, no judgment, believe me, I've done shit in my life, girl, okay? So it's not about judgment. I want to make sure that what you're saying is really what's going on.

So I'm annoying, I always think a little bit extra. She's saying she only goes out a couple times a month, a few times, four times a month, but she's drinking when she goes out, she's saying she's having six shots of vodka. Holy Pujols, that's a lot, okay?

So I'm just a little confused. What I'm going to say is, if what you're doing is truly what you're doing, I don't mind it here and there. I don't mind the Red Bull.

I think the vodka is a lot in one night. I think that's a lot, but that's just me. For your health, honey, I don't care what else you're doing, you know what I'm saying?

Strictly for your health. And then the fake sugar, there's a lot of reports nowadays talking about the fake sugar. We will do a video on that.

I want to have all my ducks in a row. I've looked at these studies. These studies are based upon if you're having like 14 sodas a day or diet sodas a day.

Nobody's drinking that much soda, okay? So the dose makes the poison, guys. So be careful with this research.

The WHO also lists even more carcinogenic than the fake sugar, cell phones. So unless you're willing also to give up your cell phone, rethink about what this WHO is saying. They also do things to get clickbait and all kinds of stuff.

So we're going to go over, it'll be a lot more science-y when we make that video. But do I use fake sugar here and there? Absolutely.

In moderation, there is no proof at all that fake sugar will increase your cancer risk. There's not enough proof about this at all, and even the slightest of increased risk doesn't mean you're getting cancer, but you've got to pay attention to these studies. Know how to read them, because if you don't, you're just going to believe this.

And it's the dose, so you're most of you are not having 10, 20, 15, 30 cans of diet soda, folks. It's about the dose here. Now, there is going to be pushback that I said that.

People are going to be like, "How could you promote fake sugar?" I'm not promoting anything. I'm telling you're not going to get cancer. That research that has been done is not sufficient enough, not even in the least, okay?

A person who is having a Diet Coke here and there is not getting cancer from that. You're going to get cancer faster from a cell phone than you're going to be doing that. And like I said, no one's putting down their TikToks, okay?

Now, so I'm not telling you to drink diet soda, but I you're not there is not enough science to show any increase of cancer. So I'm going off on that a little because I know people are going to write about it. If you do not want to use artificial sweeteners, God bless you, please don't.

Don't do that, okay? Don't do it if that's not something you want to do. I totally understand that.

Great. The reason I ever bring artificial sweeteners up, I use them maybe a couple times a week in little amounts, little amounts, think, you know, a packet of something, okay? The reason I say this, we talk about artificial sweeteners, is because you've got to recognize, people, there are morbidly obese, 300, 400, 500-lb people that are sugar addicts, and if they if they're trying to lose weight and they're going to go on artificial sweeteners to lessen their calories, and it's going to take them several months in order to get rid of their cravings and things like that, they're going to be told to use those sometimes so they can get rid of the extra weight, okay?

That will be more important than the risk of cancer in a packet of Stevia, or Equal, or whatever, okay? They will die from all the complications of being morbidly obese before they will in that Sweet 'N Low package, okay? So I just want to say that.

I welcome the comments as always, but before you comment, make sure you really read those studies that were pushed and that were promoted by the WHO, and you'll see what I'm talking about if you understand how to read the study. But if not, I'm going to break that down in a newsletter coming up real soon. If you want to join the newsletter, go to kidneystonediet.com, the start page, and you can join that newsletter.

We give a whole bunch of free resources out on that newsletter, and we'll eventually do a video here on YouTube, too. But I want to get it I want to get it really straight up for you so you can understand it better. All right, Jeff.

So she can have her Red Bull here and there. I don't love the amount of vodka in one night, that's a lot, and I do wonder if it's real the amount of day time she's doing it, or is it more frequency, because how is she tolerating six shots of vodka? So that would be my question.

I know I'm annoying, but that would be my question if I were working with her privately. I'd be like, "Sissy, is that real life? How you dealing with all that vodka?

I'd be on the floor." If I if I rarely had that much. Go ahead.

Oh, no, I mean, that's perfect because that is working directly with people is a huge part of what you do, either in the group setting or one-on-one. So this is a good way, this is almost a little representation of what it'll be like to work with you, which, like for everyone listening, can find all of that at kidneystonediet.com.

It's the one-on-one private coaching or the accountability group. And the accountability group is a is Jill with the group, with the community, answering questions, and it's connected to the Kidney Stone Prevention Course. So it's $19 a month to be in the accountability group after you purchase the course, and you can stick around and talk to Jill every week, even, which is wild.

It's such an over-value, an under-priced product. So like it's…

Listen, I'm $250 an hour, so you can talk to me for 6 hours a month for $19 a month. I mean, people, I'm giving my time away, but I do it so people stick with this, because you can you take the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, you'll learn everything you need about kidney stones, you'll come to the group calls, and then you get to I've had people lose 100 lbs, 60 lbs, 50 lbs, they stay in there to keep compliant, because diets don't work because people fall off the diets.

So it's a very cheap way to keep people supported and loved and motivated throughout their journey, because I always tell all my patients, these changes take time. Think 6 months to a year, okay? So for so if you were in the group call setting for $20 a for 6 months, it would still be less than a private with me.

I'm literally giving it away, okay? So it is very valuable, and we have a great time in there, too. So, also, you know, we're going to be working on a fat a fat loss page, a weight loss page, an you know, transformation page, because I've had a lot of patients who have taken the course or just have not taken the course, too, but did the Kidney Stone Diet, and the before and after pages, before and after pictures are pretty amazing, so we're working on that, too, right now.

So, lots of good things coming up, but the accountability group is amazing.

Yeah, so you can find all that at kidneystonediet.com and all the free resources, the free weekly email where Jill emails you to keep you on track, meal plans, everything. And one thing I haven't mentioned, we do have a Patreon. The Patreon was just because people asked how they could support the show, so it's patreon.com/kidneystonediet.

There is no extra content, there are no extra features, it's purely for those of you who've asked how to support beyond purchasing the product. So that's that's out there as well. And if you have a question, again, the number is 773-789-8763, or record a voice memo on your phone and email it to [email protected], and we would love to feature your voice in the future.

So I think that's a good spot to wrap. Thank you to Mish for leaving your comment, and if you also have a comment, comment below on YouTube. Whether you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, anywhere, if you head over to YouTube, that's where all the comments and community sort of are for each episode.

So with that, I think we will see you next week.

See you next week. Thanks, Mish, for your question. See you.