Does biotin cause kidney stones?

This week, Jill answers a listener question about cartilage and whether collagen and biotin are safe for kidney stone formers.

Jeff Sarris
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.

Jill Harris
And I’m Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse.

Jeff Sarris
So yeah, we are full slate today.

Jill Harris
So many shows and done so many things. I’m like, what? I mean, I’m just telling you people that were a little messed up during this video. It’s been a lot today, but we love doing it. And we try to get so many done when we’re together, because it’s so much fun to be together.

Jeff Sarris
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for the show. And then even the other things, because on the site, you’re gonna see some new videos around the course. And I mean, do you want to touch on that at all?

Jill Harris
Yeah, so we’re going to, I mean, by the time this is out, we will this this page should be up. So we’re also adding, so the kidney stone diet part of the kidney stone diet, a major part of it is people lose weight. And I always say, There’s nothing magical about it, people have been so scared from their kidney stone episode, that they’re going to do every everything in anything they can do to tighten up their diet. And that means getting rid of the excess salt, getting more fluids in doing all the goals of the kidney stone diet, which you can find a kidney stone diet.com. And so what’s amazing is the side effect of doing all this, because of these lousy Kidney stones are people get their life back, 90 pounds, 50 pounds. So the weight loss page is, like I said, Go to kidney stone diet.com. And it will probably be weight loss.

And you’ll see the transformations that my students and patients have made. And even people that have just been on the Facebook group just by really working day in and day out, and they’ve lost weight. They’ve changed their life. And also they don’t make kidney stones anymore. So I wanted to highlight that for people because so many people my age are you know, I’ve tried every diet, nothing works for me. And there’s reasons why diets don’t work for you.

Number one, diets don’t work very well if you’re depriving yourself constantly. So that’s why we’ve had the portion not perfection shirt on, because life is not meant not to have a french fry. Again, folks, even if there are high in oxalate, or they’re higher in calories, you gotta have some things, sometimes you just get right back to work. So in the kidney stone prevention course, we talk about that kind of stuff in the group calls, how do you get through obstacles, you’re going to have a plateau, if you’re losing weight, how do you keep on pushing through that plateau, because all of you want to keep losing weight, and fast. And I’m here to tell you that it takes a minute, and you have got to be patient, and you’ve got to manage your expectations.

But we’re highlighting the weight loss part of this diet, because so many patients take their life back after this stone incident because it was just that bad. And they are ready to make major lifestyle changes. But once you make those changes, how do you keep on doing it, so it does become a lifestyle. And the kidney stone prevention course teaches you how to do that. So yeah, I’m very excited about this portion. It’s it’s it’s the kidney stone diet, but joining the course and staying in the group calls and learning how to keep on going with all the things we’re asking you to do. So you continue to lose lose weight, the group calls are support, love, you’re gonna hear people’s journeys are the same as yours. You’re not alone. You’re not the only one who didn’t have the cupcake for dessert, but at 3am. You dug through the garbage and had it. That’s what that’s what people real people do, folks. And so it’s not easy to lose weight. Or I’ll say this, it’s really easy to lose weight most of you have keeping it off is where people have a hard time. And so we’re addressing that.

Jeff Sarris
Yeah, maybe stone diet along with building some muscle to and just sort of overall health and wellness to be able to Yes, to attack the day.

Jill Harris
Yeah. Because once you start doing the diet, great, now you’ve lost weight. Now how do you start an exercise program. And so that comes later. You know, I’m not an advocate of like diet and exercise starting tomorrow. Because typically, we have to get our footing and there’s so much to learn with diet, which I think is the most important thing, once you start losing. And by the way, if you’re 400 pounds, you don’t feel like moving. So first you have to start with diet, lose some weight, then as you feel safer and more confident and you know, you feel ready to put on some leggings then you can go start your exercise program. But again, I’m here to tell you and this is why I’ll never be a rich woman.

This all takes time and so managing your expectations of what weight loss looks like how to keep it over time gaining muscle that’s not easy to take It’s time, even though I’m telling you kind of like, really girl, it takes time, I don’t want to hear that. It is the safest way to lose weight. More importantly, you’ve got to learn things about yourself that you didn’t know that’s keeping the weight on too. It’s your behavior, behaviors, it’s your habits. It’s it’s changing your mind. It’s a changing your belief system around food. It’s changing the way you were brought up with food. And now those habits are instilled in your heart. And you know what happens? You’re trying to change habits. But the damn thing about habit changing is the old one is sitting right there. It never goes away. So that’s the hard part. When that old habit when that old routine creeps back in how do you work against that and keep your new habit intact? It’s very difficult stuff. And that’s what the group calls with me are all about.

Jeff Sarris
Yeah, yeah. And it’s so just valuable to have that community to be a part of, but we actually have a question this week. Okay. So let me just queue that up.

Listener Voicemail
Hi, my name is Karen from Hewlett, New York, I’ve called before and so I look forward to your podcasts every week. My question is about supplements. I have a relatively healthy, I’m 68 years old, but I have some cartilage loss in my knees from playing tennis, and a lot of great a lot about collagen supplements. And I also like to maybe take biotin, which I know is very commonly used to strengthen hair and nails. So my question is, is there anything I should be worried about about oxalates and or forming stones from taking supplements, particularly college and biotin? Thank you.

Jill Harris
Karen. Right, Karen? Okay. Hello, Karen. collagen, we have a video on collagen on this YouTube channel. And yes, taking collagen can convert over to oxalates studies show so we are not fans of collagen for kidney stones. And there’s not a lot of great studies really good study saying college is going to do a heck of a lot. Okay, for the things that it says it does. So I just want to put that out there. But specifically for kidney stones, it can can convert over to excess oxalate in our body so it’s a no for kidney stones. Biotin I don’t have any information that says it’s bad for kidney stones.

Talk to your doctor about the use of biotin Okay, so here’s what I will say about this two people swear that if they take biotin their head, you know, all of a sudden they have 20 year old had a hair, their nails are beautiful and fluffy again. And so I don’t have any research disproving biotin or saying that Biotin is going to increase your kidney stone risk, I have no research to say otherwise. So it could be something you talk to your doctor about. Will it in you know give you a full head of hair and you know make your nails better? I don’t I don’t have great research that says it will do that either. But if it’s not going to increase your kidney stone rest, why not try it? I’m always going to go back and be annoying though and say what about tightening up your diet making sure you get an enough protein every day. A lot of women are walking around not actually getting enough protein for various reasons. And so not getting enough protein can also lead to hair loss and brittle nails.

So that is definitely a possibility as we get older these things definitely happen. You know? So, you know I’ve definitely lost hair since I’ve gotten older I don’t feel like supplementing i don’t i don’t care i You know, I wear a hat but that’s me. I’m not I also will say this I don’t care about those kinds of things. If you do I think that’s really important because everybody needs to make them set whatever makes you feel valuable. You know, there’s certain things in my life that make me feel more valuable give me more confidence that maybe it wouldn’t bother another person so we all have our things. So if biotin if if a doctor says that’s okay for you to use you said hair nails I hear about the cartilage.

Look, I would talk to the doctor about other supplements other than collagen to see if there’s any supplements that would even increase cartilage. I don’t know about that. That’s something to talk about. Talk about with your doctor. I know a healthier diet if you if you can improve on your diet first. I always go there is it gonna grow back cartilage that would be no could be you’re looking at a knee replacement but collagen for kidney stone formers increases your risk so higher oxalate levels so that’s a no to the biotin if you want to try it I know of no reason to not try it with kidney stones. By I talk to your doctor about it, see if it’s problem in any other area for you.

Jeff Sarris
I’m looking at inflammation, too, when it comes to cartilage and inflamed joints are gonna also just perform at a lower capacity.

Jill Harris
Yeah, at some place. You know, I mean, you know, at some point in our lives as we get older, we have to think about, you know, knee replacements, which I dread. I mean, I do a lot of walking, I’ve exercised a lot in my life. So far, I’m okay. But you know, I’m, I’m 60, when I’m 70, or 75, will that be the case? i It’s so funny. I often think about that, because, you know, surgeries stink, so we want to do anything we can to avoid them. Right?

So biotin, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t see any reason for it. I don’t see any problem with the with kidney stones. That being said, too, I’m always so careful with supplements, people tend to overdo them. And supplements are not without side effects people, so pay attention to that. So that’s why I always direct people back to their doctor and fee. And then the blowback I get from that, as my doctor doesn’t know a damn thing about supplements, Joe, I get that, but I’m not. I’m just saying I don’t want to be responsible, because people trust me, which is so friggin awesome. But with that, I’m careful with what I say. Because if I say everyone should take biotin supplements, they may. And so they supplements do not come without side effects.

Then calcium supplements with kidney stones, excess vitamin D with kidney stones, there’s, there’s risk factors for stuff people. They’re not like Pez candy. There’s things that happen. You can ask the pharmacist, Karen, about biotin. And what he or she knows about it as well. I like to take the responsibility off me with supplements, you know, I don’t know people’s medical history. I don’t know what they’re going to do with the information once i Once I say it. So I’m always very careful, because this is about people’s health.

Jeff Sarris
Yeah. And like you said, the trust. Yeah, you’ve earned that trust. And like, you’ll see a lot of people online, a lot of influencers. It’s like they’re talking about this. They make all their money. Now they talk about this. Yes. Just because there’s more money. Yes. No, I don’t. This is why there’s a very specific lane. I mean, you’re not the Harvard, the heart, talking about lists. I mean, the Harvard list you’ve used for decades, for a reason. You’re not looking for a new one, you’re not trading your own, you’re not selling a list. It’s just it’s worse works. Yeah, this works. So we stick it stick here, stick dressing. So we we stay here because it works. And not because you need to find a new way to convince people to spend money. This is purely to reach more people. Because there’s so many more people to reach with this information.

Jill Harris
Absolutely. And I can’t tell you how much money I’ve left on the table from supplement companies calling me and saying, hey, you know, you got a nice little following. We’d like you to, here’s a check for indoor, no, absolutely not, I have a good following. Because they trust me. And the moment I start taking money for a pill, that’s the moment I just call it a day. And it’s about time for me to retire. Because I will never do that. For those people that do that. God bless we all make our way in the world, I just need to sleep. And also remember, I come at this as a patient, pretty much first before I even do a kidney stone prevention nurse. Because when you’re sick, you’re desperate, and hopeless and scared and all that you’ll take whatever somebody tells you to take, and I had to I when I thought I was literally dying from my stage for diagnosis.

I did a lot of I took a lot of stuff. Okay, so I’m, I’m telling you from my perspective as well, that I spent a lot of money on stuff that didn’t do nothing. So be careful of that. And it also could cause harm. So I’m over the top about supplements, I will tell you what I know about them, I will tell you what can increase the risk of kidney stones. But as far as what is going to do for cartilage, and that’s not that’s, that’s not my lane, and I’m very careful. And I will never endorse or take money. I’m happy. I feel very free to say that right now. I’ve said it my whole career. 25 years, I will never take money for a supplement unless something is just out of this world special. And then I would of course disclose it. So you know, no, and no, that’s not my lane. I stay in my lane.

Jeff Sarris
Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that’s one of the many things everyone loves about you. Which it’s, it’s very commendable. But thank you, Karen, for your question and your call if you’re out there with the question. 773-789-8763 is the number or you can send a voice memo to podcast at kidney stone diet.com And to find all the resources again, the website is kidney stone diet.com. And we have free we have paid we have the blog, we have the weekly email newsletter, we have the prevention course we have meal plans, just myriad options to try to help you reduce a kidney stone risk and live your best life. So with that I think we will wrap for this week and wrap for this recording. that whole day with a lot of content, a lot of different videos, but thank you again for tuning in. Thank you, Jill for your time just on behalf of the audience as well. I mean, sharing your time with everyone is it’s very valuable privilege.

Jill Harris
Thanks, Carrie. Thanks for calling again call as many times as you like.

Jeff Sarris
Absolutely. And we’ll see you next time. Bye.