In this conversation, Jeff Sarris and Jill Harris discuss the validity of the kidney stone diet, emphasizing its scientific foundation and real-life effectiveness. They debunk myths surrounding the diet, share patient testimonials, and explain the goals of the diet that help prevent kidney stones. The discussion highlights the importance of hydration, calcium intake, and other dietary adjustments, while also addressing the accessibility of resources for those seeking to prevent kidney stones.
Takeaways
- The kidney stone diet is based on scientific research.
- Dr. Fred Coe is a key figure in kidney stone prevention.
- The diet includes goals for hydration, salt, calcium, sugar, meat protein, and oxalate.
- Many patients report positive outcomes, including reduced kidney stone formation.
- The diet is not just for kidney stone formers; it promotes overall health.
- Fear of pain motivates patients to adhere to the diet.
- The kidney stone diet was created to attract attention to important health goals.
- The diet can lead to weight loss without calorie counting.
- Patients have successfully reduced or eliminated medications through dietary changes.
00:00 Is the Kidney Stone Diet a Scam?
01:51 The Science Behind the Kidney Stone Diet
05:13 Real-Life Impact and Patient Testimonials
07:56 Understanding the Goals of the Kidney Stone Diet
10:52 Final Thoughts and Resources
Jeff Sarris (00:00)
Is the Kidney Stone Diet a scam? Let’s talk about that.
Jill (00:04)
I did see something like that on Reddit one time. It’s a scam. Well, obviously the person didn’t do it. OK, so but let me just say this, folks.
Jeff Sarris (00:08)
Mm-hmm.
Jill (00:17)
I bring this information to you in a very, Dr. Coe always calls me a street girl.
Jeff Sarris (00:23)
And that’s Dr. Fred Coe from University of Chicago.
Jill (00:28)
Yes, and we just celebrated him. 60 years in kidney stone prevention research. He had doctors from all over the country honor him. All of these doctors were like in their 60s and 70s and he was their mentor. So it’s just so amazing. All these very fancy doctors came in to honor him. It was such a beautiful occasion, to honor him and say, you know, without you, without standing on your shoulders, I wouldn’t be here, so thank you so much.
So what I want to say here is the kidney stone diet is not a scam. All the things that Jeff and I talk about here, it’s all based upon science. Dr. Fred Coe, he is my mentor and we spell that C-O-E, because so many people think I’m saying coal. I’m not, it’s Coe, C-O-E. But if you Google Fred Coe and kidney stones, you will find his website at the University of Chicago. There’s, my God, there’s so much research. You’ll find me. I also published on his website, but there’s so much research.
So all the aspects of the kidney stone diet, there’s six goals to it. There’s hydration, there’s salt, there’s calcium, there’s sugar, there’s meat protein, and there is oxalate. And all of those things. We have goals for all of those things based upon decades of research, not from Dr. Coe, but from all the researchers in the kidney stone world. He just talks about them in each article. So all the science is there on how these goals of the kidney stone diet will help prevent kidney stones. Is the kidney stone diet a scam? Absolutely not.
To crudely put it, would I be able to pay my rent for 30 years talking about kidney stones if it didn’t work? Nobody would call me back. And so many of my patients are calling me every single year. I got the follow-up test, I got the follow-up test, still no stones. If it didn’t work, I would not be employed.
Jeff Sarris (02:36)
Well, and there’s so many patients. Like, I don’t think anyone can actually grasp how many patients you’ve worked with.
Jill (02:44)
No, I don’t know. Thousands.
Jeff Sarris (02:46)
And it’s, and that isn’t just hyperbole either. It is literal thousands. Like I would, I would, I would guess over probably 10,000 at this point being 30 years in and yeah. And knowing the volume currently that you’re working with just sort of extrapolated out. It’s a lot of patients and a lot of positive results.
Jill (02:50)
Dr. Coe has said that too, it has to be over 10,000 people. A lot. Forget about me paying my rent. There’s no way I could feel good about, I’m a nurse. I could not feel good if this wasn’t helping people. Go on the Facebook page. They’ll tell you. Look at the testimonials and the praise on our website at kidneystonediet.com. Not only does the kidney stone diet lower stone risk, thousands of my patients—bye-bye hypertension medications, blood pressure medications, bye-bye metformin, bye-bye lots of things as far as their health. They’re no longer obese.
Is it a miracle? It’s not only not a scam. It’s a miracle. It’s not a miracle. Let me tell you what happened. Suzy had the worst pain of her life. Worse than any kind of pregnancy Suzy had. She had 17 kids. They were easy compared to passing that tiny little stone. Suzy never wants to deal with that pain again. That’s why this diet is doable. Because people’s why is so important to them. It’s so important to them. It’s not about having a fat butt no more. Now they’re just like, I’ll do anything never to go through that again.
I’ll do anything. If that old broad tells me to lower my salt and sugar, I’m doing it. I will drink more water. I will. People will do anything because they’re scared because of what they just went through. So their why is now off the chart because they’re afraid. And so when we’re afraid of something, we prioritize whatever it is so that doesn’t come again. So when I talk to people about the kidney stone diet, and honestly, the kidney stone diet is really a set of goals.
And so the diet came about, Dr. Coe and I, we were writing on our website and we had finished the water article, the calcium article and all the articles and all the goals of the kidney stone diet. Although it wasn’t called that then. We were just doing separate articles and he’s like, well, we need to put this all together. What should we call it? And I said, why don’t we call it the kidney stone diet? And he said, well, it’s not really a diet. It’s just all this stuff. I said, I understand it’s not a diet. These are a set of goals. But if we call it a diet, people will be more attracted to it. And honestly, I’m just telling you how it came to be. That was it. We called it the kidney stone diet. I trademarked it. That was it.
Jeff Sarris (05:59)
Yeah. And that’s the important part is it’s, and this is why we appreciate each and every one of you who share this show and share this knowledge with others, because the goal is to help as many people as possible and attract the people who need to understand this. Because like, even as someone, I was in the health and wellness space for a long time, kidney stones never came up, never once. So this is, this is for everyone. Anyone who’s in this world needs to understand these fundamentals.
Jill (06:29)
I think it’s one in eight people get kidney stones. The funny thing about this is it’s not rare. If I say kidney stone, I’m in an Uber. Where are you going? Blah, blah, blah. What do you do for a living? I’m a nurse. I help prevent kidney stones. Oh, kidney stones. My Uncle Larry. Let me tell you, everybody knows somebody with a kidney stone. Yet where the hell is the help? Where’s the help? Now, there’s starting to be more and more, because I got a big mouth. People listen.
There’s starting to be more and more, but it’s still not what it should be. And if you go on the internet, there’s so much junk on it. You just think you just suck on a lemon and poof, you’re never gonna make a stone again. It’s not true. There’s a lot of things entailed here. And so is the kidney stone diet a scam? Absolutely not. It’s all entrenched in science, like I said, at Dr. Coe’s website, at kidneystones.uchicago.edu, and all the science lives there.
And so the best thing about it, like I said before, is once you start paying attention to fluids, getting your calcium needs met, because that’s what lowers oxalate, lowering sodium, lowering sugar, lowering the amount of meat you’re having, you can still eat meat, I eat meat every day, lunch and dinner, by the way. And taking away spinach and almonds and a couple things. Once you do that, you can lower your risk of kidney stones up to 80%, reduce your rate of kidney stones for the next one.
But some of you may need medications. Some of you may, but the diet is always to be done because if you don’t do the diet, some of those medications, you may have to be on a higher dose. And so the salt, the meat protein and the sugar part of the kidney stone diet goals, those are to help lower urine calcium. Also, there’s other things.
And I’m not going to go into it here because we’re just talking about is this a scam? I can’t tell you how many people lose weight. They keep it off for the first time in their whole life. A miracle! No! They’re watching how much salt and sugar they eat. If you watch how much salt and sugar you eat and the goals are at kidneystonediet.com, you ain’t eating a lot of junk no more.
This is what’s very common. Jill, I lost weight the first time in my life. I wasn’t even thinking about losing weight. It just fell off. They say it just fell off because I don’t want it for anybody to just fall off. I want you to slowly do this because you lose too much muscle if you do it that way. What they mean is I wasn’t even caring. I wasn’t counting calories. I wasn’t doing this. I just was worried about my salt and sugar. And when I lowered that so much, I was just eating better. I was eating more fruits and vegetables. I was eating less Cheetos. Maybe I’d have some Cheetos, Jill, but it wasn’t half a bag no more.
Because I would have totally overdone my sodium limit for the day, which is 1,500. And I always say 1,500 to 2,000. Why do I say that? Because when I say 1,500, there’s always Donnie in the background that says, honey, she said 1,500. I’m going to go down to 400. And Donnie passes out. OK? That’s not what we do. Because typically, when health care people say to do this, if it’s a good thing, people go lower and lower. Eat more almonds. Bags of almonds, okay? So we’ve got to be very specific too when we’re telling people how to do things.
The kidney stone diet is not a scam. It’s not a scam. There’s no way I could be, Jeff and I could be employed. There’s no way that I would have all that praise. What do you think? I’m making up at 3 a.m., all the praise on my website? Go to the Facebook page. People have stopped making stones for years doing this, but you got to stay on the goals. You got to stay on it.
Jeff Sarris (10:22)
Yeah. And you also don’t have to pay for anything. Everything, all of the knowledge is for free on this podcast. It’s on the YouTube channel, on social media, on the website at kidneystonediet.com. And if you ever need a little more help, Jill’s there. Jill’s available for the 24-hour urine collection analysis for private consults. And then we have meal plans and things to help keep you on track, but everything you need to do this is within your power and within your reach without spending a penny.
Jill (10:52)
Thank you, Jeff. I love that. So the kidney stone diet is not a scam. When people come to me just to lose weight, guess what I give them? The kidney stone diet goals. Because again, just the calcium goal itself. You guys will build bone back once you start getting your calcium needs met. But until you made a kidney stone, you didn’t even know that you had high urine calcium or whatever. So it’s not a scam. I implore you to try it, especially if you’re a kidney stone former, but even if you’re not. It’s a great healthy diet. Follow it.
Jeff Sarris (11:23)
Absolutely. So again, kidneystonediet.com and we will see you next week.
Jill (11:28)
Everybody have a great week.
Leave a Reply