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IBS, Crohn’s, Colitis and Kidney Stones: The Gut Connection
Can IBS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or other bowel problems increase your risk of kidney stones? Yes, and although increased oxalate absorption is a common concern with certain bowel conditions, it’s not the only factor. Chronic diarrhea and intestinal surgeries can also affect how much urine you produce, your urine…
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Can Being Sick Cause Kidney Stones? Flu, Fever and Fluids
Being sick with the flu or another illness can temporarily increase your risk of kidney stones if you lose fluids and don’t replace them. But don’t worry that a few days of illness means you’ll form a kidney stone. Stones typically develop over a much longer period. Flu season is…
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Kidney Stones in Kids and Teens: Causes and Prevention
If you have had kidney stones, it does not mean your child will automatically get them too, but family history can matter. If I were talking to a parent about this, I would start with the basics: help your child drink more, watch sodium and added sugar, include calcium-rich foods,…
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Can I Ever Eat Normally Again After a Kidney Stone?
“Jill, am I ever going to be able to eat normally again?” I understand why people ask this. After a kidney stone, food can suddenly feel complicated. People start searching the internet, downloading oxalate lists, cutting out foods they have eaten for years, and wondering whether every meal will cause…
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Low-Oxalate Diet Mistakes
One of my biggest concerns when people start lowering oxalate is not that they will eat too much oxalate. It is that, in trying so hard to protect themselves from another painful kidney stone, they will take away so many healthy foods that their overall nutrition suffers. I see this…
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Does Magnesium Help Prevent Kidney Stones?
I get asked about magnesium for kidney stone prevention quite a bit. The short answer is yes, magnesium may help, but I don’t consider it one of the main things most patients should focus on first. And I definitely do not want you running to the 5 and 10 to…
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Kidney Stone Prevention for Busy People
One of the biggest barriers I hear from patients is time. They know they should cook more, plan, drink enough, watch sodium, get enough calcium, and make better food choices, but they are also working, raising kids, driving everyone everywhere, managing a home, and trying to get through the day.…
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The Stone Is Gone. The Fear Isn’t.
Everyone understands that kidney stones are painful. What is harder to see is what can happen after the pain stops. The stone may pass or be removed, but for many patients, the fear does not leave with it. They begin doubting every ache, every meal, and every decision. Travel feels…
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Oxalate-Friendly Food Swaps
The focus on oxalate pushes so many kidney stone patients to stop eating fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, potatoes, and other nutritious foods because they’re afraid of eating too much oxalate. But the goal is not to remove every food that contains oxalate. The goal is to make smarter choices, keep…
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Kidney Stone Myths Debunked
I wish I could tell you that kidney stone myths eventually disappear, but they do not. The same home remedies keep showing up online year after year, usually with a confident promise that one food or drink can dissolve a stone, flush it out, or cleanse the kidneys. Some of…
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How the Kidney Stone Diet® Fits With Other Medical Conditions
Kidney stone prevention is not a separate diet. That is one of the first things I wish more patients understood. Dr. Fred Coe and I intentionally built the Kidney Stone Diet® as a set of goals. We designed it that way so it could be worked into whatever else a…
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Ten Common Mistakes that Increase Your Stone Risk
You already know about spinach and almonds. Most of the people who follow me are well past the beginner-kidney-stone advice. You know water matters, sodium matters, and oxalate is only one part of the story. But there are other mistakes I see all the time, and they are easy to…
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GLP-1 and Kidney Stones: What You Need to Know
There are an estimated 30 million (1 in 8) Americans who are taking GLP-1 medications now. You may know them by names like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound. And because I work with kidney stone formers every day, the question naturally comes up: Do these medications increase kidney stone risk?…
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A Bad Combination: Low Citrate and High Urine pH
Most kidney stone patients hear a lot about water, sodium, calcium, oxalate, and protein. But there are two numbers on the 24-hour urine collection that deserve more attention together: citrate and urine pH. Citrate is one of the natural substances in your urine that helps protect you from kidney stones.…
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The Kidney Stone Fear Factor
Living longer is a gift. Living better is the goal. We are living longer than people did generations ago, and that is something to be grateful for. Many of us are alive because of better surgeries, medications, screenings, treatments, and doctors who knew what to do when our bodies needed…
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A Pill Is Not a Plan: Understanding Your Kidney Stone Prevention
Kidney stone patients are often told to take a medication to prevent more stones before they fully understand why that medication was prescribed. Medication is not the enemy. Guessing is. I want to be very careful here because I know many of you trust me, and I take that seriously.…
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From Crystal to Crisis: How Kidney Stones Form
When someone has a kidney stone attack, it can feel like the stone came out of nowhere. One day, you are fine. The next day, you are writhing in pain on the bathroom floor, wondering what in the world is happening to your body. But most kidney stones do not…
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You’re Just a Stone Former
One of the most frustrating things I hear from patients is this: “My doctor told me I’m just a stone former.” Sometimes the patient says it about themselves, too. “I guess I’m just a stone former.” They say it like it is a diagnosis, a personality trait, and a prison…
“The Kidney Stone Diet is far more than just a diet; this plan is life-altering!”
“The group calls will transform you physically and emotionally. Once you start this journey, your health naturally improves. I have lost a total of 40 pounds and have consistently kept it off. The group calls are such support; this is more like family than a zoom meeting to stay accountable. Jill is far more than a nurse; she is a life coach. Her platform is invaluable.”
Kim J. | Kidney Stone Prevention Course
“The best decision I’ve made has been to join this group.”
“I have been working on weight loss for many years. This group has kept me on track and has helped my continued success with my weight loss.”
Kate L. | Group Calls with Jill
“I have been following the Meal Plan for about 6 weeks and I feel amazing.”
“Eating healthy has also encouraged me to go to bed earlier, so I am also getting more sleep. Because of that, I have been able to get up before work and exercise! So yes, the positive effects are spilling over into all areas of a healthy lifestyle.”
Jerry T. | Meal Plan Subscriber
“I have been a part of the group calls with Jill for the last 14 months, and they are essential to being so successful with the Kidney Stone Diet Prevention Plan.”
Sarah B. | Group Calls with Jill
“These calls are the gold of this program!!”
“I can’t say enough about how Jill knows just the right questions to ask us or how she prods us to think about what is going on in our lives.”
Monica K. | Group Calls with Jill
“I took the course with Jill, and my second 24 hour urine was MUCH better than the first.”
“She gives very practical information, and it WORKS. I was totally overwhelmed at first. I got very poor diet information from my doctors. Jill made it easy for me to understand, and I took it one day at a time. I still watch her videos when I need a tune-up. Jill is the best, and she really cares about all of us. Take the course—it will help you!!!”
Mark J. | Kidney Stone Prevention Course