Do electrolytes or mineral water cause kidney stones?

In this conversation, Jill Harris discusses the misconceptions surrounding electrolyte and mineral water, emphasizing the importance of understanding sodium content and reading nutrition labels. She argues that many marketed products are unnecessary for the average person and highlights the need for consumers to be informed about what they are consuming. The discussion also touches on the implications of high sodium intake, particularly for individuals with specific health conditions like kidney stones.

Also, does Borjomi mineral water cause kidney stones?

Takeaways

• Most people do not need electrolyte water unless they are athletes.
• High sodium content in mineral waters can be harmful, especially for those with kidney issues.
• Reading nutrition labels is crucial for making informed dietary choices.
• Processed foods, including plant-based options, can contain high levels of sodium.
• Natural foods like fruits and vegetables generally have low sodium levels.
• Understanding your body’s needs is essential for proper hydration and nutrition.
• Marketing can often mislead consumers about the health benefits of products.
• It’s important to question the necessity of trendy health products.
• Awareness of sodium intake can help prevent health issues.

Sound Bites

• “I just think it’s a bunch of marketing junk.”
• “The average couch surfer does not need smart water.”
• “Please, please, please, whatever you’re putting in your mouth, look at a label.”

Jeff Sarris
Do electrolytes or mineral water cause kidney stones? Let’s talk about it.

Jill Harris
Right, so we’re talking about electrolyte mineral water, that kind of stuff, right?

I get this question a lot. See, we just do what we need to do here, folks. I get this question a lot.

So electrolytes, mineral water, specifically I’m gonna talk about electrolytes. I have patients who say, Jill, I wanna take electrolyte water because I heard it will just peck me up and make me feel really good. And so I’d like to have that. And I always say this…Trixie, are you in a triathlon? Are you depleted? Do you exercise? Well, no, Jill, I haven’t exercised since 1922, but I’ve heard that electrolyte water is going to make me feel great.

And so am I a fan of electrolyte water? That would be no. I just think it’s a bunch of marketing junk. Also, a lot of these waters have so much sodium. And so what you don’t realize, because you only read the marketing stuff on the front of the label, you don’t realize there’s so much sodium in these products and you don’t need it. I mean, I’d almost rather you get more enjoyment from eating, you know, a junky food. At least you’re having some fun with it to take too much sodium in. But getting your water needs met with a lot of sodium, I’m not a fan of it.

Also, people who have CKD, there’s extra potassium in these drinks, there’s extra everything. They’re really made, they’re being marketed to the general public, but they’re really made for athletes that are having a hard time because they’re working out so much or they’re incompetent sports that they’re depleted. They need the extra sodium because they’re losing so much from sweat. So it’s very important for them.

Or they’re long distance runners, right? And they can’t drink every five minutes because they can’t pee, so they’re having a lot of salt. They don’t want to deplete themselves from electrolytes. It’s a real thing. But the average couch surfer does not need smart water. Also, I will say this. Some of these electrolyte waters, they’re higher in pH. Common folk just walking down the street thinks, higher pH, that’s going to be healthy for me.

But if you’re a calcium phosphate stone maker, it could increase your pH when you already have a high urine pH, which is part of the issue you’re making calcium phosphate stone. And that’s not good for you either. So I think unless you’re a competitive athlete, you don’t need electrolyte water. That’s just my belief. You can come at me at the comments if you wish. But if you turn it around, Buster Brown, and look at your nutrition label with those waters, you’re going to see in most cases a heck of a lot of sodium because they are designed for athletes, although they’re marketed to everyday folks.

Jeff Sarris
Yeah. And this is the reason this came up was turning the bottle around because I have a friend who recently reached out. He’s living in the country of Georgia. So he reached out and said he had kidney stones. And I asked if he got tested yet urine collection tested the stones, all the things that no, no, no, I know what it was. It’s the mineral water I’m drinking. And my immediate thought was, well, mineral water alone isn’t going to be the culprit. But then he continued to go on because of the sodium content and ended up looking up and Borjomi is the mineral water that’s really common and he basically lives on this water.

And when I looked it up, it’s 540 milligrams of sodium per 12 ounces of water, which blew my mind. I’ve never seen, yeah, just like a bottle of water. That’s basically a spring water, a mineral water that has that much sodium. It just floored me.

Jill Harris
It’s crazy.

So it’s interesting to me, I wonder what made him even look at it. Like what, I wonder what prompted him. Did he learn that, you know, sodium was an issue? Cause he lives in the country of Georgia. I wouldn’t think they’re, you know, talking about kidney stone disease there, but you know, he’s originally from the States. So maybe he just started looking things up. I don’t know. And he just happened to look at his water bottle, right? His mineral water. It’s very interesting.

Jeff Sarris
I’m not exactly sure how it even how he put those threads together. He did obviously see a doctor and everything once he had the stones. But yeah, it’s just wild. I never expected to see that much sodium in a single 12 ounce bottle.

Jill Harris
It is amazing and here’s what I say, I mean every single day, a million times during the day, please, please, please, whatever you’re putting in your mouth, whether it’s fluid or foods, you must look at a label. If your product comes with a label, it’s gonna have some sodium in it. Notice that plant food, fruits and vegetables do not. And they still have sodium too, folks. They grow in the ground. There’s sodium in the ground.

So they’re going to have a little bit of sodium, but I’m just saying if you’re eating something with a package, it’s going to have sodium in it. Turn it around. Unless you’re looking specifically for a low sodium product. I was talking to a friend of mine, I took Finn, and that’s why I’m like, are you really still moving about and barking? Because I took him to the park to play fetch. And on the way I met a friend. And the friend was like, you know, I’m really trying, you know, people always want to talk to me about nutrition and stuff.

You know, when I’m trying to walk my dog, I don’t want to talk about work, quite frankly, but I love him so we did. And he was like, I’m really trying to eat healthy. And Michael and I are eating, you know, beyond burgers. We’re trying to eat a lot less red meat. But I’m like, Garth, turn it around, man. Those packages have what? 800 milligrams of sodium in those burgers. They do, Jill. Boy, you suck. Every time I say something I’m doing, you’re like this, this, this. Well, but you don’t think about it, right, those Beyond burgers which folks we have a video on that in this on this channel it is beyond processed they say beyond beef it’s beyond or meat it’s beyond process it’s so processed doesn’t mean you can’t have one a year in the air but don’t think that’s a healthy food so all the things that we’re doing whether it’s from water electrolytes mineral water or Beyond burgers.

I mean, we have to look at the nutrition label. There is no reason why people say to me, you know, I don’t know. Because the label is giving you everything you need to know. It’s all there. Do not read the front of a package. You need to turn it around and look at what is in that product, from water to vegetarian cheese and meats, please turn it around and look, look, look, look, look, look. And then you’ll learn. You’ll look, you’ll learn, you’ll grow, you’ll move on. Right?

Jeff Sarris
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s a great spot to wrap and very important note, we have a new phone number because we had an issue with our old one. So it’s basically the same, but one digit. it’s 773-789-8764. And unfortunately we have 209 episodes with 8763, but I’m going to see if we can actually recover that number. had a little issue with our provider, but the number then is 773 -789 -8764 or you can always email podcast at KidneyStoneDiet.com or you can send a voice memo and we’d love to feature you on the show Absolutely, so with that we’ll wrap and we’ll see you next week

Jill Harris
Come on guys, don’t be shy. Don’t be shy, we love hearing from you.

Bye guys.