Did cashews give me kidney stones?

In this conversation, Jeff Sarris and Jill Harris discuss the relationship between cashews, oxalates, and kidney stones. Jill explains the oxalate content in cashews and how it can affect individuals prone to kidney stones. They delve into dietary recommendations, emphasizing the importance of calcium intake to mitigate the risks associated with high oxalate foods. The discussion also touches on personal experiences with nut consumption and the challenges of moderation.

Takeaways

• Cashews are high in oxalates, which can contribute to kidney stones.
• Moderation is key; some can handle small amounts of cashews.
• Calcium intake is crucial for kidney health and oxalate management.
• High oxalate foods should be paired with calcium to reduce absorption.
• Personal dietary choices vary; what works for one may not work for another.
• Many people overconsume nuts like cashews and almonds without realizing it.
• Plant milks can be alternatives but should be consumed with meals.
• The risk of kidney stones often comes from long-term dietary habits, not single meals.
• Education on oxalate content can help individuals make informed choices.
• Preventing kidney stones involves understanding dietary impacts and making adjustments.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Kidney Stones and Cashews
02:44 Understanding Oxalates and Their Impact
05:25 Calcium’s Role in Kidney Stone Prevention
08:34 Conclusion and Resources for Prevention

Jeff Sarris (00:00)
Did cashews give me kidney stones? Let’s talk about that.

So cashews, they’re nice and creamy and soft and tasty. I don’t know, they’ve always been my favorite nut if I had to choose from a list. I don’t know what it is about it. They’re different than all the rest. But what do we need to talk about? Uh-huh.

Jill Harris (00:18)
They’re like buttery. Aren’t they like a buttery kind of… Now, if I had my druthers about me, I’ve always liked all kinds of seeds and nuts kind of thing. Because again, they’re crunchy. So I like everything crunchy. I mean, I like almonds, but I was never… I’m not tripping that I’m not eating them. I have family history of stone. So I do what I ask you all to do. So I don’t eat almonds, nor do I eat cashews. Now, cashews are so delightful.

They’re just so, well Jill I’m eating them, they don’t got salt so you don’t gotta worry about that but they are higher in oxalate. So an ounce of cashews is 64 milligrams of oxalate. So some people have asked me, well Jill I’ll have two, I’ll just have two. Knock yourself out Frank, you want two cashews. You can. You always say Jill portion not perfection. So you could have two cashews, you know, you could. But people don’t.

Once you have two, you want 42. So that’s usually the problem. And if people were eating cashews, they totally overdid it. Cashew milk, cashew butter. It is the creaminess of cashews, that texture that people just love. But yeah, we do. I pretty much say almonds, cashews, spinach, those things and a few other things we do take away. But I have had people challenge me even with almonds.

And they’ll say, I’m just going to have two. I’m the kind of person that can. And I will say, knock your socks off. So if you really want, Jeff’s like, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say this. But you know, I mean, there are people out there that if they don’t have two almonds, they’re going to take their eyeball out. I’m like, most people are like, my God, I never want to go through that again. Whatever you tell me, I will do. And so they do take away almonds and cashews and of course, spinach.

Jeff Sarris (01:57)
Mm-hmm.

Jill Harris (02:17)
Some people have said, specifically because of what you just said, Jeff, Jill, there is just something about cashews. Can I have two? And I’ll say, well, listen, Pauline, if you’re, Jill, I won’t have more than two. I swear to God, just two a week, but I really need them. Okay? See, for me, two would lead to 20, and two is just, it’s not worth it. You know what I mean? I would wanna, that’s not fun for me.

But for Pauline, and this is why we always have to, we have to, you know, do this depending on what the person is able and not able to do. So if someone said, listen, I’m going to have two cashews along with some other low oxalate nuts in my yogurt, that’s what I’m having, Jill. And you’re not going to stop me. And I’ll say, okay, because they know that they can control that. There are patients that can control that. And I’ve had a couple of patients say, you know, I’m not that afraid, Jill, the pain wasn’t that bad. I’m going to have three almonds a week and that’s what I’m going to do. Okay. You know, I mean, they’re grown so they could do what they want. But typically I do say cashews, almonds, because for such a small amount it’s high in oxalate. And typically people way overeat these things. Smoothies with cashew butter, smoothies with cashew milk.

That is a very common thing. And again, cashew milk is something that people really liked if they weren’t using almond milk because it is a creamier texture. So yeah, we take away these things. And if you’re the kind of person that’s going to tell me I’m just going to have two and I’m going to put it in a calcium source. OK, I think the bigger thing always to remember with these videos that say, you know, as far as how high are cashews or can I have cashews, can I have almonds, the bigger part, the bigger point here is getting enough calcium for men and women, 1,000 milligrams a day. If you no longer get your period, woman, up to 1,200 milligrams a day. You spread that calcium out throughout the day.

If you’re using plant milks, you have those plant milks, not almond or cashew, but the other ones, oat, pea, flax, macadamia, those you can have with, you have to shake those cartons up and you have those things with meals. Do never just chug from those containers. The bigger part of the oxalate equation of the Kidney Stone Diet is to make sure you get your calcium needs met. I’m going to explain it this way so you understand it better.

A lot of people are like, you know, they have five milligrams of oxalate for lunch and they’re running for two cups of milk. Don’t do that. I’m talking about higher oxalate foods like sweet potatoes. That’s where you might want to pair some calcium. The reason we want you to pair calcium is you just need it for good bone health. But also when you eat oxalate on its own, if you eat a big spinach salad, which spinach is absolutely, you can’t have spinach folks. It’s almost 700 milligrams a cup. That’s off the table.

But just for an example, say you had some spinach, you had no calcium with it. You eat the spinach, very high oxalate, oxalate comes out of the kidney into the urine. That goes through, sorry, it goes from the stomach, it goes to the small intestine. The small intestine there, that’s where nutrients are absorbed, it’s going to pick up that excess oxalate, bring it back into the blood and you’ll get higher oxalate. If you had a higher oxalate food like sweet potatoes, along with a calcium product like yogurt, like a glass of milk, like a plant milk, that calcium in that food, along with the oxalate in the sweet potato, those two things go from the stomach into the small intestine because oxalate will be bound with calcium at that point. That is too big of a molecule to be sucked up into the small intestine. So it goes through the digestive tract, out the colon, into the stool, bye bye in the poop. Okay? That’s how we get rid of excess oxalate. That’s why it’s important to combine the calcium with the oxalate.

There are going to be times though, I’ve had people say, Jill, I’m going out to eat. If I have a little oxalate, should I bring milk? No, you don’t have to do that. You guys didn’t make a kidney stone because you had one high oxalate meal. You had many for months, years, and had no calcium. That’s how you got high oxalate. Unless you have a medical condition like Crohn’s, colitis, gastric bypass, malabsorption issues, that can also increase your oxalate. But for the general kidney stone former that I see every day, they ate too much oxalate without getting any calcium, and that’s the deal. So cashews.

Like I said, if you’re the two out of a million people that could just have two or need to have the two, you know, even an almond, I’ll give it to you. I mean, yeah, have two and get on your way, get your calcium needs met. But I can see my group experts on the Facebook page. Is she kidding me now? She’s saying they can have two. I would take them away. I don’t eat cashews and I don’t eat almonds. I have kidney stones in my family. I’m not even messing with two simply because I would want 15 more. So, or 30 more. So I just get rid of them. It’s only a handful of foods we take away. I think most of you can cope with that. That’s it. That’s all I got to say about it.

Jeff Sarris (07:57)
So we need to mark this note, episode 286, and you said you can eat almonds. I’m pretty sure.

Jill Harris (08:03)
Yeah, for real. I mean, because I’m going to catch hell for that. I always have people that say, come on, Jill, I just want two. OK, have two. Have two, Pam. What can I tell you? You know.

Jeff Sarris (08:12)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And yeah, if you want to find out more about kidney stone diet, how to prevent stones with all the kidney stone prevention goals, go to kidneystonediet.com. If you’d like the free weekly email newsletter from Jill to keep you on track every weekend, she will send you an email just to keep you rolling along and make sure this year is the year you prevent kidney stones. You can find that also at kidneystonediet.com. So I think with that, it’s a good spot to wrap and we’ll see you next week.

Jill Harris (08:25)
Mm. Yes. Bye everybody.