Are eggs considered meat protein on the Kidney Stone Diet?

Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet podcast. The show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. Living your best life.

Stumbling over my words! I have one job, what am I doing?

Well, it doesn't roll… It doesn't roll off your tongue. Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Yeah, not at all! But I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris.

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

Yeah, so we're here with another listener question this week and I think we will be talking about eggs and egg whites.

Eggs and egg whites. Okay, let's go.

Yeah.

Hi, this is Donna. I've been following Jill for many years. I have kidney stones, uric acid as well as oxalate.

I wanted to know if egg whites are considered an animal protein. I'm supposed to keep my animal protein low as well as oxalate. Plus I have high cholesterol, so it's a balancing act.

Thank you.

Okay. Egg whites and eggs. So, yeah, they are animal products, obviously.

But, we when we're talking about protein, particularly in the Kidney Stone Diet, we're really talking about meat protein because that's what can increase uric acid levels. So, if you wanted to use the egg whites, that's perfectly fine. You know, with cholesterol issues, look,

One day eggs are the best damn thing in the world, the next day, "Holy shit, we're having eggs. We can't! Our cholesterol's gonna march!" I mean, so I don't know what to tell you anymore about cholesterol and eggs.

I don't. Recent studies say they're okay. Again though, people, that doesn't mean you could have a carton of eggs a day.

When someone says something for your diet is okay,

Ask the person, "So, what does that mean, okay? Can I have as much as I want? Is it one?

Is it two? What's the portion size for okay?" I think we who work in the diet industry sometimes aren't very clear as, you know, as we can be when we're saying something is okay, or something's low, or something's high. Well, how far do I deviate from normal?

You know, ask your doctor or nurse these things. What's high? What's low?

Where should I be? Anyway,

Eggs, protein. So, they will not bother your uric acid level, so you can certainly have them. As far as your cholesterol, the egg whites are great.

You know, let's just say this. My cholesterol, even though, you know, genetically my cholesterol can run a little high, right around 200, so just to play it safe, I usually eat egg whites, not egg yolk. Once in a while when I feel like a little, vixen, I'll have an egg yolk, okay?

But I pretty much stick to egg whites. They do not bother your uric acid level, so you don't have to worry about that. For uric acid levels, you have to worry about

Meat protein, really high amounts you have to worry about meat protein. You have to worry about alcohol will increase your uric acid. Sometimes people don't really overindulge in a lot of those things, but they genetically have that in there, they have that genetically, so they you may have to be a little cautious.

A lot of people who do paleo and Atkins and, you know, keto, because they don't do keto correctly, it's a high-fat diet, but people tend to eat as much meat as they want because they can't eat no carbs and sugar, okay? So, typically when we take away one food group, we overeat the other ones.

So, so eggs, what else? Oh, and here's where my heart always feels so sad, not sad, but concerned, because here's somebody, Donna, and she said, "I got calcium oxalate stones, I got have uric acid stones, and she has cholesterol issues, and she may have other things, who knows?" The point is, so now what? The Kidney Stone Diet will hit all of those things.

So, the Kidney Stone Diet is for all stones. Of course, the diet aspect will work for all stones, but some people may also have to go on medications. It doesn't mean, "Okay, cool, I don't got to worry about Jill's stupid diet." You still do, because some of those medications will be less effective unless you watch your salt and your sugar and that.

Okay? So, I still get my way and that makes me very happy. But,

So, if you have uric acid stones, you have to lower meat protein. That just means you have to eat normal amounts of meat protein, and you can find out how much you, can have on my website at kidneystonediet.com, and there's an article under the blog saying, "Hey, how do I calculate my protein needs?" I made it for like a baby, because I suck at math, and so I real- I use my weight and I tell you exactly how to get, the calculation for you, okay?

And then,

And we have the calculator now, too.

Oh, yes, and we have the calculator. So, it's very easy to use. They figured it all out, these men who work with me.

God bless them. And so they put all this handy-dandy stuff on the site. So, go there to find out how much meat protein you can have, and again, you know, the Kidney Stone Diet will hit all of the stones you're getting, plus, though, so kidney stones can be prevented with dietary lifestyle changes and/or medications, as well, okay?

Yeah, and I think that's a great question because we do talk about animal-based protein a lot, I mean, because it is a key component. So, animal versus meat, I mean, meat is animal, but it's a nice distinction to make. Because I can't think offhand, can you think of any other animal-based products that wouldn't be meat?

Cheese. Cheese, right, milk.

So, yeah, those things. So, you know, it's always, even though I write it out and I talk about it very clearly, I always say meat protein. You know, it's it's very confusing.

I don't know what else to do. I mean, it is just confusing, you know. People are like, "Okay, so, is, you know, animal protein," that's why I never use animal protein, I always say meat protein, because I understand that, animals, people are trying to, th- they can't, you know, what's the distinguish between the two, because it is all animal products, right?

So, yeah, it's very- look, it can be confusing. Again, you know, you're sick,

Now you're having to figure out all this cockamamy stuff and nobody's helping you. So, yeah, it's it's very overwhelming, and it can be very confusing. Yes, indeed.

Yeah, for sure. Well, I think that was a great question. Thank you so much.

If you are, if you have your own question you would like featured on the show in the future, that phone number is 773-789-8763.

And we will feature your question on a future episode of the show. So, if you want if you want a deep dive and you want a little more, head over to kidneystonediet.com where you can find the free weekly email newsletter where Jill will send you a little inspiration, keep you on track. You can find the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, Kidney Stone Diet meal plans where every week you get, what do we have?

Four different recipes every day of the week,

Yes.

That is just inspiration to keep you keep you on track and going on this journey. It's not a It's not a "you must eat this," it's more of a "What should I do? What should I do today for lunch?

I normally eat this."

No, right! Every day. Right!

People are like, "Jill, first of all, Jill, I ain't going to cook." well, then you're you're going to have a hard time with this. You've got to cook, people! Please, you have to learn how to cook.

The recipes in my meal plan are four very simple. You- nobody's busier than me, I can assure you, okay? So, I make it I make it very simple, they're tasty, but they're healthy.

They're all low sugar, very low added sugar, low salt,

Everything within portion size. But, again, they One of the best things, Jeff, that I like with that meal plan is that it also gives you kidney stone prevention tips, so I get to educate why I chose the things I did on each recipe. What, you're vegan?

Do- Don't do this, don't do this, mix it up with this recipe. So, there's always educational tips. But, people, you've got to cook some of your meals.

Am I saying you can never go out with your wife again and, have something? No! Go, go to go out to eat, I don't care about that.

What I'm saying, though,

In order to live a healthier lifestyle for those of you who need to lose weight, you're going to have to start cooking. I know, people are like, "Okay, bye-bye, unsubscribe, get off this YouTube channel." But it's true, look! It's one thing about me, I'm not going to lie.

There's nothing quick and easy about living a healthy lifestyle. And the things that are worth you getting

Are work. My dad taught me that when I was little. God, he used to annoy me.

"You want something, Jill? Ain't nobody going to be knocking on your door." Oh, for Pete's sake! But he was right.

Absolutely.

He was like, "You know, everything, it's hard work, it's not e-" Oh, god, but he's right. Don't you hate it when your parents are right? God.

Anyway, but it's true. So, and it's not that hard of work. I mean, really, what are we talking about, people?

We're talking about habits. So, right now, you're not in the habit of making your food. Get in the habit.

Some days you won't be happy. What, do you think I'm giddy and, like the tooth fairies coming to visit me when I go to my kitchen? No, sometimes I'm pissed.

But never, never have I finished making a meal and saying, "Ugh, I wish I didn't make that home cooked meal." Never, not ever. So, what I'm always doing, and I tell my students this, I tell my patients this,

What I'm always doing is chasing outcomes. So, maybe I'm like, "Ugh, I can't believe I've got to cook, I've been on the phone for 12 hours today." But I'm always grateful I did at the end, because I made something that's nourishing for my body, that will help me move my old bones, that will make me feel energized. One of the reasons I am so peppy is I eat well, I exercise, and looking at almost 60 years old, I've got to take care of myself, right?

And so, it is our responsibility to take care of this machine that we have, because it does so very, very much for us. Where was I, Jeff? What the hell are we talking about?

What's going on?

No, I love that you said "chasing outcomes." Because chasing outcomes is su- such a valuable perspective, because that's that's long-term thinking. Like, we want an outcome. It's not going to be an outcome right this second.

We want to reduce our oxalate, reduce these things that will help us in the future as we move forward to live a better life. And I think that's I think that's a beautiful way to look at it, is chasing an outcome.

Yes, I love it. It helps me greatly. And so, any- anything I say, please steal if you can use it, right?

Definitely. Well, yeah, so thanks again for listening to the show. Be sure to, yeah, subscribe wherever you're listening.

Tell your friends if you know anyone who can use the help and the guidance on reducing their risk of kidney stones. But that'll do it for this week. I think we'll see you next time.

Enjoy your egg white omelet, Donna. Thanks for the question.

See ya!

Bye!