# How can I shrink my kidney stone? Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/ep/how-can-i-shrink-my-kidney-stone/ Published: 2021-08-03 --- [![Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Podcast-1-1024x1024.jpg)](https://kidneystonediet.com/podcast/) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1pFpGNCy24)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-can-i-shrink-my-kidney-stone/id1528474326?i=1000530873192&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/09mTRux6GOiebDnLEu3NIk)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) August 3, 2021 --- ![Jeff Sarris](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Jeff-Sarris-150x150.jpg) Jeff Sarris Host ![Jill Harris](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Jill-Harris-150x150.jpg) Jill Harris Host This week Jill has a surprise question from someone that she does not expect.\ \ Have a question? Leave us a voicemail at (773) 789-8763.\ \ **= Stop your kidney stones once and for all =**\ • [Kidney Stone Prevention Course](https://kidneystonediet.com/kidney-stone-prevention)\ • [Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plans](https://kidneystonediet.com/mealplans/)\ • [24 Hour Urine Collection Analysis](https://kidneystonediet.com/24-hour-urine-analysis/)\ • [Private Coaching](https://kidneystonediet.com/coaching/)\ \ **= FREE Kidney Stone Resources =**\ • [Kidney Stone Diet](https://kidneystonediet.com/)\ • [Free Kidney Stone Diet Resources](https://kidneystonediet.com/resources/)\ • [Oxalate Food List](https://kidneystonediet.com/oxalate-list/)\ • [Kidney Stone Diet Recipes](https://kidneystonediet.com/recipes/)\ \ Find more episodes of the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast at [kidneystonediet.com/podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/podcast)\ \ —\ \ **= Who is Jill Harris? =**\ [youtube.com/TheKidneyStoneDiet](https://www.youtube.com/TheKidneyStoneDiet)\ \ Jill is a nurse and health coach that specializes in educating patients on kidney stone prevention. For more than 20 years she’s helped patients understand that kidney stones can be prevented with the right treatment plan. It’s one thing to be told to lower oxalate or drink more water, but HOW do you do it? That’s where she comes in. Through the educational resources at [kidneystonediet.com](https://kidneystonediet.com), stone formers can learn everything they need to know to significantly lower new stone risk.\ \ —\ \ **= Who is Jeff Sarris? =**\ [youtube.com/jeffsarris](https://youtube.com/jeffsarris)\ \ Jeff’s co-founder of [SPYR](https://SPYR.me), a branding agency based out of Chicago, where he and his business partner Dave help awesome people like Jill create online platforms that make an impact.\ \ He’s also a certified health coach, Executive Producer of the Netflix documentary Minimalism, and host of the [Starting Now podcast](https://SPYR.fm/now). ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Hydration Habits and Glassware Choices - 00:02:08 Water Prep Strategies for Daily Hydration - 00:04:02 Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plans and Recipes - 00:06:09 Incidental Kidney Stones Found on CT Scans - 00:13:06 Physical Activity and Dislodging Kidney Stones - 00:16:45 Support Group Coaching and Weight Management ## Transcript ### Hydration Habits and Glassware Choices 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris Spyra Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, the show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris, and I am looking at an empty chair right now. 00:00:25 Jill Harris Well, you know, I don't even think I'm recording. I just go about my business and show up when I think it's my turn. And I'm Jill, your kidney stone prevention nurse. In the house, ready to rock and roll, baby. 00:00:36 Jeff Sarris Yeah, for sure. 00:00:37 Jill Harris I was getting some water, so everybody who's listening to me will understand that. 00:00:41 Jeff Sarris Oh, yeah. I like that bottle. What is that from? 00:00:44 Jill Harris Okay, honey. So Laura, who we both know, She drinks these juices or did a while ago. And so I was at her house, and there were a lot of them. I'm like, you know, I'm like you, I like jars, and you know, I like… 00:01:03 Jeff Sarris Yeah, my Mason jar cup. 00:01:04 Jill Harris Yes, I do Mason jars, too. So these were all juices, and I'm like, "Ooh, can I have them?" 'Cause I put them all over the apartment. Also, I was thrift store shopping, 'cause I love doing that, and we were– I was with Dave, and we were– we went to some suburb here in Chicago, and they had all these bottles, and there was one that was really dark brown, and it, you know, it just looked like it was from 1930. I probably should get a tetanus shot thinking about it. But anyway, that one is so beautiful, I love it. And I got, you know, like I need to pay $3 for a glass. But anyway, I– it's on my bed stand and I love it. If you like– Yes, I can turn anything into kidney stone prevention. Anything, people! If you're like me and you like different jars, like Jeff likes his Mason jar, I've seen you with a kombucha jar, too. Have I not? Like those glasses, do you– you'll use– you drink out of those. Those are some cool ones, or Dave has them, somebody has them. 00:02:02 Jeff Sarris Yeah, probably Dave. 'Cause I'm usually– I'm very consistent. I use this every day and just wash it, so yeah. Same one always. ### Water Prep Strategies for Daily Hydration 00:02:08 Jill Harris It could have been Dave. Anyway, he has a brown one he uses, and I'm telling you, if you like different glassware, and– and it makes you happy like it makes me happy, then that's just a great way to drink water more. And it really does work. So get a jug or get several jugs that you like, so you can spread them around your house. See, people always like, "Oh boy, look at her exercise and again, blah, bluu, bluu. She's amazing.". You got to get to know me. I am lazy as hell. So I'm so lazy that I have to have these all over my little tiny apartment, because I'll be too lazy to go fill it up. So they're already pre-laid out, and I just pick them up and they're filled up. I do it every morning, and that's how much water I need. And if anyone is not emptied by the end of the day, then I get to chugging. Not really, 'cause I don't want to pee all night, but I note that. Okay? But I– so I prepare everything, and people like, "I don't got time to prepare." Well, let me tell you what, do you know how much time it saves me whether I'm meal prepping or my water prepping or whatever, if– if I prep it, then I never have to think about it during the week or the rest of the day. So I'm not a believer of that. You have time. It winds up saving you time. Every day that I'm busy on the phone with clients and patients, and it's time to make dinner, I just pull it out, boop, boop. And that way I can ensure I always have my meal ready to go, low– Kidney Stone Diet compliant, and I don't have to make them. So I'm saving time during the week. People, you have an hour on a Sunday afternoon or a Sunday night, instead of watching some Netflix, you can make some meals for the next couple days. And it's called prioritizing your time. Do it, think about it, 'cause nothing's more important than your health. Did– did we get a question in? Is this the end? What is happening? ### Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plans and Recipes 00:04:02 Jeff Sarris Since you mentioned meals, though, I want to just mention the Kidney Stone Diet meal plans, which are on the website, and if anyone's interested to really have one less thing to think about. So, you still want to prep, you still want to do everything that Jill said, but you don't have to be wondering every day, "Okay, what can I eat now? What can I eat now?" This is just inspiration that Jill's put together with really great recipes. It's We're constantly… 00:04:23 Jill Harris People love them. I have to say, I'm very– it makes– it tickles me. Because three years ago, I didn't cook. Four years ago, five years ago, maybe, it is– time's flying by. But whatever. So, it's like people come to me and say, "I don't cook." Well, neither did I! I started watching YouTube, and guess what I do now? I cook like a crazy person! I wouldn't have ever thought. Maybe I'll do a cooking show, who knows? 00:04:45 Jeff Sarris Yeah, who knows? Who knows what we're going to do in the future. There's a lot of opportunity. But, yeah, so with that, too, we're adding recipes all the time because you're constantly coming up with new ones and things that fit within the Kidney Stone Diet, and sometimes things that will surprise people, like, "Oh, this has quinoa in it. Why does it have quinoa?" But then you explain in it why and how that works. 00:05:07 Jill Harris And I always say, I get most excited– so, yeah, the recipes are good and all that jazz, but– but, and they're all low sugar, low salt, they're all Kidney Stone Diet compliant, which is amazing, so you don't have to think about all that. I calculate all the oxalate out for you, so you don't have to worry about it. But you know me, the best part is each recipe comes with education. "Why'd I do this? How did I do that? What should you do? Can you sub out?" It's Kidney Stone Diet safety tips with each recipe. So you're getting a whole bunch of education in there, too, which is what makes me happy. Anywho! 00:05:41 Jeff Sarris For sure. So, should we dive into this week's question? 00:05:44 Jill Harris Yes, let's go. Hello, my name is Margaret. I'm from Illinois. Recently I had a CT scan done unrelated to kidney stones, but a small stone was found on the scan. Is there a diet I can go on before this becomes a problem? Thank you for taking my call. ### Incidental Kidney Stones Found on CT Scans 00:06:09 Jill Harris Oh my god! So, I'm laughing because that's my mother! That is my mother Margaret! And of course, you know, you're going to think, "Well, the nut don't fall far from the tree." She just wanted to get her ass on this show! She's dying to get it! If she could sit next to me right now, she would, and right now she's screaming at the TV, "No, I wouldn’t, Jill!" Yes, you would, Ma, you would! Anyway, it hap– It happens to be a great question, I– because she does have a little kidney stone, and it was found on a CT, so she's asking. Okay, but– so, Ma, it's a good question. I'm laughing because I was surprised to hear you, but it's a great question. So, in a lot of patients, sometimes you're getting checked for something else. My cancer was found because I was being checked for something else, and then they saw something in my rectum, and they were like, " you better go get that checked." And then, but they were checking for something else. Lots of our illnesses are found happenstance, by happenstance. They were doing something else, and then there you go. So, in my mother's case, she was taking care of other medical stuff, and they saw a little kidney stone, and they saw it, and now she's asking, you know, "I have this kidney stone. Is there a diet I can do basically to get rid of it?" No, Ma! There ain't! There ain't! There ain't! But, here's what– when– now I'm not happy my mother has a little kidney stone, and I'm not happy that any of my patients have a kidney stone. But the only reason I'm like, " okay," is because if you have a kidney stone, and you don't want it to get bigger, the Kidney Stone Diet will help that. So if you got one, you got one. There's no diet that's going to change that or get rid of it. Now, let me make sure I'm clear here. If you have a uric acid stone– my mother doesn't eat enough meat or have other things going on that she– if she has that little stone, I'm sure it's a calcium oxalate stone knowing my mother's medical history. But one should still get something analyzed. Who knows, if she passed it, might be a combination, but I doubt very much it's a uric acid stone. But if one have– has a uric acid stone, and we have a YouTube video on this, then, yes, you can disintegrate that stone. You can break that stone up by some dietary changes, usually, though, medications. So some people will say, " suck on a lemon, you can get rid of all stones." No, you can not! Don't be talking to me about apple cider vinegar. Go ahead, put the thumbs down on the video, I don't care. You are not going to get rid of a stone by apple cider vinegar or cayenne pepper and olive oil and everything else y'all do. If that were the case, there'd be no more stones, and everyone would be doing those things. That's not true, people. But if you have uric acid stones, you can go on a medication or other supplements that contain citrate that may help get rid of that stone– only uric acid. So, my mother has a little stone. What can she do? Like I said, it's doubtful that it's a uric acid stone. The diet will not change any other stone type, but it will help that stone from growing, which is super important. Getting your fluids, paying attention to the added sugar, salt, getting your calcium every day, keeping your oxalate under 100, unless your doctor has told you otherwise, eating enough animal meat protein, but not too much. I don't want you going over meat protein, but remember, people, your total protein is not meat protein, so you can have other things with protein. We just don't want you to have too much meat protein because that can increase your uric acid stone risk and your calcium oxalate stone risk, by the way. So, my mom has that little stone. She will probably leave the Earth with that little stone. The best thing that when my patients do come to me and they have little stones, I'm like, "I'm sorry that you have that, but use it as a negative motivator to keep you compliant for the long haul, so that stone don't get bigger." There's plenty of people that will have stones, they will not grow. I get cards still from people, "Still got the same six stones, they haven't grown, I'm good to go." And that negative motivator, although I'm sick that you have anything, it will keep you compliant, 'cause every time you grab too much sugar, too much salt, or you have five days that you didn't get enough water, that stone will not be happy, okay? So this is not scientific, but I'm going to say it anyway. When we have a stone, I like to think about it this way: when you got a little stone, you don't want any of those little crystals like magnets finding it and getting bigger, okay? Again, is this like a genius talk? No, but I know you'll understand me if I say it that way. Drinking enough water to make sure all the crystals that we do produce as waste anyway are not connecting to what we already have in there, flush those crystals out, eat well, so it's not, you know, screwing up what you already have. Continue to eat well. You don't want that stone to get bigger. Now, will it move one day? It may never move. If my mom did some exercise, meaning if she was a really active person– she's been ill, so she's not that active– but if she was a really active person, exercise, you know, you see those funnies, a roller coaster could move it. Movement can dislodge a stone. When the stone is ready to dislodge, it's going to dislodge. Exercise can help it, fluids can help it. There's no guarantee, but it can do that. I'll often hear patients say, "Jill, I started going to the gym. What do you know, next thing I know, I'm passing my stones," right? So that is possible. But for my mom, my beautiful little mother, who had to get her ass on this show, of course! I'm going to have her as a guest one time, and she'll say, "No, I don't want to go." She'd be like, "No, I don't want to go. No, I don't want to." "Yeah, Ma, come on! You know you do, you want to be right here." As a matter of fact, she'd say, "Move over, Jill! Move over, it's my time to shine!" Look, where do you think I get it from? Please! So, she probably will leave the Earth with that stone, but I would encourage her to drink more fluids and adhere to the Kidney Stone Diet. Now, she ain't going to do that, I know my mother, but it would be nice if she did, and then she wouldn’t have it– she wouldn't– it wouldn't grow bigger. She will still have it, okay. ### Physical Activity and Dislodging Kidney Stones 00:13:06 Jeff Sarris So in terms of working out then, that it could, you said, dislodge, so sort of it could have you starting to pass a stone potentially, because of the activity,? 00:13:15 Jill Harris Yeah, it could. I mean, if it's in the– now, if it's embedded in the meat of your kidney, most likely not. But if it's just kind of hanging out, and all of a sudden you started exercising, absolutely, it could help dislodge it. I– I can't tell you how many patients I've– I've– that have told me, " yeah, I was in the– on the treadmill, next thing you know, I was like, 'Oh my god!'" And, you know, and then they went to the bathroom, blood in their urine, the whole thing. So, it's certainly– yeah, it certainly can help a stone that's already likely to move, move. 00:13:47 Jeff Sarris Yeah. Yeah, I never thought about that, but, yeah, and it's not to say don't work out either. Like not to be active. 00:13:52 Jill Harris Well, that's what I was going to say! Yeah, so there's two things about that. I'm not telling y'all not to move, okay? And the other thing is, I'm definitely going to say, "Yeah, move, you might move the stone," okay? 'Cause I want you to be active. We can't be sitting our butts on a couch all day long, people. Life is short, man, get outside and take a walk, right? Doesn't have to be crazy exercise. People like, "I don't want to lift weights like you." I never said lift weights like me, I'm a nut ball. Go on a walk! Dust! Dance in your house with your dog, don't think we don't over here in this apartment. Move! That's all I'm saying. How you choose to do it is your business. But if you move, you sleep better, you feel better, you look better, your body just loses weight if you need to lose weight, and then you can move more. So many of my patients are very, very, very overweight, so of course they don't want to move. So I say start with nutrition first. Get a little slimmer, so it's safe for you to move and it doesn't hurt your body. And then when you feel in a place that you got it going on with your nutrition, that's when you start moving. So a lot of people will say, "You got to do this, eat well and move." Well, if you're 500 lb, you don't want to move because it hurts your body. So you've got to lose weight, you've got to get nutrition, all that nutrition education down, incorporate it, implement it, and then you'll feel like moving after you lose weight because, you know, people that do work with me, too, and they're like, "You know, I lost 30 lb, and all of a sudden I'm not losing weight anymore." Well, your metabolism has slowed down a little 'cause you're not walking around with 30 extra pounds on you. If you put a vest that contained 30 lb and you moved with it, you would be burning more calories 'cause now you're moving weight. Now your weight is less, so you will be burning less calories. Now you have to acclimate to less calories, more movement, or both, right? So, you know, it's– Look! You know, we say, " lose weight!" It's complicated! It's difficult! These two things are not what the industry tells us. The magazines will say, "Hey, just look at look at this, do this for $10, you'll–" No, you won't! It's hard work, it's a long haul, but it's the best work you could do in your whole life because if you don't got your life, it don't matter. Come on! 00:16:19 Jeff Sarris Yeah, health is everything. Yeah. 00:16:21 Jill Harris Yes, it is. It is. 00:16:22 Jeff Sarris That is a great question even though it was, sort of already within the family. 00:16:28 Jill Harris Thanks, Ma! 00:16:30 Jeff Sarris But if you have a question that you would like answered on a future episode, the number is 773-789-8763. And yeah, we'd love to love to feature your question in the future. 00:16:41 Jill Harris She's adorable. As soon as I heard her voice, I was like, she's adorable. I don't know what to tell you. ### Support Group Coaching and Weight Management 00:16:45 Jeff Sarris And yeah, like as you can see, Jill has done this for a long time. In case you happen to be very new to the Kidney Stone Diet and everything that we're talking about here, you can head over to kidneystonediet.com, check out the start page, and if you want to work with Jill directly, you can join the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, and there is the, the accountability group, I guess. I mean, what do we call that now? Not even really accountability group, just like the daily calls? 00:17:10 Jill Harris We Yeah, we call them daily calls, we call them group calls, we call them mostly group calls, but a lot of patients call them accountability calls. Whatever, those calls, I will say I am in love with those calls. All of these people become my friends, it's a huge support group, it's motivating, you learn about what's causing what your specific stuff is. We had somebody today that's new in there, and, you know, she's, she's struggling, and I'm like, "Well, look at everybody here, we're all struggling, so you're in good hands." I like it because it provides a safe space for people to really, 'cause quite frankly, after a while, your loved ones are really sick about hearing kidney stones. They're like, "Oh my god! Do we have to talk–" That's me smoking a cigarette. "Do we really have to talk about these damn stones, Henry?" Well, so it's a place where everyone understands what you're saying, but also, and can have empathy with you, but also, it's a great place if you do want to lose weight. And losing weight, people, is a precursor for every dog disease in the world, and kidney stones included. If you're overweight, there's a high chance kidney stones, kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, strokes, all of these things go along, and they all stem from being obese. So, I love that group because one of my biggest passions is, besides kidney stones, is helping people lose weight, and I'm pretty darn good at it. But you I can't– it doesn't matter if I'm good at it, you have to be ready to do the work, so I'll leave you with that. 00:18:41 Jeff Sarris Yeah, so if you want to check that out, be sure to head over to kidneystonediet.com and you'll find it right on the home page. And yeah, Jill would love to love to see you in those group calls in the future. 00:18:50 Jill Harris Yes. 00:18:51 Jeff Sarris So, if you're enjoying the show, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, on YouTube. If you're watching the show right now, we would love a little thumbs up and a subscribe, and leave a comment below. Let us know sort of where you are in your journey, and, if this is the first episode, just say hello, first episode you've watched or listened to, just say hello so we know you're out there. 00:19:11 Jill Harris Yes, I would love that. I love the comments, I answer everyone. And also, you know, people, it doesn't cost you anything to press that subscribe button. And, yes, it annoys me that you don't! I have thousands of listeners, and there's not that many subscribed, so do it for me, please, because other people can find– It does, it helps it helps in that to you it's just a click, but for us, we then rank higher in the ratings and people can find us so they, too, can have this information. So it'd be a great favor to me personally if you would subscribe to the channel. It just means that you'll be notified when a new episode is up, that's it. And if you do subscribe, please tell me in the comments that you did so I can thank you personally, and I will do that. 00:19:54 Jeff Sarris Yeah. So thanks again, and we will see you next week. 00:19:57 Jill Harris Thanks, Ma!