# How much should I drink to prevent kidney stones? Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/ep/how-much-should-i-drink-to-prevent-kidney-stones/ Published: 2024-08-27 --- [![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=CCPCDYmo7tE)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-much-should-i-drink-to-prevent-kidney-stones/id1528474326?i=1000666790286&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/68jYgHVHuBJQSKHEBWjXC6)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) August 27, 2024 --- ![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 In this episode, Jill discusses the importance of drinking fluids to prevent kidney stones. Jill emphasizes that water is the number one thing to prevent kidney stones and shares success stories of patients who have reduced their stone production by drinking more water. She also advises on how to gradually increase fluid intake and manage expectations. Jill highlights the significance of understanding why these dietary changes are necessary and encourages listeners to be patient with themselves. More: [How much should I drink to prevent kidney stones?](https://kidneystonediet.com/how-much-should-i-drink-to-prevent-kidney-stones/) \ **Takeaways** - Drinking water is the most important thing to prevent kidney stones. - Gradually increase fluid intake to reach the recommended goal of 2.5 liters of urine per day. - Understanding the reasons behind dietary changes can help with motivation and adherence. - Be patient with yourself and don’t give up, as change takes time. - Lowering sodium intake is also important for preventing kidney stones. - All fluids count towards your fluid intake, but water is the best choice. - Manage your expectations and don’t be too hard on yourself. - Preventing kidney stones is a long-term lifestyle change. \ 00:00 Introduction: The Importance of Water in Preventing Kidney Stones\ 01:16 Water as the Number One Preventive Measure for Kidney Stones\ 03:09 The Importance of Adequate Fluid Intake\ 06:28 The Role of Water in Crystal Formation and Bloating\ 06:58 Lowering Sodium Intake to Complement Water Intake\ 09:56 The Long-Term Benefits of Lifestyle Changes\ 12:47 Conclusion: Call to Action for Preventing Kidney Stones **HAVE A QUESTION? _**\ Leave us a voicemail at (773) 789-8763. \ **KIDNEY STONE DIET® APPROVED PRODUCTS** - [Protein Powders, Snacks, and more](https://kidneystonediet.com/favorite-things/) **WORK WITH JILL _** - [Kidney Stone Diet®](https://kidneystonediet.com/) - [Kidney Stone Prevention Course](https://kidneystonediet.com/kidney-stone-prevention) - [Kidney Stone Diet® Meal Plans](https://kidneystonediet.com/mealplans/) \ **SUPPORT THE SHOW _** - [Join the Patreon](https://patreon.com/kidneystonediet) - Rate Kidney Stone Diet on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kidney-stone-diet/id1528474326) or [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5O9BXOJUFnnT6JSgfxramx?si=T6lIOozgTUO8K6MobpVWsQ) \ **WHO IS JILL HARRIS? _**\ For over 25 years, Jill Harris has been a kidney stone prevention nurse helping patients reduce their kidney stone risk. Drawing from her work with world-renowned University of Chicago nephrologist, Dr. Fred Coe, and the thousands of patients she’s worked with directly, she created the [Kidney Stone Diet®](https://kidneystonediet.com/). With a simple, self-guided online video course, meal plans, ebooks, and group coaching, Kidney Stone Diet® is Jill’s effort to help as many patients as possible stop making kidney stones for good. ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Importance of Hydration for Preventing Kidney Stones - 00:00:32 Kidney Stone Prevention with Medical Conditions - 00:02:46 Measuring Daily Urine Output and Fluid Intake - 00:12:47 Kidney Stone Diet Resources and Contact Info ## Transcript ### Importance of Hydration for Preventing Kidney Stones 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris How much should I drink to prevent kidney stones? Let's talk about that. Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet podcast. This show's about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris. 00:00:21 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Talking about water. 00:00:27 Jeff Sarris Yeah, fluid is such an important part of the kidney stone diet. ### Kidney Stone Prevention with Medical Conditions 00:00:32 Jill Harris Oh, my god. I—you know, we have a lot of videos on water, but we can't do too many. There's—it's impossible to do too many on water because actually, I mean, this is truly the number one thing you need to prevent kidney stones. It is just the number one thing, folks. The number one thing. You can change a lot of stuff. You could change and follow the Kidney Stone Diet goals, get your calcium, lower added sugar, salt, and not eat as much meat as you want anymore, get your, oxalate down. But if you don't drink water, it really doesn't matter. So water is the most important thing. I've seen people who have medical conditions that are predisposing them to make kidney stones, and there's nothing they can do. There's no drugs, there's just nothing. They have tried everything, it's not working, the drugs don't work for them, and the one thing that can slow their roll on production is they're very good at drinking water. What I mean is, these people that have medical conditions, we can't prevent stones for them, but it's never hopeless because they used to make them every few months and now they make them once every couple years. Drastic difference! Think about all the time, all the money and time you save from all these surgeries. So we can really lower the rate in which they're being produced. So there's always hope. Don't ever come to this channel and go away hopeless because I've seen it all and now in October it'll be 26 years. So I've seen it all and I've never not been able to help somebody, pardon the double negative. I've always been able to help somebody. We can get up to 80% reduction rate in kidney stones. Up to 80% of folks can stop making kidney stones. The other 20% have other things going on with them, so it's not just it's not just diet, it's not just idiopathic hypercalciuria, that's for another video. It's not just that, it's because they have medical conditions. And so think like bowel disease, bariatric surgeries, they have malabsorption issues, and a few other things. ### Measuring Daily Urine Output and Fluid Intake 00:02:46 Jill Harris But, or paraplegic, they can't move, they have bathroom issues, there's there's things. But most of you can stop making kidney stones, but you got to do the work. Jeff ain't Santa Claus and I ain't Mrs. Claus, okay? So, you've got to do the work. You follow what we're asking you to do here and you, too, can prevent kidney stones. Fluids. Jill, my doctor told me to drink 120 oz a day. Jill, my doctor told me to drink a gallon of water a day. So, Henry, who's 6'4" and weighs 210 lbs, is being told drink a gallon of water a day. Loretta, who's 5'1" and weighs 100 lbs, is given the same advice. How could that possibly be? But that is what's going on. Now, Dr. Coe and I will tell you the Kidney Stone Diet goal is how much urine we want you to produce: at least 2.5 L of urine a day. So think of a 2 L Coke plastic bottle. We want two and a half liters to 3 L of urine. How do I know, Jill, if it's that much? When you do a urine collection, save the orange jug for you guys, and save the hat for you women. So once in a while you can pull these things out of the closet and say, "Hey, let me I think I've been off my game. Let me check how much I'm peeing lately." And that's how you'll know. You can get those on, I think that, go to my favorite things, Jill, Kidney Stone Diet, they're on that list. Anyway, my favorite things, Kidney Stone Diet, Jill. So here's the issue I have with what doctors tell patients. Loretta, who's 5'1" and is being told to drink a gallon, and even big old Henry, they're being told to drink a gallon tomorrow. That's a lot of the orders I hear. "My doctor said tomorrow I got to drink a gallon." If these two people have not had two glasses of water a day their whole life, you think they're drinking a gallon tomorrow? It's never going to happen, folks. So my job is to manage your expectations. If you call me and say, "Jill, I haven't had a cup of water, what year is this?" Because th- they just haven't. So I've got to take somebody who doesn't drink anything but soda pop all day long and now ask them to lower that and add water in, and we're not going to do it by asking people to do a gallon a day. What's going to happen is they're going to get to four cups of water, they're going to be peeing their brains out, they're going to be like, "I can't do this," and they're going to quit! That's what's going to happen. We don't want people to quit. We want people to try, try, try. So what I tell people is, "Have one glass of water today. Do that for the rest of the week. Then the second week do two each day. For the third week do three that week, okay? And maybe three is where you need to be for a couple weeks before you bring four glasses of water a day. My point is this, you must go slowly. The bladder is a muscle, it will acclimate. But you will be peeing a lot more, for sure. And that's what we want. Why? I like telling patients and students why we want you to do the things we're asking you to do because when you don't do it, you could say, "Oh shit, what'd she say? What's happening in my body? Oh, my urine becomes saturated with all these crystals. And when all these crystals are in my urine, they're looking for each other, like little magnets, phosphate, oxalate, calcium, binding together. The longer they sit in your urine, the more apt they are to find each other. But if you're peeing most of the day, you're losing those crystals, they're not hanging out, you're peeing them out of the body. This is very important. Also, by the way, drinking more water, you'll lose a couple pounds doing it, cause you won't be as hungry. So that's good. Some people will say, "I've increased my water, Jill. I'm so bloated I don't even know what to do." Because you're eating too much salt. You've got to lower your salt. That's the number two number two most important thing to do is lower your sodium. Because if you're eating a high-salt diet and now you're drinking all this fluid, of course you're going to bloat. And if you have cardiac problems, that's a problem, and blood pressure problem, you got to lower that sodium. Anyway, water! Slowly increase your fluids. "Well, Jill, I do drink soda. Can I still drink it?" I don't love soda, as you can well imagine, but if you're drinking five sodas a day, can you go down to three and eventually stop drinking soda? And then maybe try a diet soda. "Oh, Jill, artificial flavors, they're killing us." Come on, people, the dose makes the poison, okay? And we've got to think about it. If someone's drinking 5 to 10 sodas—don't think I haven't heard this, like every month, I hear this monthly. 5 to 10 sodas a day, that's hundreds of mill- that's hundreds of grams of, sugar. That'll kill you way before a little, stevia, okay? Also all the calories. So, we've got to get that down. Typically, people who are drinking 5 and 10 sodas a day, they're overweight. So, all that added sugar is not good for us either. It also makes us bloat, by the way, and keeps our sugar cravings going. So, I will count, if you go from five and eventually go down to one soda a day, of course I'm going to count that as fluid. You're going to have a couple diet sodas, I'm going to count that as fluid. All fluids count, water is best. It's really important you know that. Now, also, as you, start drinking more water, you will be peeing more. You will, and it's annoying. You will also be peeing at night, so you might want to shut the waterworks off a couple hours before bedtime. So I typically sip here and there between 8:00 and 10:00. I go to bed around 10:30, but I actively stop drinking at like 8:00. Maybe I'll have a little tea before bed, and I'm getting up two to three times, but I run myself so ragged, I typically sleep, I go right back to sleep. Some folks will tell me, "Listen, Jill, I'm getting up all night and I'm exhausted the next day." Then you need to slow your roll. You can't be exhausted the next day because you won't eat well and you won't exercise because you're going to be exhausted, and you're going to have cravings for carbs, typically carbs. It's going to be pretzels that give us comfort, not arugula. So, I mean, you know, we're typically making poor choices in food. So I think it's really important that you always understand, and nobody talks about this enough in the diet world, when people ask you to make changes, please, I beg of you to be patient with yourself. Please don't give up. Please know that this takes a long time. The diet world wants to tell you that everything is simple, and easy, and fast, and I'm here to tell you it's not. But I don't need to tell you, because you've done a million of these crazy things from cayenne, lemon, pepper, and all the bullshit to lose weight, and all the things you've done to gain it right back. So there's no such thing as something that's quick or fast. There's just it's not. So I want you, cause usually people give up around the 3-week mark with changes. They're like, "ugh." Just know that you're going to have a couple days where you're going to feel like you don't want to do this anymore. That's fine! Whatever you're really missing, have that day. Not spinach, chia, and almonds, and the really high-oxalate things, but maybe you need an ice cream cone that day. It's okay! Our mantra here is we get right back to work, because nobody gets illness and nobody gains weight back when we get right back to work. It's when we beat ourselves up that we had a stupid ice cream cone, and then we just say screw it, we give up, and we go back to our old eating pattern. So, I know this doesn't have anything to water, but it really does, because you may have days where you want to give up, because you're peeing all the time, or, you know, or you didn't make your goal that day. It's okay! I don't always make my goal for drinking water. It's perfectly okay. What I say is, "How'd I do?" when I go to bed each night, "How'd I do with my goals?" " I didn't do so well with water, so tomorrow it's it's my focus." Okay, so we don't make a kidney stone in a day. We're not obese in a day. We're not going to have to take insulin tomorrow cause we had a Jujube today. So folks, don't listen to the diet industry. Change takes time. But I promise you, if you put the work in—I have thousands and thousands of students and patients I've worked with over the decades. They took the time, they took my advice, they stuck with it, they didn't quit, even on their shittiest days, they kept on plugging along, and they're still here to talk about their weight's off, their diabetes is gone, their blood pressure is gone. It's not miraculous, they work every single day! And now it's a lifestyle, so guess what? I never feel like I'm working. Jeff doesn't feel like he's working on a diet, because we have healthy lifestyles. It's our lifestyle. It's just what we do. So, and then it becomes something you're just somebody who drinks more water and more fluids in general, and you will acclimate to it. So, please, don't give up. Fluids are very important. If you're not drinking enough fluids, slowly get to where you need to be to per- produce 2.5 L a day. Three is great, but I want you to just get to 2.5. And if you're only at 1 L a day, I want you to get to 1.5. You slowly get there, folks, and I promise you, you can lower your risk of making stones, but you got to go to work. ### Kidney Stone Diet Resources and Contact Info 00:12:47 Jeff Sarris Yeah, I think that's the perfect spot to wrap and cheers to that. 00:12:51 Jill Harris Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. 00:12:53 Jeff Sarris And, yeah, if you have a question, the number is 773-789-8763 and you can find everything Kidney Stone Diet related and learn how to prevent your kidney stones at kidneystonediet.com. With that, we'll see you next week. 00:13:07 Jill Harris Bye, guys. Drink your water!