# Plant-based diet increases kidney stones? Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/ep/plant-based-diet-increases-kidney-stones/ Published: 2022-07-19 --- [![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=uqCAi6eLrM4)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plant-based-diet-increases-kidney-stones/id1528474326?i=1000570473811&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pAB1Y0F39XeQJ8drjEUTM)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) July 19, 2022 --- ![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 answers a listener question about plant-based diets and kidney stones. 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, host of the [Starting Now podcast](https://spyr.fm/now), and developing NFTs and community with an artist named [Badfroot](https://badfroot.com/). Reach out on Twitter! [@jeffSARRIS](https://twitter.com/jeffSARRIS) ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Living with Chronic Illness and Daily Health - 00:02:38 Listener Updates on Weight Loss Success - 00:05:21 Balancing Plant-Based Diets with Type 2 Diabetes - 00:08:35 Managing High-Protein Foods on Low-Oxalate Diets - 00:11:47 Preventing Kidney Damage with 24-Hour Urine Testing ## Transcript ### Living with Chronic Illness and Daily Health 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris SPYR. Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet podcast, a show 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 kidneys, kid- kidney stone prevention nurse. 00:00:28 Jeff Sarris Perfect, perfect. But yeah, so we're back at it again here. You're feeling a little better you were saying before, which is good. 00:00:36 Jill Harris Yes, I've had, you know, I got sick right around June 13th and the last 48 hours, you know, when you have a dysfunctional colon as it already is, because of all my surgeries and stuff, and you have whatever I had, they never diagnosed me, such a, just a virulent virus of, or bacterial, whatever. I mean, it really set me back. It's well over a month now. But for the last 48 hours, I'm feeling okay. And, you know, I was just telling Jeff, it's like, man, when you have chronic illness and you have a couple good days, well, hot damn, people! You feel so good. You feel so good! And you got to, you got to make whatever you can of that day, because you don't know if you'll wake up tomorrow. For all the chronic illness sufferers in the audience, you know, whether it's fibromyalgia, whether it's diabetes, whether it's whatever you're dealing with, rheumatoid arthritis, there's a lot of other things out there besides kidney stones. You know, it just feels good to feel good on the days that you do. So, man, I was also just telling Jeff this: when you have a chronic illness and you have days and days and days of not feeling well, man, you feel good when you feel good. So, really capitalize on that. The one good thing about we who have chronic illness is we really know how to party on the days we feel good. So, that's what's wonderful. And by party, I just mean exercise, a Jill party! Exercise, you know, nourish your body well, all those things. But without the perspective of yuck, you just don't have the wonderful perspective of how good life really is. So, you know, for anybody having a bad day today, I'm hoping tomorrow is a lot better. And if it is, well, go to it and get to it. So, yeah, I'm feeling really good today, and I'm grateful for every second of it. 00:02:26 Jeff Sarris Awesome. Yeah, so, so glad to hear it, because, yeah, that's a long time. A long time to be dealing with the same, with that same sort of, illness, virus, or whatever was going on. But, yeah. 00:02:37 Jill Harris Yes. ### Listener Updates on Weight Loss Success 00:02:38 Jeff Sarris Yeah. But, on a different note, should we dive into, we have a little clarification from a previous episode. I didn't tell you what this is, but let's just jump into it. 00:02:50 Jill Harris Okay. 00:02:51 Jeff Sarris Hi, Jeff. Hi, Jill Margaret Harris. This is Mom. First, I want to say happy 4th of July. Second, Sharon and I lost 13 lbs on the Kidney Stone Diet, so good for us. And last, look at your birth certificate and you'll see your middle name, both you and Kim, have Margaret as a middle name. So before you go announcing that you have no middle name because your mother's not that creative, check it out. I'm off to the gym. Love you both, Jeff and Jill. 00:03:36 Jill Harris She's a bit, first of all, let's also clarify that my mother's never been to the gym a day in her life, but that's adorable that she just said it. And we love you anyway, Ma. I will look at my birth certificate. Maybe my confirmation name was Margaret, but, okay, so even if it was, so I've always been told I don't have a middle name. Okay, so that's number one, Ma. Number two, I'm still sticking with the creativity point, because why in God's name would you name both me and Kim, Margaret? That's just, what? There's a lot of names in the world, old lady. Anyway, but I'm glad you called. 00:04:14 Jeff Sarris I thought you'd like that one. As soon as I, as soon as I listened, I was like, oh, this is going to be good. 00:04:19 Jill Harris I mean, I'm going to, so for the next show I will get out my birth certificate and I will look at it. Maybe I've just been lied to my whole life. Maybe I don't have a middle name, but, okay, if it's Margaret, I'm going to check, Ma, because I have my birth certificate. So, maybe she's right. It wouldn't be the first time my mother's right, let's just say that. But anyway, She's going to the gym, Jeff. Yeah, okay. She's going to the gym. But, 00:04:45 Jeff Sarris Congrats on the 13 lbs! That's amazing. 00:04:47 Jill Harris She lost her 13 lbs. And Sharon did, too. So, good. I mean, you know, I'm glad that they're reaping the rewards of eating healthier. Does it mean you have to be perfect? Does my mother not, does she have to give up her pizza that she loves so much? Absolutely not. But if she gets right back to work, has a little pizza, gets back to work, nobody gains weight after one meal. A little water, but not true fat. So, I'm glad for you, Ma, that's good for you. And tell Sharon I'm rooting for her because I don't want her to make any more new stones. 00:05:18 Jeff Sarris Yeah, absolutely. 00:05:20 Jill Harris Yeah. ### Balancing Plant-Based Diets with Type 2 Diabetes 00:05:21 Jeff Sarris But, yeah. So, the actual question for this week, let's, dive in here. 00:05:27 Jill Harris Hi, Jill, this is Lewis from Florida. I'm a type 2 diabetic, have had very good results with a plant-based diet, low-fat diet, to keep my sugar under control. Unfortunately, I have had a history of kidney stones, even requiring laser surgery. I don't eat meat, but I do eat small amounts of chicken and fish. I'm trying to do the workaround here. Legumes are tough. I'd like to rely on them more for protein, but other than small amounts of red kidney beans and lentils, legumes are a no-go. It seems quinoa is sort of an unknown, so I'm not sure what to do with that. I'm very careful about getting enough calcium every day, and I drink like a fish. Of course, I get the 24-hour urine collections routinely. Do you have any sage advice? Thank you. It's a great question, Lewis, and I'm so grateful, Jeff and I are so grateful you called in. Plant-based people! Plant-based diets and kidney stone prevention. I can't tell you how many people come to me because they're vegans or they're vegetarians. Lewis did say he eats a little bit of meat, but mostly he likes to be plant-based. He's also a diabetic, so he's trying to balance all of these what seems to be conflictual diets, but they're really not. And we have a video if you guys want to check it out. We have a video on being diabetic and the kidney stone diet, how you mush those things together. I think we do anyway, Jeff. Because it's a very common thing. People who have chronic kidney stones can also have diabetes and vice versa, so it's not uncommon that people have both. Now, plant-based people, you don't have to make kidney stones anymore. I promise! The problem with going plant-based is the lack of education that people get. Go plant-based! Okay, well, really what does that mean? Typically what people do when they go plant-based is they overeat the highest oxalate products. Think spinach and almonds. All nuts! So, he's a diabetic, so I'm sure that he's been told eat nuts. High fat, good protein, zero carbs, or low carb, right? So, that's something that would be very good for his diabetes. So, what do people do? They start snacking on nuts all the time. Hey, Mickey, I'm looking at you! That's my mom's husband, okay? Always eating nuts. I certainly have bought them for him, so I'm I haven't helped him in that way, but he loves them and he's going to have them. But I'm just saying, if you're a kidney stone former and a diabetic, ask yourself, are you overeating the same products over and over? Well, when you're diabetic, that's what happens. Then, the next thing you know, you get a kidney stone because you've been doing those things along with not getting any calcium to absorb that excess oxalate. So, ### Managing High-Protein Foods on Low-Oxalate Diets 00:08:35 Jill Harris He also said, "Look, I'm looking for more protein, he also wants low fat." And so, he's like, "You know, I can't have beans, I can't have lentils, I can't have, well, we don't know, can I have quinoa?" Also, diabetic people, quinoa, you know, it's high protein grain, but it still has a lot of carbs, so pay attention to that. Make sure to turn it around, buster brown, look at your labels. Diabetics, we're looking at carbs, okay? Now, Does it mean, in my meal plan service, I'll often get patients that say, "Hey, Jill, what are you doing? You got black beans in your meal plan service." Well, in the meal plan service, I always give education and tips and tricks and the reasons why I used the ingredients I did. And I will say, "Yes, I know you think I've been drinking, but I use black beans in this chili." But notice the portion size. It's a whole cup of black beans and there's four to six portions in this. So, it's very small amounts. Along with getting your calcium, it won't be a big deal as far as oxalate goes. So, can Lewis have lentils? Absolutely, he can have lentils. He said he's getting his calcium needs met, so that's great. It's all about portion. Truly, the only things I say really stay away from are almond products And spinach. Everything else, if you don't eat every day in huge amounts, you can absolutely have those things. Spread out the love. Spread out the oxalate. Pay attention to portions, and you will be a low oxalate person. And also, Lewis, I suggest, let me look at some of those urine collections. I have a 15-minute call, very inexpensive for what you get, and I'll help you understand those results So you can get the best possible doctor office visits. But there is, I have many diabetics and mostly plant-based people, like I said, he said he eats a little bit of meat. They do, they don't make any more new stones, because they learn how to combine all of the things. When you guys are thrown diabetic menus, kidney stone meal plans, menus, stuff like that, it's very overwhelming. Number one, you're sick, so that's scary enough. But then you're trying to piece all this stuff together with all the conflicting information out there on the internet. So, it is very doable. My patients stop making their kidney stones as long as they keep on the program. And learning how to mesh both of those things together, well, that's why I'm here. Give me a give me a call, okay? Find me at kidneystonediet.com. 00:11:18 Jeff Sarris Yeah. Yeah, and the- 00:11:19 Jill Harris Did I miss anything else there for Lewis? I think that's it, right? 00:11:22 Jeff Sarris No, yeah, you covered it. Yeah, and the urine analysis, I'll jump over to the site real quick. You can see right at the top of the website you have, urine analysis, and then you jump through there. And you will find, yeah, the 24-hour consult. And, yeah, you can take it from there, and Jill can help you break down your, your results just so you know for sure. ### Preventing Kidney Damage with 24-Hour Urine Testing 00:11:47 Jeff Sarris Just, I mean, because it's good that he's getting the tests, I mean, consistently, and- 00:11:51 Jill Harris Yes, I'm thrilled to hear that, yes. 00:11:52 Jeff Sarris Yeah, it's unfortunate he's had to have the, the surgery to get them lasered out, the stones and everything, because that is, that's a lot to deal with, but- 00:12:01 Jill Harris Yes, and Jeff, I'll say this, too. When we have, and this isn't to scare anybody, this is just fact, guys. When we have multiple surgeries, he's not saying he did, he said he had a surgery, but many of my stone formers come to me and they've had 10, 15, Eight surgeries. Do you know what kind of damage that does to your kidneys? And then you're you're you're prone to get chronic kidney disease, CKD, because you have now damage to your kidneys. Again, I'll tell you, the kidneys are a sensitive organ. Out of our organs, they're the most sensitive. So, when they become damaged, they filter less. They're not filtering like they should. So, it's very important that you get on a prevention program, you follow the Kidney Stone Diet, some of you may need medications, too, a urine collection will tell you, and you can really lessen your risk of other diseases. Kidney stones are terrible. I really want everyone to stop making them, okay? I really do. 00:13:05 Jeff Sarris Yeah, it's the whole reason we do all of this and why there's so much free content through the podcast here, through YouTube, through the website, through the Kidney Stone Prevention group on Facebook. There's so much to dive into, but yeah, with that, I hope, Lewis, I hope that was good. Thank you for your question. If you have any other questions, anyone else out there, the number is 773-789-8763 and we'd love to feature you on a future episode. And if you want to dive in deeper with the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, if you want to join the Facebook group, if you want to find any of the myriad things that we offer, you can go to kidneystonediet.com where you'll find all of it. And I think with that, we will wrap for this week. 00:13:48 Jill Harris Look, if you have diabetes and you're a kidney stone former, comment below. See if I can help you with any suggestions specifically for that. The other thing is, thank you for being here. It excites Jeff and I to no end, number one, because we know you're taking you're participating in your own healthcare, and in this day and age, we need to do it. And we're just excited you're part of our community, so thanks for being here with us. If you haven't, please subscribe. It helps people find us easier, and we love you. Bye, guys! 00:14:20 Jeff Sarris See you next time.