What can I eat?! I produce uric acid and calcium oxalate kidney stones!

Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, the show about reducing your risk for kidney stones and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris, and I am here with Jill Harris. How you doing, Jill?

Hello! Hello, Jeff. We are the We are the Johnny and June Cash of the kidney stone world today.

There you go. I like it. So, what do you say we just dive right in?

And we have a question from the community that came off of Facebook, and someone said that "I produce uric acid and calcium oxalate stones. Is there anything that's actually safe to eat?"

Yes, that's a great question. So, uric acid stone formers, typically, in the diet world, that means that they're eating Look, if they're calcium oxalate and uric acid, if that's a combination stone, and this is why all stone should be analyzed, even though a stone the doctor takes it out, he's like, "Oh, it's calcium oxalate.

I don't got to send that out." But maybe inside or a little bit around it, it could be also a combination. All stones should be analyzed,

FYI. All right, so, if you're a combo, you know, that's that's that's real prevalent with Keto and Paleo because those, even though Keto's a high-fat diet, a lot of people overeat meat on that diet. And, obviously, with Paleo, they're eating a lot of meat because, again, when we're taking away a whole food group.

And, by the way,

By the way, people are going to be like, "God, she's bashing on us again." I eat very low carbs, very low carbs. Most days I don't eat any carbs, so I want you to know that, okay? So, I'm not against those diets.

It's how people do them. That's the problem. So, if you're making a combo stone like that, it can be because you're on a low-carb diet, let's put it that way.

And, again, why portions matter.

So, viewer, the person viewer who asked that, you can you can eat everything. I mean, you just can't overeat, period. And that's always going to be my underlying message.

Again, not very sexy. "Don't overeat!" I mean, what does that mean? That just means we have to eat responsibly.

We cannot eat a whole side of beef, and we can't eat on one plate, and then the other side of the plate is just all spinach. Again, with absolutely no calcium, because the only way oxalate can leave your body is to bind with calcium, okay?

The uric acid buildup in your blood, in your urine, this can be because you're overeating meat protein, not yogurt, meat protein, certain vegetables can increase your uric acid, like mushrooms, oatmeal if you overeat it a lot. Does that mean you can never eat oatmeal? Now, listen to me.

Does that mean you can never eat oatmeal? No, no one's saying that. Does it mean you can't eat it as much as you want all day long for the next 20 years?

Yes, that's what I'm always saying,

Okay? Look, I see you people who love your oatmeal for breakfast every single day for the rest of your life. I see you.

Can we vary it up? Can we have a little yogurt, even if it's coconut if you're a vegan, yogurt with some berries? I mean, can we do that?

Yes, not raspberries because it's high oxalate. All the other berries you can have.

So, also, some people who have uric acid issues, they it's genetic. It's in their family, and they may have to go on a medication to lower the uric acid, so that's also an issue. And so, that's why, too, we ask for blood tests, fasting blood test, when people do their urine collections.

It's hard enough to get doctors to order urine collections, but most of them don't order the fasting blood test either to go with it. So, that is the gold standard. Do both, so you can check these things and rule things out.

And sometimes in the kidney stone world, you do have to go on medications. Uric acid, familial, genetic issues with uric acid, that is some that is a place where you may have to go on medication. You do everything with diet first.

You lower your meat protein. Again, it doesn't mean you cannot eat some meat, that's not what I'm saying. It means you don't eat as much as you want.

So, a lot of you guys who have uric acid stones, the doctor will tell you, "Go veggie." You don't have to go veggie. And then I get the call, "Jill, they're telling me I have to go vegetarian. I'll never be able to do that." You don't have to do that.

You don't have to. The doctor probably meant, "Just lower your meat protein." That's all. That's all you have to do is lower it.

And I have a nice article on my website. Even just go just Google this, "How to calculate your protein needs, and Jill." You'll find my website that will lead you to that article, and when you're when you're calculating it, know you're just figuring out the grams of meat protein, so you can lower it. We all overeat meat protein.

Some of you are eating double and triple the amount that you don't need. So, read that article, it'll be very helpful for you. And as far as the calcium oxalate part,

You know, you're most likely, especially if you're on a low-carb diet, overeating vegetables that are higher in oxalate. So, again, I do eat a very low-carb diet, but I vary all my fruits and vegetables. I weightlift, so I do eat lean proteins, but I eat very little, actually.

Some days I don't eat any meat. I'm just eating vegetables. So, it's very doable to do this diet.

Within portion size, you can still eat everything. You really can. And that's always that's another message.

You can eat whatever you want, except spinach and almonds and the really high oxalate foods. But, otherwise, if you eat within normal portion sizes, I promise you, you can eat everything, really, okay?

Yeah, you naturally will then be reducing salt, reducing sugar. It just It just happens without I don't want to say without effort, because it's a conscious effort. People will make a decision to, "Okay, I'm going to stop when I notice that I'm full," or slow down, which I know you mentioned in a different episode that, like, you eat quickly, when that a lot of people I know, just the speedier you're eating, the longer it takes or the more you can eat, I guess, before you actually get the satiety, like, signals from your stomach.

Yes. Yes, exactly. And I and I do want to point out I am very sensitive to what's going on in the world right now with COVID.

So, again, I understand. Look, we're all stuck in our abodes. I get it.

What Well, nobody's smoking. We can't get drunk all day. I mean, we could, but most of us don't.

So, what? We got food. That's what we have.

And so, you know, it's very difficult to really watch it right now. But, but I'm going to turn that around.

Because of what's going around right now, it's very important you continue to take your health seriously. It really is. So, I want you to be as healthy and as strong as you can absolutely be.

So, you can be in one of two camps. You can say, "You know what? This virus sucks, but I'm going to do everything I possibly can to keep from it." Or the other side is like, "I'm just going to succumb and deal with all the stress by eating food." Get a support partner, whether it's virtually, whether it's your spouse, your kids, a friend, whatever it is, but get somebody to help you.

You know, go to my website. I am very busy right now helping people through this crazy time, dealing with what they're doing with food. And, honestly, guys, you don't want to make more stones.

You don't want to have to go to a right now. You don't want to have to have a surgery, so please think about it. I know that you're stressed and I'm very sympathetic to it, but we've all got to be as healthy as we possibly can.

Seize the day.

Yeah, and for anyone who might just be coming into this episode, what are the ways that you help people through your website? And that's KidneyStoneDiet.com.

Yeah, so I have really great offerings right now. I have a very short 15-minute call, if you have a urine collection and you have the results, and you have a virtual doctor's appointment coming up, and you want to have the best darn doctor appointment ever and get the best treatment plan and all that, I educate people on their results, so they can then have a really great conversation with their doctor.

It's only $39. It's ridiculous. And it's been very helpful.

More than that, it's been extremely helpful to patients. I offer one-on-one private coaching for people who want me all by themselves. And then I have the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, which is a series of videos that people get access to, teaches you each aspect of the Kidney Stone Diet, and you get lifetime access

To it, because a lot of my patients watched it three years ago, and they're like, "Oh, my god, I've fallen off the wagon. Let me rewatch what that broad has to say." But the best thing about the course is you get to come to office hours

Weekdays and two weeknights. And so, you get to work with me in a group setting. We Today, we had the best conversation.

People really start getting to know each other. It's great for support. We talk about all kinds of things.

Everybody has their different stuff. So, they come to me, and like you, they pellet me with all their different questions. I never know what people are going to ask me.

And then we talk about it and figure it out. And it's it's the time that you can spend with patients. It's that.

So, I give that away with the course, the first month of that, because it takes time to adjust to lifestyle changes. You can't just throw a list at a patient and say, "Good luck. God bless.

Do this." What the hell does that mean? You got to sit down. You got to figure out what they like to eat.

You got to figure out what their schedule is. Maybe they are not eating half the day, and then grazing all night long, which is what so many people do. All kinds of stuff.

It's complicated. So, it comes with all those calls, too. So, that's Look, my services, I'm very proud of them.

That's all I can say. And I love what I do. So, you know, I my patients

My patients work hard. My patients don't make stones anymore, and the majority of them do not, because they really work hard at changing their lifestyle and really getting healthy, so they don't have to deal with this anymore.

Yeah, you can't make anyone change, but you can give them all the tools and the guidance that they need to have successful appointments, to rethink how they're eating on a day-to-day basis. And with the with the calls, the group calls, are those video? Are they audio?

Is it like over the phone? How does that work?

We do it's it's like Zoom, but it's GoTo GoToMeeting. So, it's video and audio. You don't have to show your face.

There's always shy people there. We all know I'm not shy. So, yes, it's both.

You can join on your phone. It's all free. It's very easy through my website.

It tells you to click here. It's easy. Not a Look, I'm I'm middle-aged, I can do it.

You can, too. I'm no brainchild when it comes to tech.

Well, and I think that's also great because people who do want to connect with the community, I mean, you're talking face-to-face with them and with one another. And I think I think that just adds a lot to it, because also people can learn and realize they're not alone in this. Like, you're here for them, there's other people going through the exact same thing right now.

Look, I think the bigger thing is for me to, if I if I just turn it around to me for a second, is I've been very sick in my life. And so, when I'm looking straight in somebody's eyes in these squares, and they're telling me how anxious they are and how sick they've been, and how they haven't gotten the help they needed, and well, I mean, I've been there, man.

I've sat in that person's chair. So, we fix it, you know? We talk it out, we get a plan, so they can have great conversations with their doctors.

They, by the time they're done with me, they understand what to do. It is the single, except being a mother, it is the this is the joy of my life. Number one, because I get to do what I love.

But, number two, because my patients don't make stones anymore. And as a nurse, that's what I want. I don't want my patients to be sick anymore.

So, you know, but I always tell my patients, "Look, I can't care for you if you don't. I mean, I can't do my job unless you care about your health just as much as I care about your health." So, I'll say, "I ain't Santa Claus. You got to do the work.

But here's everything I can give you, 110% of me, so you can feel better," because I've been sick. I understand what it's like. It's terrible.

Yeah. Well, I think that is a good note to go out on this week. For anyone who wants to check that out, be sure to head over to KidneyStoneDiet.com where you can find all the free resources, you can find the course and everything that Jill's been talking about.

And be sure to share this podcast with anyone that you know who may be suffering through kidney stones right now, because it is it's the reason we're doing this. I mean, we're trying to get as much free information out there in as many different ways as we can, because people learn differently. Some people are on Facebook, others, I mean, there's a bunch of people who only listen to this, people who watch on YouTube, there's the blog posts, just everything.

It's We're just trying to reach as many people as possible. So, anything that you, as the listener and viewer, can do to help, we greatly appreciate. So, that'll do it again for this week, and we'll see you next time, Jill.

Bye, Jeffrey!

See ya.