Are you making this low oxalate mistake?

In this conversation, Jeff Sarris and Jill discuss common dietary mistakes made by individuals trying to prevent kidney stones, particularly focusing on the low-oxalate diet. They emphasize the importance of not overly restricting food intake, which can lead to unintended weight loss and nutritional deficiencies. Jill shares insights from her experience with clients and stresses the need for a balanced approach to diet, including adequate calcium intake and hydration. The conversation also highlights the significance of using reliable resources, like the Harvard list, to guide dietary choices and prevent confusion about oxalate content in foods.

Takeaways

• Many new kidney stone patients make the mistake of overly restricting their diet.
• Fear from past experiences can lead to irrational dietary choices.
• Weight loss can be a common issue when patients limit their food intake too much.
• It’s important to recognize that oxalate levels in foods can vary significantly.
• Using a reliable oxalate food list can help prevent confusion.
• Adequate calcium intake is crucial for preventing kidney stones.
• Moderation is key in all aspects of the diet.
• Hydration is essential; aim for enough fluids to produce 2.5 liters of urine daily.
• Understanding dietary guidelines can help manage oxalate levels effectively.
• Consulting with professionals can provide personalized dietary advice.

00:00 Understanding the Low-Oxalate Mistake
08:13 Strategies for Healthy Eating and Weight Management

Jeff Sarris (00:00):
Are you making this low-oxalate mistake? Let’s talk about that.

If you’re new here, kidneystonediet.com will give you everything you need to understand how to prevent kidney stones through diet alone. All of the goals, everything is right on the homepage. And if you want to follow along with more details, head on over there right now. But yeah, why don’t we dive into what is this mistake people make with lowering oxalate?

The Most Common Mistake: Restricting Too Much

Jill (00:25):
This, you know, on the Facebook page, we know this is a common mistake, number one, because I’m talking to private clients all day long. But on the Facebook group, we have like 24,000 people on the private Facebook group, and it’s called the Kidney Stone Diet. You can ask to join, I’ll let you in. And the group experts there and myself and long time members of that group, whenever somebody first joins, they’re like, “I’m losing so much weight, I’m losing so much weight,” and we all know what they’re doing. They are limiting themselves way too much. That’s what’s going on.

This is one of the most common mistakes new kidney stone patients make. Why? Because they’re just silly? No, because you’ve got to recognize, and as a patient myself, not with stones, but with cancer, I have done some things in my life. Like you get so scared from your illness that all rationale kind of leaves your mind and you just start doing things because you’re scared and you don’t want that thing that you’re scared of to ever come back. So it’s very easy. When I talk to people, they’re like, “Oh my God, how could I not see that?” And I’m always like, “Because you just had the worst pain of your life or you just had an instrument go through your penis.”

I mean, if that doesn’t wake you up and scare the hell out of you, I don’t know what does. You know how many of my patients have lost a kidney or have gone septic? So they’re not going to be sometimes thinking like they normally do. They are frightened. They are anxious. They are not within the normal frame of mind because they do not want to ever go through that again. That never, that never bores me. When I’m taking a history and I’m taking it and I’m like, “Irene’s telling me this, this, yeah, been there, done that, heard this a thousand times.” I’m always like this, “God, Irene,” I feel it in the pit of my stomach what these people just went through. Again, even before I was sick, now that I’ve been sick, it’s the worst. But even before I was sick, listening to these horror stories of what you guys have been through never bores me. It’s like the first time I heard it and it’s always like I feel so bad. So this is why I come at this at almost 30 years, still screaming and hollering with full passion on, let’s prevent these things. So, what are we doing?

Jeff Sarris (02:54):
You…

Jill (02:55):
I swear to God, Jeff.

Jeff Sarris (02:57):
So yeah, I mean, people are losing too much weight.

Why People Restrict Too Much

Jill (02:59):
So yes, they’re losing too much weight because they’re limiting themselves from foods they can absolutely eat. First of all, this isn’t what’s causing their weight loss. You know, first of all, everyone stops eating vegetables and fruit. And also they’re kind of like, and I don’t mind that part of it because “oxalate’s everywhere.” No, it’s not. A lot of people will stop eating a lot of carbohydrates. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.

But they’re just really limiting themselves so much like they’ll have, you know, a little bit of chicken and some rice because rice has zero oxalate and the meat has no oxalate, right? So they are limiting themselves so much. Their portions become so little because less food will have less oxalate. The only thing they’re thinking about is oxalate. And most people, because different websites and different people all over the internet say different things, you think there’s nothing to eat.

Stick With the Harvard List

So we at Kidney Stone Diet will say, we go by the Harvard list. “But Jill, there’s not the list.” I don’t care about the other list. “What makes you say that?” Because when you look at all the lists, you will think there’s nothing to eat. You guys have got to recognize that oxalate is super hard to study, meaning getting precise numbers. All of these different vegetables and fruits that are grown in all these different countries, soils, everything is, there’s no, a piece of spinach is never going to be the same oxalate level. We all know that it’s high, but depending upon the soil, the sunlight, all the things, it will have varying amounts of oxalate. So why do I stick with the Harvard list? Because it’s been around forever.

I have used it forever and my patients lower their stone risk. The end. They lower their oxalate. The end. They’re not looking at every other list. So I’m asking you not to look at every other list because you will confuse the heck out of yourself. You will eat so much less. You will lose too much weight. And some people are like, “Well, that’s good for me.” But a lot of people are already underweight. Okay? So for those people, now they’ve lost more weight. They get the flu or the cold with winter coming up right now, depending upon when you’re listening to this. And there’s another five pounds. Now they’re grossly underweight and that’s not healthy.

What to Do If a Food Isn’t on the List

So it’s very important you use the Harvard list. “What if it’s not on the list, Jill?” You have that food once or twice. And the only reason I say twice is you might have a leftover. We don’t throw food out at kidneystonediet.com. Much too expensive nowadays. You get your calcium needs met every day and nobody gets a kidney stone with the food that they’re not sure about the oxalate list or the oxalate content when they eat it in a normal portion along with some calcium.

You guys got high oxalate, most of you, because you were eating spinach salad, spinach smoothies, almond milk, almond flour, not getting any calcium. That’s why you had high oxalate. Now there’s other medical conditions that can bring it on, but 95% of you got it because you were overeating the highest oxalate foods without getting any calcium.

Weight Gain vs. Weight Loss on the Diet

So for those of you who are under eating, and I know that you are, if you’re underweight from the kidney stone diet, first thing I ask when people work with me, “Wait, is that normal?” “No, I’ve gained some weight.” Then I know they’re eating tons of rice because it has zero oxalate, right? Or they’ve incorporated calcium containing foods and liquids and they didn’t take away those extra calories they’ve brought in. So there’s some people gain weight on the diet, but more so, more common, people lose weight because they’re eating two things in very small portions because they’re so frightened about making another stone and they don’t know who to believe.

The Real Goals to Follow

So if you listen to what I’m saying, you eat all foods within moderation. You pay attention to the Kidney Stone Diet goals at kidneystonediet.com. You get enough calcium. You get enough water. You don’t overeat meat. You can have it, but you don’t overeat it. Keep to 100 milligrams of oxalate a day unless a doctor has told you otherwise. 1500 milligrams for sodium, not under that. And 25 grams of added sugar for women, added! Not a peach. That’s not added sugar. It came with it. I’m talking about candy bars, ice cream, or sugars in the ingredients. You lower that to 25 grams of sugar. Added sugar for women, 38 for men. And then you get your fluids. Enough to pee two and a half liters a day. And that’s how you prevent kidney stones.

But if you are losing weight, it is because you are restricting yourself too much. I want you to go to the Oxalate food list at kidneystonediet.com. Look at all the things on that Oxalate list. That’s a one stop shop for your Oxalate questions. Use Jeff’s searchable Oxalate list that he built for the website. You just have to put in the food in there and the Oxalate is going to come up. If it’s not on the list, that’s something we don’t know. Harvard didn’t study it. Have that food once or twice a week. You may say “I’m going to have it once a month.” Fine. Just have it with calcium.

The Proof Is in the Results

You will be golden. I look at follow-up 24-hour urine collections all day long. I don’t deal with high urine oxalate after I’ve done the first consult. I give my advice. I look at the second consult. They bring their follow-up tests like an angel the oxalate is. Honestly folks, okay?

Jeff Sarris (09:00):
Yeah. Yeah. I think that, I mean, that covers everything. So again, you can go to kidneystonediet.com to dive deeper and find all of that. But I think with that we’ll wrap and see you all next week.

Jill (09:11):
Yeah baby, have a good week everybody.