Are chia seeds safe to eat with kidney stones?

Are chia seeds safe with kidney stones? Let's talk about that. 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'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Jeff, what's going on?

Yeah, today we are talking about chia, chia seeds. It is a common question. So, a common question.

Beyond the Chia Pet, then just why is it one of the questions that come up with kidney stones?

Well, here's the thing. Especially with you know, in the last few years, everybody's eating chia pudding. Chia pudding, chia pudding.

Good for protein. It's it's it's For vegans and vegetarians, it's a delightful little thing because it's good fiber. I mean, it's good fiber.

You could just see that gel up whenever you have a pudding, everything becomes really thick. And it's a good source of protein. So, it really kills me to say, guys, not for kidney stone formers.

Now, you could say, "But Harvard didn't even study it, Jill. And every time you say Harvard didn't study something, have it once, maybe twice, because you have leftovers. That's what you always say.

Why not chia seeds?" Because so many people agree that it's they're really high in oxalate. And because you're not having chia seeds once a night, you're making 10 puddings and having it for breakfast every day. No, we take those away.

Here's We take away spinach, almond products, that means almond flour, almond milk, almonds. You know, rhubarb, we take away chia seeds. I hate to say it because so many people want to use them and they're such a great source for vegans and vegetarians, but I would not use them if I were you.

And so, we do take them away on the Kidney Stone Diet, even though Harvard did not study them and usually we say what we do when that happens, but not in this case, because there's just too many There's too many sources that say they're just so high. So, we take them away, even if you're taking them with, you know, calcium and everything else.

It's They're just too high in oxalate, so. Some people, we have very different numbers, too, but it's all listed as high. So, I can't in good conscious tell you they're okay to have or portion not perfection because it's the way people use them.

Just like the way people use almond products and spinach, it wasn't just a one-off thing. Typically, people were using those products every day, not getting calcium needs met, and that's why they made a kidney stone, along with high salt, not drinking enough, but that was a big risk for the oxalate portion of it. And so, the only thing I could tell you, guys, if you wanted to say, "Well, Jill, I don't like that answer because I would like chia seeds." The only thing that I can tell you guys, when we don't have numbers for a food, but it's something you really want to eat, I would say, look, have that food when you're doing your urine collection and see what comes out in oxalate.

Now, I know a lot of you will say, "Hell no, I ain't doing that." I'm not doing that. If you're saying don't eat them and you're very liberal with the oxalate, I'm not eating them. I would go towards what I'm saying here because if you do know me, I do say, "Listen, everyone's freaking out about oxalate," but people say they're high, like over 100.

High, high, high. So, I wouldn't I just wouldn't eat them. But if you're hellbent on doing it, you can eat any product that you're not sure of, have it during your urine collection, but I will say this, too, and see what comes out.

But I will say this, too. It's very unlikely that someone's just going to have chia pudding once in a while. You could say, "I'm going to be that person," but also when we're looking like for a food like chia that has a good amount of protein and a good amount of fiber, we typically want to instill that on a regular basis in our diet, just like you did with almonds and spinach.

So, this If you're having chia seed a couple times a month, it's not going to bring that much better health to you. Does that, Jeff, does that make sense what I'm saying here? I want to make sure I'm explaining that well.

Does that?

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, because if we're approaching it as this is a I hate to say medicine, but if we're seeing this as a treatment for something we need, we usually are going to do so much more of it.

And that's what people do. Peoples, human beings' thought process is if she says this is healthy, more of it must be. That's why people got in trouble with spinach and almonds once their A1C was up and they were told, "Have spinach and almonds, they're really healthy." Or, and people will do this, "Well, Jill said the Kidney Stone Diet goal is 1500.

I also know the American Heart Association also has lowered the sodium goals to 1500, so I'm going down to 200 cause less must be better." Don't do that, as the person says as they pass out. So, no. So, when we say goal, so I've changed the way I teach that, and I'll say 1500 to 2000, because of where people go.

What we say as healthcare people, people teaching diet, lifestyle changes, what we say, people do. So, you got to be I call responsibility on anybody who's giving advice to people to live a healthier life or to change lifestyle habits. You must be clear.

And this is the great thing about doing a career for so long. When I do, say I'm doing a consult with somebody, I'll say, "Do you have any questions?" They're like, "Geez, no, you answered everything," because I've worked with people for so long, I know exactly what to say. They don't even have to think.

"Oh gosh, she touched that, that, that," because I've worked for so many people, I know what you're going to ask. I also, unfortunately for you, know what you do before you even tell me. Just like when I'll see a urine collection, people will say, you know, it will say that they peed, you know, 5 L on their urine collection.

Now, I know damn well that Billy Bob don't normally pee 5 L of urine every day, otherwise he wouldn't be a stone maker. He did that on the day of the collection because when you're collecting your urine, you're looking at that orange jug and at 1:00 in the afternoon, you're like, "Holy moley, I ain't peed nothing. Let me get to drinking," right?

Or you're just being conscious because you're doing a test and you're not running to Target or the store or whatever. So, unfortunately for you guys who work with me and you always laugh when I say it, I know what you do before you even tell me. I also know what you're going to ask, and that's a blessing for me, too, because I know my patients so well of, you know, how to teach.

So, when you know what people do, you can be a really great teacher just because people have been so honest and open with you, so you know their habits, you know what they do. So, why I'm saying no to chia is because I know y'all want to have it every day, and so we take it away. Have it every day?

No, no. Take it away. No.

So, yeah, if you want to have it once or twice a month, that's not making a stone, but what would be the point? Because if you're looking for chia seeds, you're looking for protein and fiber. You want to incorporate more of those every day into your diet, and so twice a month ain't lifting the needle to where you want to go.

How's that?

Oh, yeah, it's perfect. And when you're ready for more, like what is next? What else is available for you?

You can find all of the free resources that Jill's created since 1998 to prevent kidney stones. They're all at kidneystonediet.com, including the All-Access Pass that includes meal plans. It's We throw in the Prevention Course with the pass just because we want to give you everything you need.

There's group calls, there's private consultations, there's everything you need to prevent future stones, all in one place. You can find that at kidneystonediet.com. I think with that we'll wrap and we'll see you next week!

Everybody, have a great day. Thank you for being here and trusting us. Bye!