# Careful! Added sugar increases kidney stone risk! Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/ep/careful-added-sugar-increases-kidney-stone-risk/ Published: 2023-11-14 --- [![Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Podcast-1-1024x1024.jpg)](https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/podcast/) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBfvX763BSo)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/careful-added-sugar-increases-kidney-stone-risk/id1528474326?i=1000634783790&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6r5JJ9vWMTrNyUVZyldiHV)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) November 14, 2023 --- ![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 talks about sugar and how it affects kidney stone formers. This podcast is designed to entertain and inform — not provide medical advice. 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Thanks for your support!* ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Introduction to Sugar and Kidney Stone Risk - 00:01:05 Reading Nutrition Labels for Added Sugar - 00:12:32 Fruit Juice Versus Whole Fruit Calorie Impact - 00:14:35 Kidney Stone Diet Voicemail and Email Resources - 00:15:33 Free High Calorie Meal Replacement Bar Recipe ## Transcript ### Introduction to Sugar and Kidney Stone Risk 00:00:00 Jill Harris The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment. 00:00:20 Jeff Sarris 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. 00:00:29 Jill Harris Oh! Are we taping? And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. 00:00:36 Jeff Sarris So, this week, I know last week we didn't do a listener voicemail, but we're going to do more of an FAQ sort of approach this week because we're going to talk about sugar and sugar is such a just sort of hot topic across wellness and nutrition in general that it's important that we touch on a few things here regarding sugar, kidney stones, and overall well-being. ### Reading Nutrition Labels for Added Sugar 00:01:05 Jill Harris Sugar! Oh, my gosh. It's such a, you know, I mean, everybody vilifies sugar, right? And everybody knows we should not be eating like teenagers eating Baby Ruth bars all day long. We overconsume sugar. We overconsume it. So, I'm not a I'm not a fan of Keto because I don't think we should ever take away a whole food group. I just don't believe in that, okay? If you like Keto, God bless, and you can still prevent kidney stones with the Keto diet. I get a lot of people talking to They come to me because they got kidney stones from Keto, but I always push back. Keto didn't give you stones, the way you did Keto did, though. So, I have plenty of stone formers that have had consults with me, and they're on Keto. As long as you fit into the Kidney Stone Diet goals found at kidneystonediet.com, I don't care what lifestyle you eat, whatever you want. But sugar, the one thing I do love about Keto is it really did start making people turn it around, Buster Brown, and look at sugar on labels. And enough people did that, that food manufacturers really lowered the sugar in products. Of course, they put more salts in there and sugar alternatives, but whatever, people are eating less sugar. Okay, now, so for kidney stone prevention, we want less added sugar, okay? Added sugar, think of so when you're looking at a food label, you're going to turn it around and you're going to look at the label, if you're in the States, it will say sugar, and then below that it's going to parse out added sugar. So, from that total amount of sugar, this much is added. So, if you have 10 g of sugar, and then it's parsed out, it says 4 g of added sugar, it means 4 g of added sugar are in the total sugar. That's how you read on the label. I don't know about Europe. In other countries, it could be different. They may not even have a parse out. In the Kidney Stone Diet, we talk about added sugar because it can also increase urine calcium. So, we do not want you eating a lot of added sugar. Think junk food. That's added sugar, and we'll talk specifically about what equals added sugar, what words to look for. 25 g of added sugar, and the American Heart Association gives you the same, U- USDA gives you the same goals as the Kidney Stone Diet, 25 g of added sugar for women and 37.5, I just round up to 38 g of added sugar for men, added sugar. If you turn a label, if you look at your nutrition label, like I said, it will be parsed out. But if you if it isn't parsed out for you, look at your ingredient list. Does it say things like molasses, coconut sugar, invert sugar, turbinado sugar, raw sugar, agave nectar, evaporated cane juice, crystalline fructose, maltose, anything ending in -ose. You know, Bobby Flay, I think that's his name, I don't know, he's always talking about, "Oh, I love coconut sugar." Sugar is sugar! Don't matter what kind, coconut. Doesn't matter. Sugar is sugar. If it's that's added sugar, Bobby. He'll always say, "Bobby-approved coconut sugar," or whatever he says. It's sugar! It's sugar. It's added sugar. So, you're going to know if something's added by looking at the ingredient list. Here's another, yeah. Corn sweetener, corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates, these are all added sugars to your food, high fructose corn syrup, malt sugar, okay, syrup of any kind, dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, remember, all the -oses, maltose, sucrose, brown sugar, don't matter if it's brown, white, purple, or polka dot, people, it's sugar! Honey. "Jill, honey's natural." Now, when they put it in something, it then becomes an added sugar. It's sugar! I don't care if it comes from a bee's ass, it's sugar, or wherever it comes from. I don't know where it comes from, a bee's something. I don't know. I live in a city. I don't know birds and bees and I don't know any of that stuff. All I know is honey is added sugar. Added sugar. Okay? So, added sugar can also lower urine volume. We all know that with salt. It'll make you pee less when you eat more salt, right? People are like, "Oh, my god, I'm so bloated. My dungarees don't fit," because they ate more salt. Same thing happens with sugar. You can Sometimes if you eat more sugar, I know for me because I barely eat any sugar, so when I do, I feel really thirsty. I don't know if anybody else feels that. First you got to get a perspective of eating less sugar, and then you'll know. But it can pull urine calcium out of your bone and put it into the in into the urine, and that can increase your stone risk. And my mentor, Fred Coe, C-O-E, at kidneystonediet.uchicago.edu, he has I have an article on there, and he has a few articles on sugar. I think one of his articles, and you should link it, Jeff, if you get a chance, "Sugar: Our Love Affair, End of a Love Affair." That's a great article, and he talks about the science behind it. And then I have an article on that website, too, called something with sugar and the Cookie Monster, whatever, you don't have to link mine, just link his, cuz that's a great article. "Sugar: The End of a Love Affair," Fred Coe, C-O-E. And so, we don't, first of all, we don't want you eating too much sugar. Forget about kidney stones. We don't want it for obesity, we don't want it for diabetes. The American Heart Association doesn't want it for heart disease. These are very serious diseases, as you all well know. So, we want to lower added sugar. That doesn't mean that you can't have ice cream. People say, "Oh, my god! I can never have this. I can never" Yes, you can! It just means you can't have it all the time. So, if you want I spend Here, let me show you. I'm going to get up and show you. So, you think, people are like, "Oh, she must be a nun the way she eats." Let me show you! Let me show you. Added sugar, I went in my fridge and I got a carton. Here's my creamer. It's called Oatmilk Cookie from Silk, dairy-free oat creamer, okay? I start my day with 4 g of added sugar every day. Why? Because I love it. I love it. It makes me happy. It brings me joy. I like my coffee with a little bip of sweetness. I don't have added sugar anywhere else in my day. This I ain't giving up. So, pay attention to me, kidney stone formers. This doesn't mean if this makes you happy, you'll see on the Facebook page, "Oh, my god, it has added sugar." 4 grams! I get 25. I ain't nowhere near 25 g. Use your sugar allotment where it brings you the most joy. I do eat like a nun. So, if somebody came and said to me, "You're going to have to give this up," I'll be like, "Well, too bad, so sad, that ain't happening." Because I would feel deprived. That morning coffee with this creamer, I get the I there's four whozies in there, four cartons because it was on sale. I stocked up. I got two vanilla and two oat oatmeal ones. It makes me happy. If I'm happy, I can be real compliant the rest of the day. So, what I'm suggesting for you guys, yes, added sugar, we want to curtail it for all kinds of medical conditions. I want people to eat responsibly. My coffee tastes like candy, but that's it for my diet, so 4 g. But, again, if I wanted to go have ice cream, I'd have some ice cream. I'd get right back on track, that's how we do it. You all have allotments, and the and sometimes you're going to go over 30 g, 40 g, 50 g of sugar. Some days you're going to do that, nobody cares. It's when you do that, get mad at yourself and say, "Screw it! I'm just going to keep eating like that." Please don't do that. Don't abuse your body that way. Just get right back on track. So, people will say, "Well, we can't have too much added sugar. What about regular sugar? What about naturally occurring sugar, like, maybe you're going to go to the grocery store, you're going to turn it around, you're going to look at some cranberry juice or apple juice or prune juice or all those juices, and you're going to say, 'Ooh! Ooh! 0 added sugar.' But, you know there's a but. I'm certainly not going to be adding I'm not going to be drinking cranberry juice every day or prune juice every day or apple juice every day when each eight-ounce glass has over 30 g of natural sugar. It's still going to it's still going to be a lot of sugar. It's not added, but that doesn't mean you now can have 15 glasses of juice. It might as well be soda, okay? So, let's just say diabetics are not going to drink apple juice all day. So, that's not healthy, either. A piece of fruit that's going to have fiber and stuff, of course, healthy! But just straight sugar from normal juice, just regular juice, even if it's not added, of course you can have some, but don't think it's a free thing. Don't think that's not going to add a shitload of calories, and it's also not going to be healthy for diabetics, it will increase your insulin, of course, your blood sugar. So, you don't want to be doing that, either. Can you have four ounces of an apple juice? Of course, you can. I'm just saying, just because something doesn't have added sugar, it's all natural sugar, doesn't mean you can have as much as you want of it. It's not a free food. I hope that makes sense. Do you think that makes sense, Jeff? 00:11:58 Jeff Sarris Yeah, it absolutely does. Yeah, because, I mean, we're back like just one of the key things is the portion that perfection idea, as well, and like the quantity, it's almost like the quantity of the poison, how does that go? "The dose makes the poison." There you go, yeah. Well, that goes fit. 00:12:15 Jill Harris Yeah.. 00:12:17 Jeff Sarris Just saw little Finn walk through the through the frame. I don't know if it'll be on the final, but 00:12:21 Jill Harris Oh, did he? 00:12:22 Jeff Sarris He's like, "All right, it's time." 00:12:23 Jill Harris He's bored. He's bored. He's like, "Jesus, I can't even have apple juice now? What the hell? How'd I get stuck with this one?" ### Fruit Juice Versus Whole Fruit Calorie Impact 00:12:32 Jeff Sarris Yeah, but I mean, that is that is important to note as well, because also like if we're having an apple versus drinking apple juice, it's very different. Like apple juice is concentrated sugar. You're consuming many more apples, the equivalent of many more apples, without the fiber, without the all the other things that go together with that enclosed food that nature created. 00:12:56 Jill Harris Well, and listen to this. I mean, it's real easy to chug down four glasses of apple juice and get like 500, 600, 700 calories. Nobody's eating 22 apples. And it still wouldn't be all those calories, okay? So, I'm just saying, right? It makes a big difference. Juice to me, to me, personally, and because I have my bowel issues, I can't tolerate all that sugar at once, added or regular. To me is the equivalent to soda. Juice is not healthy, folks. We all know that. But, of course, if you if you're like, "I need some hot apple cider," because it's fall right now while we're recording this. Oh, my god, have some! Enjoy it, of course! But don't think it's a free food and you can have that. Don't think it's like, you know, it's still affecting blood sugar. It's still affecting calories, obesity. So, again, these things should be in normal portion sizes, too, despite the fact or and also limited, despite the fact that it's not added sugar. So, I think that differentiation is really important, because I'll have patients that say, "Well, Jill, I'm doing the Kidney Stone Diet, look at my added sugar's like a baby doll, but I'm gaining all this weight." He's drinking six glasses of juice. Nobody has room for an extra 6, 7, 800 calories in their diet, and that's a crapload of sugar, whether it's natural or added, it's still a lot of sugar, right? So, we've got to we've got to just pay attention to that. You know, you want to limit your naturally occurring sugar, too. So, meaning, just don't drink all this juice and think it's fine just because it's not added, that's the message here. ### Kidney Stone Diet Voicemail and Email Resources 00:14:35 Jeff Sarris Yeah, absolutely. So, with that, I think we will wrap for this week. The phone number, once again, if you have a question that you'd like to have featured on a future episode, is 773-789-8763. Or you can email a voice memo, just record a voice memo on your phone, you can email that to podcast@kidneystonediet.com. And, of course, kidneystonediet.com is where you can find everything: the meal plans, the e-books, there's snack e-books, there's everything that you would need to actually follow the Kidney Stone Diet and realize that you have so many more options than you might otherwise assume when it comes to just the thought of what a diet, in quotes, means. So, definitely, if you haven't been there yet, go to kidneystonediet.com, and you can sign up for the weekly email newsletter, as well. Jill will keep you on track every week with a little nugget or story or whatever it is that ### Free High Calorie Meal Replacement Bar Recipe 00:15:33 Jill Harris Or free recipes! I give out a lot of free recipes in that newsletter. I just did it. And also, for people who need to gain weight, we just added a new recipe on the website, it's free, and they're Kidney Stone Diet replacement bars. You're going to really like them, because I have been ill lately. I've needed a higher calorie bar. So, if you're on a and also, even though I don't like using bars as a meal replacement, sometimes we just have to. So, this is a nice, higher calorie bar, high protein, it's a great bar. That's free at kidneystonediet.com, the recipe section, go there, it's a wonderful one. 00:16:12 Jeff Sarris Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, thank you again, everyone, for tuning in, for liking, subscribing, and just for being you. So, thanks again. 00:16:20 Jill Harris Thanks for being here, yes. Thanks. 00:16:22 Jeff Sarris And we will see you next time. 00:16:24 Jill Harris Bye, guys.