# Fact or Fiction: Basil tea will prevent kidney stones Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/ep/fact-or-fiction-basil-tea-will-prevent-kidney-stones/ Published: 2024-04-09 --- [![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=E42VMjEMFcc)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fact-or-fiction-basil-tea-will-prevent-kidney-stones/id1528474326?i=1000651906836&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0T5yFk8i6YwB1lK50roFGg)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) April 9, 2024 --- ![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 In this episode, Jill dives into whether or not basil tea can prevent kidney stones. **Takeaways** - There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that basil tea can prevent or break up kidney stones. - It’s important to focus on evidence-based strategies, such as following the Kidney Stone Diet, to prevent kidney stones. - Don’t overdo any remedy or food that is believed to promote health, as excessive consumption may have negative effects. 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For more than 25 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. \ —— *Some of the links above may be affiliate links which means that we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!* ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Basil Tea and Kidney Stone Prevention - 00:00:52 St. Patrick's Day Festivities in Chicago - 00:03:59 Science Behind Basil Tea and Kidney Stones - 00:07:38 Oxalate Risks and Overconsuming Healthy Foods ## Transcript ### Basil Tea and Kidney Stone Prevention 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris This week on the show, we have another fact or fiction. Today it's: Basil tea will prevent kidney stones? 00:00:07 Jill Harris The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment. 00:00:27 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, fellow student, Jeff Sarris. 00:00:35 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. It is It is not even I don't think it's even 30 today. It's in March. 00:00:43 Jeff Sarris Yeah, this is not fun. I am ready for spring, ready for summer, ready for all the warmth as soon as possible. ### St. Patrick's Day Festivities in Chicago 00:00:52 Jill Harris I'm not. And, you know, you know where I live. I live in Boystown, right? So, I can't tell you. So, it's March 18th. Man, I saw a lot of drunk leprechauns walking around my neighborhood this weekend. I mean, it was crazy. Chicago loves its St. Patty's Day. Loves it. Crazy. 00:01:14 Jeff Sarris Did you do anything? 00:01:15 Jill Harris No! That's amateur night as far as I'm concerned. But see, I'm right here on the first floor, so I watch all the passersby. And I was just I mean, it was hilarious because in the morning, 8:00 in the morning, cause we dyed the river green. So, they did that at 10:00, and, you know, it's packed down there, downtown Chicago. So, I saw young folks, all with their shamrock, little dilly boppers on their head, wearing green, drinking Guinness at 7:00 a.m., getting to the train. Then, I saw those same people like at 1:15 in the middle of the day coming home like this, if you're on YouTube, they don't look so fresh no more, coming off the train. So, I was just dying. It's one of those It's one of those kind of days where you party early, you get home, and you call your friend like at 2:30 in the afternoon and you're like, "You up?" Just because people probably were drunk by 10:00, passed out, you know what I mean? It's just like it's the whole day drinking thing. So happy Here's the best thing about getting older. So happy, so happy I don't feel obligated to do those kinds of things anymore, cause I watch these kids go by and I'm like, "Oh, have fun, honey." And at the same time, I'm like, "Oh, hell no, don't envy any of them because I know what's about to happen, right? They're going to have fun and then they're going to be like" just a mess. But then the next day, so that was Saturday. Sunday, on Saint wasn't the 17th? You know, people were out Saturday because of the river dying, and they were out just as much on Sunday the 17th, too. So, Chicago likes their St. Patrick's Day celebrations, for sure. So much fun watching them, so much fun watching them from the side, from afar. 00:02:58 Jeff Sarris Right. 00:03:00 Jill Harris From afar, you know. 00:03:02 Jeff Sarris Yeah, from afar. And yeah, we were just in Pennsylvania. We were in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and we were just around the corner from a pub and, apparently, when we were leaving, it was Saturday, they were doing a best-legged kilt competition. So, there were a bunch of guys all decked out, like ready for St. Patty's Day in their kilts and just all the attire. So, we definitely missed out on that, but yeah, it's just it's, I don't know, one of those fun, little novel things, but to see it from a distance, like St. Patrick's Day to watch it from a distance, is definitely enough for me. But, it's yeah. 00:03:37 Jill Harris Yeah, me too. Yeah, those days are long over for me. But I love I love people having fun. I like watching them, I say have a good time, you know, all of it. I just, you know, I don't want to be part of it. It is like New Year's Eve though here. Chicago takes that little celebration very seriously, and where I live, the you know, everyone likes to party, so it's something, it's something. ### Science Behind Basil Tea and Kidney Stones 00:03:59 Jeff Sarris Oh, yeah. All right, what are we doing? Yeah, so this week, it's Fact or Fiction: Will basil tea prevent kidney stones? 00:04:07 Jill Harris Now, again, I'm going to get a lot of schmuck about this one. Basil tea. So, here's what I'm going to say, because everything we talk about here is science-based, evidence-based. There's no science that says basil tea is going to break up a kidney stone. Basil tea is not going to prevent a kidney stone, and people will swear that it did. "Jill, I drank basil tea, and the stones crumbled before my eyes. Just came out of me." What can I tell them? If they believe that the basil had this medicinal property that made them break up that stone, I can't change their mind about that. Was it just the stone was ready to move on its own and just that they were drinking fluids that the stone actually moved? That's where I would lean. So, there's no science that says that basil tea—and a lot of people, a lot of like these are old remedies—drink basil tea and your stone will break up. Listen, I'll say it again. These stones, lots of times the lasers don't even break up these stones. So, they're very, very, very hard material. Now, uric acid stones, as Jeff knows, can be broken up by alkalizing your urine, taking the urine, maybe your urine is of a certain pH, but the doctor gives you a pill or a potion to increase the pH, and that can help break up only a uric acid stone. So, no science saying that basil juice or tea is going to do anything to help pass a stone. If you swear by it, I'm not going to argue with you. I'm just saying there's no science to support that. And I know people will say, "Well, well, there's things that happen in the world and there's no science," or "science is wrong a lot." Science isn't wrong. We take a hypothesis, we put an experiment around it to see what we get. And as we know more in the world, things change, new science emerges, then we know more. Maybe, maybe they'll find out that basil juice is doing that with stones, but there's no science to say it. These stones are very hard. Did the basil pass the stone or was it just fluids that passed the stone? Could you have had some gin and it passed, too, right? Just like people will say, "Beer helped me pass a kidney stone." So, I'm going to say no science. So, I would not be stocking up on basil, and also what would be the oxalate of all that? So, there's that. So, consensus says, no. Basil tea is not going to prevent kidney stones, but the Kidney Stone Diet goals will help prevent kidney stones, so please check kidneystonediet.com. And that's direct from science. We're not just selling a diet. These are goals: lowering your sodium, lowering added sugar, not overeating meat protein, drinking enough fluids, getting enough calcium, because that will help lower oxalate, and taking away the highest oxalate foods, like spinach and almond products. So, that's a great start. Do that. Make sure you get a urine collection to see if there's any medications that you can use. That's about it. Basil tea's not going to do anything for you, folks. ### Oxalate Risks and Overconsuming Healthy Foods 00:07:38 Jeff Sarris Yeah, and I wonder how many people drink basil tea just naturally if it wasn't for something. That's not something I feel is so common, but like you mentioning the how much oxalate would be in it is also an interesting sort of catch-22 there, because you are introducing this steeped plant, like a tea in general, like obviously tea leaves can have oxalate, and you have oxalate in the tea you're drinking. Well, these are different leaves, different plant. How much oxalate are you consuming with that thing that you're hoping to help pass or prevent a stone? 00:08:12 Jill Harris Yes. And typically if some if one hears, this is just human nature, if one hears that something may help, they're going to have copious amounts of it. That's just what we humans do. Just like take the keto diet, right? Or take any kind of diet that says, "Let's take away carbs. We're going to take away a whole food group." Well, of course, people are going to overeat all the other things. So, we tend to, if someone says basil's going to get rid of your stones, they're going to be sucking on basil every single day as much as they can. That's what they're going to do. "Have almonds as a snack as a diabetic." What do I hear all day from my kidney stone patients who are diabetic? "Jill, I was eating almonds all day long." So, we tend to overdo things that are told to promote health. When we're told that thing promotes health, well, we overdo it. That's what we do, because more of that thing will bring more health, right? So, it's just what It's just human nature. It's just what we do. 00:09:15 Jeff Sarris Yeah. Absolutely. So, yeah. I think with that, we will wrap for this week. If you're out there with a question, the number again is 773-789-8763, and we'd love to feature you on a future episode. Or if you're outside the States, you can send a voice memo recorded on your phone, email it to podcast@kidneystonediet.com, and we would love to have your voice. And these fact or fictions are really good. We're going to keep them going for just a little bit because there are so many to cover. 00:09:43 Jill Harris Yes. 00:09:43 Jeff Sarris But if you want to dive deep, if you want to learn everything the ins and outs of the Kidney Stone Diet and find all of the resources, you can go to kidneystonediet.com. And, yeah, sometimes I trip over my words, even though we're a hundred and what, 187 episodes in and I still trip over these sometimes. 00:10:00 Jill Harris Well, that's also because we tape lots of them at the same time. That's why you'll still see this tank top I'm wearing underneath all the shirt changes. So, you know, we've been doing this for the last couple hours. So, it makes sense, Jeff. You're not perfect, I'm not perfect, nobody's perfect. 00:10:17 Jeff Sarris Yeah. With that, we'll wrap. Thanks again for tuning in, for liking, subscribing, and commenting, and we'll see you next week. 00:10:24 Jill Harris Everybody, have a excellent week!