# How my patients prevent kidney stones while traveling Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/ep/how-my-patients-prevent-kidney-stones-while-traveling/ Published: 2026-04-14 --- [![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=bBMywWTePaw)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-my-patients-prevent-kidney-stones-while-traveling/id1528474326?i=1000761314373&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Go5DZ4KfKSntLmkkxHMba)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) April 14, 2026 --- E Elise Guest ![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, we talk about practical strategies for kidney stone prevention while traveling abroad. We cover hydration, sodium intake, calcium, oxalates, and enjoying local cuisine responsibly. ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Preventing Kidney Stones While Traveling Abroad - 00:00:43 Prioritizing Dietary Goals When Dining Out - 00:01:42 Fluid Intake and Sodium Control During Travel - 00:06:26 Managing Calcium and Oxalate Intake Abroad - 00:10:21 Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plan Resources ## Transcript ### Preventing Kidney Stones While Traveling Abroad 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris I'm traveling, but I want to prevent kidney stones. What do I eat when I can't control the foods that I'm eating? 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. 00:00:23 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. I love this question! 00:00:27 Jeff Sarris Yeah, I think it's really good. This is a question from a listener named Elise. I'm going to play that right now. But if you have a question and you're out there, the number is 773-789-8764. Now, let's hear from Elise. ### Prioritizing Dietary Goals When Dining Out 00:00:43 Elise Hi, Jeff and Jill. This is Elise from Minneapolis, and I have a question about traveling. I have a trip coming up that's several weeks long, abroad, and I may not have a lot of control about where or how I eat. So, my question is, when faced with a diet or a menu that has, you can't have it all, so maybe you can't have protein and calcium and low sodium, there's not an option for that, do you have any thoughts about how to prioritize those goals? So, is it better to make sure there's calcium in the meal and let the sodium go? Or is it better to just choose the lowest sodium thing and not worry about the protein and calcium? So, any thoughts on how to balance that when you're a little bit out of control would be really helpful. Thanks so much. 00:01:28 Jill Harris God, I love this question, Jeff. 00:01:31 Jeff Sarris It's a good one because, yeah, like we don't always have full control over our diets. Like it's easy to say, "Just make every meal at home. Just prepare everything you'll ever eat for the rest of your life." ### Fluid Intake and Sodium Control During Travel 00:01:42 Jill Harris I swear to God. Unless you're like me and I can't go out to eat, you know, it's, yeah, look. Listen, folks, you're going to go out to eat. It's part of being social, too. And Elise says she's going abroad for a few weeks, so that's a long time. And that's going to warrant some anxiety for a kidney stone former because they've been through hell. So, you know, when, and for any kind of medical condition we have, it's not just kidney stone formers. If we're going to be abroad or traveling for long period of time, it makes perfect sense as a patient who's been through something, whatever that is, or has a chronic disease like diabetes or hypertension or heart disease, whatever you're dealing with, when you go out to eat and for long periods like traveling abroad, it is a concern. And I love the question because she's asking, "All right, listen, Jill. I'm going out to eat most meals cause I'm abroad. When I'm looking at a menu, practically, what should I, what should I worry about? What's the most important thing?" I'm going to say this, no matter what your question is in stone prevention, you always– So, the other thing I'm going to say, too, you do always have some control. 100% control? No, not always. Wouldn't that be great in life if we did? But not always. So, what can you control? The point is you can always control something. Number one will always be for kidney stone prevention: getting fluids during your meal. You can always drink some water. Yeah, you're going to have a glass of wine. Yeah, you're going to have a gin and tonic, whatever you're doing. But limit alcohol, especially if you're planning on drinking, you know, a lot for a three-week getaway. Watch how much you're drinking because that in and of itself dehydrates you. Also, your inhibitions go a little bit wild, meaning, you're a little bit buzzed, you're going to have this, you're going to have that, you're not worried about nothing with kidney stones because now you're buzzed. So, that's a side note. But I'm saying, you can have a glass of wine with your meals, but you always drink water, okay? That's the number one thing you always have control over. There's that. Number two, when I think about the other kidney stone diet goals, remember there's six of them. There's getting enough fluids, getting enough calcium, paying attention to how much sodium you're having, how much added sugar, not overdoing meat protein, and then, of course, watching your oxalate by not ordering spinach when you're out or having things made with almond flour. But the next thing I would go with would be watch the sodium in your meal. You know when you go out to eat there's going to be extra sodium. That's a given, more than if you were making your meal at home as a kidney stone former. So, what you can do is have more, you know, vegetables, you could have salads, they'll have less sodium. You can tell the server, "Please tell the chef not to salt my food on the way out. Please put any sauces or dressings on the side," because they always contain a lot of sodium. That would be the next thing I'd do. And by the way, a lot of these are going to mimic what I will tell a patient as far as what's the most important to prevent kidney stones: fluids first, paying attention to sodium second. The reason I want you to pay attention to sodium is when we eat, for a lot of kidney stone formers, when we eat too much sodium, it's pulling calcium out. Okay? So, when your kidneys are filtering the excess sodium that it takes from your blood, calcium follows along. And that calcium doesn't get given to the bones, and that's how we get osteoporosis, too. So, water, limit sodium. Also, when you limit sodium, you'll pee more. A lot of people will tell me, "I'm drinking like a fish. What's going on here? I'm not peeing." 'Cause your sodium's so high and the kidneys hold on to the fluids. Okay, so water, pay attention to sodium, do what you can, it's not going to be perfect. Calcium, get rid of that for the moment. Now, three weeks, most of you haven't had calcium in 30 years, and then, all of a sudden, you're like, "Oh, my god, I'm going out to dinner. I don't have my milk, or non-plant, or plant milk." It's okay. You're not getting bone disease in three weeks, okay? ### Managing Calcium and Oxalate Intake Abroad 00:06:26 Jeff Sarris And you're not saying to avoid calcium, you're just saying don't worry about that one. 00:06:29 Jill Harris Thank you for that. Thank you for making that point because, listen, if you're in Prague and they happen to have a glass of milk for you, God bless, have the milk! That's okay. But, yes, Jeff, that is a very big point. Don't worry about it so much. You're not making a kidney stone in one meal and you're not having osteo– osteopenia in one meal, either. "So, Jill, but what about the oxalate? I don't want my oxalate too high." Don't order higher oxalate foods. You have your oxalate food list at kidneystonediet.com. You can put it on your phone like an app. We have a help desk on the website that will show you how. And so, when you're abroad, you can just open up that app, bada bing, bada boom, you can see how much oxalate's in the food that you're about to order. But so the calcium I would worry about the least, okay? Pay attention to how much oxalate you're having. Don't go overboard on all of these meals. And then meat protein, the meat protein part of the kidney stone diet goal, that's very easy to control. Choose smaller portions of meat. That's okay, right? And then the added sugar, if you're abroad, you're going to– If you're in Paris, you're going to want some pastries, folks. I know I did when I was there! So, you're not depriving yourself when you're traveling, but I don't believe that there's any reason, like when I used to travel abroad, I certainly enjoyed cultural, local cultural, beautiful pastries and what a place was known for. I would have that. That's part of traveling, experiencing culture. You're going to get right back on track when you get home. Three weeks, typically, most people like, "What about calories, Jill?" Most of the time, you're not sitting around in Europe especially, you're sightseeing. A lot of my patients say, "I came back from Europe, Jill, I lost three pounds," because you move more by getting up, traveling. So, you do have more control than you think. Drink your fluids, number one way to prevent kidney stones. Pay attention to salt. You're not going to be perfect, of course, because you are eating out, but you can still pay attention to it and choose wisely and ask the server, "Put things on the side, so you can control how much salt you're dipping in with your meats or whatever, whatever your, you know, pastas." You know, you're not going to ask for your sauce on the side, but I will tell you this, folks, too, in Europe, their portions are a lot smaller than we have in America. So, just that alone, portion, not perfection, totally is going on in Europe, okay? So, they don't eat as much as we do. The plates are a lot smaller. They're not out of control like we are. And then the calcium, if they have a calcium-based product, maybe a little yogurt for breakfast, of course, but don't worry, like Jeff said, don't be anxious about it. It's okay because you know, with your oxalate food list app on your phone, that you're going to know, "Oh, I better not have this. It's a little higher in oxalate because they don't offer a calcium product here that I can pair it with." No problem. And then added sugar, you're going to have desserts here and there. Just don't eat like you've never eaten before. And then the meat protein, you can totally control that. So, that's my advice going out to eat. But, mostly, Elise, I want you to enjoy yourself. People really don't make stones in three weeks and they don't get a chronic disease in three weeks. But, also, it doesn't mean you should just act like you're at a 12-year-old 12-year-old birthday party every day, either. So, eat responsibly, but also enjoy yourself while you're away. ### Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plan Resources 00:10:21 Jeff Sarris Yeah, and for anyone out there who may not be traveling, but wants to have a better diet, to improve to improve their likelihood, so reduce their likelihood of having kidney stones, to prevent them, you can go to kidneystonediet.com and find the Kidney Stone Diet meal plans. Jill has made hundreds and hundreds of recipes and you get four recipes a day: breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner to help you stay on track and continue to prevent kidney stones. But I think with that, we will wrap and we will see you next week. 00:10:51 Jill Harris Have a great trip, Elise. Be safe. Bye, everybody.