Yeah, I think this is, I like this angle. It's really important and this is way more common than you think, folks. So, why would people be more prone to start making stones in the winter?
Doesn't mean it's going to come out in the winter, but you're brewing something. Could be during the winter months, fall months, and then summer, next fall, you know that feeling. Kidney stone formers, that little something in your back, you're like, "Oh, Holy Bijoux, what the heck?" So, here are the things that can increase your risk specifically over winter months.
Number one, as we all know, sweater weather! Sweater weather! So, now's the time, so we just got rid of, it is fall here in Chicago right now, and of course, whenever you listen to this, it may not be.
But right now it's fall. I'm wearing hoodies, although I always do, but I'm wearing hoodies. I have, I just changed my tank tops to my sweater weather clothes, so I got sweaters.
And what do we do in fall? We're all bundled up. In summer, we were like, "Holy Bijoux, our- our arms are flabby while I'm wearing shorts." Were maybe a little bit more tightened in the summer, you know, cuz we're showing more flesh.
In the winter and fall, we're hiding our bodies more. And this is, I'm not, this isn't coming from my head. I'm telling you what patients have told me over the decades.
"Well, Jill, you know, it was sweater weather. I just started eating caramel apples, pumpkin latte this, bada-bada-boom. You know, the holidays came." So, you know, it's winter and fall, we dress differently cuz no one can see our body.
So, we feel a little bit more free-spirited than we usually do in the summer. This is what you guys tell me. So, because our bodies are hidden, we may be eating a little bit more calories.
Typically, it's not, you know, it's not blueberries we're eating or raspberries. It's, it's more junk. We're eating comfort food.
That's what autumn, like for the meal plan service, I'm actually, you know, all my meals are low salt, low sugar, and lower calorie, too, by the way. But I, but I'm naming it for the fall, like Cozy Autumn Chili, or you know, because it is cozy time, my favorite time of the year. And so, we want foods that represent the season.
We all do that. In, in summer, typically you're going to have more fruit. Fruit is in season.
You're going to be doing that. You may have more water. You're thirsty.
But fall and winter, you're like a little chilly. You're not drinking as much. You're definitely eating more, you know, like I said, fall items and cookies, and cakes, and all your favorite things for the holidays.
So, that's what happens. The season change and so do our food choices. We're wearing more clothes, we can hide it, and we say to ourselves, "I'll deal with that crap in the spring." And then we'll do it all over again, right?
So, that matters. Winter, typically, specifically, people don't want to drink as much. "Well, Jill, I'm not thirsty." Do you think I'm drinking out of this big mug because I'm dying of thirst all the time?
No, I think of getting my fluids, my fluid needs met as medicine. This isn't because, "Oh my god, I'm so thirsty, blah, blah, blah." No. I'm I it's medicine, because I have a lot of stone formers in my family.
I don't want them. And I have malabsorption issues because I don't have a rectum, only have half a colon, so I really pay attention to my fluids. So, most of you, because it's cold out, will not want to drink water.
So, in the winter, what I do, cuz it's it's cold here in Chicago, I will heat up my water. I will have tea without the tea bags. Sometimes I have tea.
You can absolutely have tea within moderation, but I will warm up and I'll just have hot water and maybe a little fruit in there, or something to, you know, mint leaves or something, whatever, I'll flavor, or I won't. So, I'll do that, but a lot of people their fluid consumption goes down in the winter because it's cold, and they don't want to deal with it.
And also, they don't want warm water. The only way they can drink water is if they have ice and it's cold. But I'm going to ask you, stop thinking sounds funny, but stop thinking of water as, you know, fun.
It's medicine. If you're making kidney stones, it's the number one thing you need to do. That's the that's the number one thing I don't want you to fall off from, because the more we pee, the more we get those crystals out of our kidney, and those crystals in your kidney are like little baby magnets looking for each other.
You want them out. We want your urine to be less saturated with calcium oxalate crystals, calcium phosphate crystals, and uric acid crystals. There's other stone types, but those are the most common ones.
So, we want your urine less saturated. The way that happens is, we drink, we pee those crystals out. Very important, okay?
So, less water is going to make a difference. You know, there's there's definitely the vitamin D issue. A lot of you have given up, "Oh, Jill, I heard that vitamin D cause stones.
I was in the middle of taking it. I was reading Reddit. They said get rid of your vitamin D.
I spit it right out, Jill, out of my mouth it came." Don't do that, folks. Most people when I'm taking cuz I take a supplement history in my private consults, I will say, "Are you on vitamin D?" "Oh, no. No.
No. No." "Have you had a vitamin D blood test in a while?" "No, I haven't, but I'm not taking vitamin D anymore. It used to be low, Jill, but I got rid of it." If you have low vitamin D, how would I know, Jill?
You need a blood test. If you have low vitamin D, that could be a reason you're also forming kidney stones. We want in the middle level vitamin D.
We do not want it too high, we do not want it too low. So, you need a blood test to see if your vitamin D is low. Many of you may have to increase, depending upon where you live, may have to increase your vitamin D level in the winter.
How would you know? Get a blood test. Just don't go to the Duayne Reade, folks, and just say, "Oh, I'm taking 5,000, 10,000 units of vitamin D." You need a blood test.
Many of you did get kidney stones because your naturopath or chiropractor put you on 10,000 units of vitamin D every single day, you got a stone. When you do the vitamin D test, your vitamin D is so high and that made you over-absorb calcium and led to high urine calcium. So, be careful.
We don't want too little, we don't want too high. We want it like Goldilocks, just right in the 40s and 50s, okay? So, in the winter, you're outside less, you may have low vitamin D.
Get a check on your physical. And then when you do take a dose of vitamin D in, you know, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, cuz vitamin D slowly accumulates, get it rechecked. Make sure you're at the level you need to be at.
That's vitamin D. The other thing, we know that obesity can cause a lot of things: metabolic disease, which can lead to kidney stones, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, lots of stuff. So, in the winter we get less active because we're cold.
What do I do? I get my ski pants on, I get a hood, I get a I got my I have winter clothes, summer clothes, spring clothes, rain clothes, you name it, I have it. There's never an excuse for me not to go get my steps.
I get them. I get them. So, now, I get it, 20 below, you're not getting your steps, but even in my house, when I'm doing private calls, I'm just walking in this tiny little apartment.
It's rare that I don't have at least 10,000 steps. Do you need 10,000 steps? I'm not saying that.
I'm saying that's my average. I've been doing that for years. If you only get 500 steps a day and you increase it to 1,000 steps, you're a winner.
There's no certain step you should be at. The goal is always more than you usually get. That's the goal.
Because when people say you got to get 10,000 steps, people are like, "Well, I only get 600 a day. I'm never going to get that." They give up before they start. That's not how you help people.
We start slowly at Kidney Stone Diet. Little bits of change add to wow, big lifestyle difference, okay? So, there's less activity in the winter.
We're home more, typically. Not everyone, but typically. I have a lot of kids in my practice, too, unfortunately, but typically, this is a middle-aged person problem, kidney stones.
And so, you know, what do we do in middle-aged people, right? In the winter, in cold months, you know, you're staying in more, you're not moving as much, you're sitting around watching Netflix. Lettuce ain't something you want to binge on when you're watching Netflix and chill, so you're getting all kinds of cock-a-doodle-doos that aren't the healthiest.
We put on pounds. So, gaining weight can increase your kidney stone risk. Not moving, increase your kidney stone risk.
Poor food choices, lots of times in winter, because there's extra time at night, you're not out anymore, barbecues and out and doing this and that like you are in summer, it's dark at 4:30. So, wha- what do you got to do? You ain't going to a club.
You're having your dinner, you're going to watch some TV before bed at 8:00 simply because you've it's been dark since 4:00, feels like 3:00 a.m. And you're going to eat! That's what people do.
I'm not making it up. This is what people tell me they do in the winter. So, winter is a great time to increase your kidney stone risk.
Great, not meaning happy, okay? So, again, the holidays, "Jill, what can I do? It's the holidays." Have one cookie, not 10.
And if you can't control yourself, tell somebody not to bring those cookies, or just eat before you go, or whatever, but you've got to do things. You can't just say, "What can you do?" and throw your hands up. You've got to try to have some kind of discipline.
And also, on a day where it's a Christmas party or a Hanukkah gathering or whatever you celebrate, enjoy yourself! There's always this option, folks. Enjoy yourself, the next day get back on track.
Don't beat yourself up that you had some of Aunt Dora's famous Christmas cookies. Okay, so what? Nobody is obese, nobody gets diabetic, nobody gets a kidney stone by one night of festivities when you get right back on track.
So, I always say, "Have your treats, get back on the streets." The next meal choice, at the very latest, the next day. But what happens is, you guys get so upset with yourself, and you talk so poorly to yourself, and you shame yourself so that you're just like, "I can't do this. I'm just the worst." And then your- you just let that ride.
I say that's the worst case of self-sabotage ever. I can't tell you how many thousands of people that I've helped over the years that said these same things that you're saying to yourself, but when that kidney stone hit and that pain was so far gone, they make changes. We human beings need really severe consequences sometimes to make changes.
But I have never worked with somebody who wasn't committed that couldn't change or that got a new You know, some people get stones because they have medical conditions, but even those people really lower their risk. So, if you have some treats during the fall, during the winter, you should, because there's some fun foods out there right now.
But always get right back on track. I want you to enjoy that, guilt-free, get right back on track. Nothing happens.
Nothing happens when you do that, so be kind to yourself. You should be proud of yourself. Motivate yourself to keep going.
You say, when you have that dinner, maybe you had a lot of mostaccioli, maybe you had some cannoli, you can tell I'm Italian, maybe you had all this stuff, and then you're like, "Damn!" You turn to your husband or wife, "That was the best dinner ever, but I'm getting right back on track tomorrow, Charlie. That's what's happening." And so you get to enjoy that food, but also be so proud of yourself that you did get right back on track.
That's what we're looking for here, folks. We're not looking for perfect, that's bullshit. Sorry, but it is.
It's bullshit. We're looking for consistency, and consistency looks like I had a cookie Tuesday, but Wednesday I was great. I had mostaccioli on Thursday, Friday I got back on track.
Consistency goes all over. The only time you have to worry about is giving up. That, at Kidney Stone Diet, we do not do.
We do not give up. So, consistency matters. Winter, it can be a problem.
Doesn't have to be. Get to work, guys.
