Well, I always use the bank account analogy cuz it seems to resonate with people. So, when I'm talking to people privately in my private consults, I, I say this. "All right, Bobby, we're putting 100 bucks in your oxalate bank account.
I just opened it, and I just sent you a debit card because you're a grown-ass man, and you can decide how much oxalate, you know, if you want to have half a baked potato, and that's 40-something mg of oxalate, you still got 50-something mg of oxalate left, right?" So, you get to decide what food you want. I'm only taking away—this is what I absolutely take away—spinach, almond products, cashews.
That means anything made with cashews off the table, almonds off the table—almond bread, almond milk, all things you were drinking on keto and low carb. Nope. So, spinach, cashew products, almond products, chia seeds.
Now, Harvard did not study chia seeds, but every other list in the world says they're high. And most people aren't having chia seeds once a month, they're having it every day—chia pudding, chia pudding, chia pudding, okay? So, I take those things away.
Now, there's things I do not take away, and they are definitely on the higher oxalate food list. And we have the highest oxalate foods at kidneystonediet.com, a list. And baked potatoes are on that list.
They're 97 mg for a whole baked potato. But I say have half, and it's 50 mg of oxalate. You still have 50 left, because sometimes a gal or a guy needs a freaking baked potato.
"Well, Jill, I would just take the skin off." And I'm like, "Well, Frank, that's the whole reason to have the damn baked potato is the skin!" "Oh, Jill." But it's true! So, if you want a half a baked potato, pair it with some calcium and eat your baked potato. It's what we do every single day, all the time.
But spinach, you can clearly see, off the table. That breaks your budget with just the one food. Cashews breaks the budget.
Almond products breaks the budget. Chia seeds pretty much breaks the—you know, if you people are like, "I need them, Jill. I need them.
I need them for health." Well, have them once a week, but don't think you're gaining a whole bunch of health from one chia pudding, Fran. That's not happening, okay? Anyway, so those are foods I definitely take away.
Kale is very is very, very one of the lowest foods you can eat. And people will say, like I started the conversation, "I don't like it. It's fibrous.
I don't know what to do with it. It's too crunchy. It's not smooth like spinach.
It's not sweet like spinach." I'm going to tell you what. If you know how to use kale, it's just as fun as spinach. And plus spinach leaves that waxy feel all over your mouth.
Me personally, I've never been a fan, okay? But I don't and I don't go I don't eat any of those products because my family members have stones. I don't want them.
And so I choose to follow the same Kidney Stone Diet you guys do. So, kale, if you're like I love a kale salad. I'll put a whole bunch of things in my in my kale salad and I take the kale I there's always a stem in the middle of kale.
So I de-stem it, and then I kind of crinkle it up in my hands. I cut it up in smaller pieces, and you may be like, "I don't want to do all that." Well, for you, there is baby kale. And you can get that in a bag or a plastic box in the salad section, and it's wonderful.
It's not very fibrous at all. It's tiny little leaves, and I promise you, you'll like it just as much as spinach. Maybe not as much because there's some real spinach Popeye eaters out there, but you will be like, "All right.
She's right. It's not so bad. I'll eat spinach instead." But guess what?
So, please enjoy spinach. But get rid of spinach. Please enjoy kale, sorry.
Please enjoy kale. Get rid of spinach, and any other lettuce you can have. I like arugula.
In my meal plan service, I use a lot of salads with arugula. I do use kale, I'll use romaine, I'll use shredded lettuce. So, you can use any other iceberg lettuce if you want a real crunchy, cool salad.
You can mix greens, a spring mix, as long as there's not spinach in those mixed salads, please! There's a lot more going on in the world besides spinach, people. So, try a variety of different lettuces.
You're going to be very surprised. Arugula is a wonderful lettuce. It adds a little peppery flavoring in your salad and you're going to love it.
So, open up your horizons. Also, here's another thing. Most people I talk to every single day, they're eating this, they ate the same foods every single day, and that's what led to their stone along with not getting any calcium.
One So many, you know, one of our most popular services, Jeff, as you know, is the meal plan. Because it solves the problem, "What the hell am I supposed to eat? I can't eat this, I can't eat this, I have fatty liver, I can't eat this, I can't eat this, I'm diabetic." The meal plan has everything from keto to veggie to vegan to paleo to regular old folk.
It has salads, it has soups, it has everything, hundreds of recipes. You get in your inbox every single week, and it gives you ideas and inspirations the whole week, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, all Kidney Stone Diet-compliant. Try that!
And you're going to see. My salads are delicious. I just made for the meal plan, I haven't written it up yet, but a beautiful summertime mango salad made with the arugula.
And I'm like, "Well, I don't need pepper in this recipe because the arugula is already peppery." Mangos, red onions, a little goat cheese. You don't like goat cheese, you're vegan, take it out. I mean, delicious with a lime vinaigrette.
And I put I made my own little turkey breast and I put that on top. You could lose the meat, put chicken, put whatever you want, put, you know what else would be good on that? I know you didn't ask.
Salmon, that would be very nice on top. Some shrimp, whatever. So, I think most people, once they start the Kidney Stone Diet, and certainly when they start the meal plan service, they're like, "I have never eaten better.
I would go to the produce section, get an apple, and keep my cart going out of the and go in—" The produce section has everything you need for a healthy diet, except spinach, okay? But explore the fruits and vegetables. You all take a piece of corn and an apple and off you go.
There's so many gorgeous, wonderful fruits and vegetables. Try different ones. Remember, each time you're trying a new fruit or vegetable, you're giving your gut a whole different nutrient source, nutrient source.
And I mean, there's 30 trillion different microbes in our gut. Do you think the same apple and piece of corn is serving all of them? I mean, you want a wide variety of foods.
And I can't tell you how many people were like, "Jill, when I saw that meal that you sent for Monday, I was like, 'What the hell kind of combination is this?' But I said, 'I'll try it because all the other ones are really good.' I tried it, and hot damn, Jill, it was delicious." So, I mean, I'm trying to bring foods back to your plate that you took away, and also increase your nutrient base to your gut, to your mind, to your body, so you get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and nutrients for your body, not the same damn oatmeal you've had for 20 years, people.
Even if you said, "Well, Jill, I like my oatmeal," even if you try different fruits in there every day, that would be more of a variety, you know what I mean? So, part of part of why I have loved teaching kidney stone prevention for all these years, it's just been an avenue for me to teach people about nutrition. And see, with kidney stones, I have a very captive audience because they never want to go through that pain again, and they will listen to me.
So, they'll say, "All right, I'll try it because I never, Jill, want to go through that again." So, they open their eyes to a healthier diet with more nuances and different flavors and different fruits and different vegetables and different ways to do things. And honestly, I'm not making this up, they will tell me, "My whole life has changed because of this.
I hated having a kidney stone, but I'm thankful and grateful because I would have never changed my diet otherwise. I would have never lost this weight because the idea of looking cute in my bikini was not as important as not having this stone." So, when you get sick, no matter what that illness is—cancer, kidney stones, fatty liver, diabetes, whatever—you become a really captive student now.
And you don't want to be sick anymore, because y'all know there's nothing worse than that. There's nothing worse than being sick. So, don't come here telling me that you're sad about spinach.
Be sad for a half hour and get over yourself, because there's nothing there's nothing better than feeling good. There's nothing. You won't think about spinach if you never make a stone again, and there's plenty of other fruits and vegetables.
Don't hang your hat on just one veggie, cuz there's so many that you haven't tried, and you're going to love. So, embrace the Kidney Stone Diet. It's all about bringing new foods into your plate instead of just focusing on the few things you can't have.
And I'll end it there, my little soapbox my little soapbox.
