Is psyllium fiber high in oxalate?

The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment.

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.

And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention pow– Nerf! Nerf! I'm your kidney stone prevention Nerf!

It's happy hour here at Kidney Stone Diet.

There we go.

This isn't water in my cup, folks.

Mine is coffee.

Because you're younger than me, and you can drink coffee this late. I have to stop drinking coffee by noon, I'll tell you that. And that's pushing it, 'cause otherwise, I'm up all night.

And, yes, coffee is safe for kidney stones, folks.

Nice. Yeah, and I definitely drink it a little too late, so I end up staying up awake later than I should, but yeah, that's just my routine as of now. But you know, when this airs, actually, we will be either in Arizona, me and Amara, or San Diego because we're going to a wedding and then we're doing an event with people shooting with real estate agents, like shooting video and stuff.

But going west, I get much more on a normal person's schedule, which is always a benefit of heading that direction.

Yeah, I get that, 'cause they're earlier, right?

Yeah, so right now it would only be, what, 11:00 AM there,ish? I don't know what time it is, but yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah. But anyway, enough of that. Should we dive right into another listener question this week?

Sure. Yeah, let's do it.

All right.

Hi, my name is Teresa and I'm– my question is how much oxalate is in psyllium fiber, P-S-Y-L-L-I-U-M, psyllium fiber? I have a certain medical condition where I really am needing to eat a lot of beans or lentils and I can't do that, so I could substitute psyllium fiber and then I was wondering, has anyone ever checked that?

So, anyway, the soluble fiber's real important for a, like I said, a chelation process in my body. So, I appreciate very much your help and I really appreciate your show, too. I've learned a lot.

Thank you both. Bye-bye.

So many– You know what I love about our community? They're kind people. I mean that.

Like on our Facebook group, it is so kind. Of course, I foster that because if you're not kind, you're gone.

Yeah.

But, but they're just– there's just kind people. And Teresa, so your question, psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is getting more and more play in the news as, as she said, as a soluble fiber.

Now, Teresa, we're– we're– we're sisters. I'll tell you why. I, too, can't handle, beans and, so because of my, you know, no rectum, half a colon, so I've got a lot of bowel issues.

And just for anyone who doesn't know, that's from your cancer.

That's from my cancer. Thank you. And so I have– I can't use beans.

That's not pretty. Finn is not happy if I try. And, you know, again, beans tend to be high oxalate.

That doesn't mean you can't have beans, you just can't have five cups no more like vegan people did to get their protein, okay? But psyllium husk, you'll see things on the internet, low oxalate. Has it been studied by bigwigs, PubMed, NIH, you know, things like that?

No. It is the husk of this seed, of this plant. It's the husk.

And it– it is– it's a soluble fiber that can absorb water from your colon, and it forms like a gel-like substance, and it helps poop move along. It bulks it up and helps it move along. So, for somebody like Teresa who can't eat– she's maybe missing a lot of fiber because she can't eat beans, it can be helpful for her.

I'm using it that way because the colon is what makes, you know, absorbs water, okay? So, your poop becomes formed and leaves. Well, I only have half a colon, so I'm always trying to bulk up my stool.

Too much information, Jill! Too bad, so sad, folks. Gotta call it like it is.

So, to say all of that, I'm saying that because I use psyllium. I use psyllium. Now, so it is a nice form of soluble fiber.

I use it. It helps me. One teaspoon I use.

So, and it's getting more play in the news. Here's what's going to happen because psyllium is getting more play in the news. "Kathleen, I heard that psyllium's good for us.

I was reading it in Reader's Digest. I'm wondering, honey, should we get some? Sure, let's get some." And Hank gets the psyllium, puts it in a smoothie, five tablespoons 'cause more is always better, and then Hank can't get off the toilet for the next four days.

People, when you're taking a fiber supplement, start slowly so your family members can continue living with you. Not only that, but your stomach will cramp, you'll feel bloated, you'll have very– a lot of gas. Believe me, I'm somebody who has tampered with a lot of fiber supplements because my– I have anatomy problems due to my cancer and a– a lot of eating issues.

So, we– you always start little, little. Psyllium husk, I believe, is also– it's in Metamucil. But Metamucil has a lot of cock-a-doodle extra stuff in there.

You can make your own Metamucil. Look it up. Google it.

I make my own Metamucil. I just don't have the– I put a little stevia in there so it's sweet, whatever, whatever. Anyway, Teresa, from all little things I've read, it's low in oxalate, but again, the portions not that much.

If it's helping you, continue doing it. I– I– I'm not worried about it. But again, I'm using it in a teaspoon in my smoothie.

That's what I'm using it as, and it's been very helpful for me. What's helpful for me and what's helpful for Teresa may not be helpful for you. Please know that.

There is no one-size-fits-all in the diet world. Don't let anybody tell you that there is. You may have colitis, you may have Crohn's, you may have malabsorption issues, and psyllium ain't going to work for you.

It works for me. It works for Teresa. Know that.

Sometimes you have to play with different soluble fibers to find the right one that's going to work for you. Some people do well off Metamucil. Some people are better with other forms.

You– you got to see what's good for you, and that's why I always say, start low, low and slow with the amounts you use in anything, folks. It's very important, especially if you're suffering from bowel issues. So, constipation, all that, always start lower in dose.

So, to answer your question, I've seen on the internet– not reputable sources– that it's lower. I'm, because it's such a small amount, not going to worry about it. Also, in my smoothie, I'm always using a calcium base, whether it's my Silk non-dairy coconut milk or lactose-free Fairlife milk, so I always have calcium with that, so to make sure, because Harvard didn't study it.

These are just people saying, "I don't think it has high oxalate." So, I don't know for sure, so we've got to pay attention to that. I am not stopping taking it every day. It helps me immensely.

So, Teresa, just make sure that you're taking with– maybe you're taking it in a smoothie, too, like me– have it in a calcium-containing smoothie and be on your way. I'm not too worried about it. But heed my warning, folks.

I already have had patients that are saying, "I heard psyllium husk is great, I'm taking lots of it, and I've been very uncomfortable." Please be careful. That's it. That's what I know about psyllium.

Helps– helpful for me.

Absolutely. And the calcium sources, I know a lot of people they question like, "Oh, I can't have dairy, I can't have lactose," or all these things. We have videos on that.

You can find that on this channel, on in the podcast feed, wherever you're listening or watching right now, all about different dairy, non-dairy options as well to get your calcium.

And, Jeff, here's what I'm also going to say. Teresa said she's using it because she has something. I'm using it because I have something.

If you guys have normal bowel patterns, you don't need psyllium. Teresa and I can't have beans. We have to take– there's a lot of vegetables I can't have broccoli, I can't have cauliflower, cruciferous, whatever, chryso- you know, those.

Yeah, cruciferous.

Yeah. Those vegetables do a number on me because of my anatomy. So, there's– so I have to get extra fiber.

That's why I'm taking it. Otherwise, folks, if you don't need fiber and you get plenty– what's plenty? 25 to 35 grams a day.

If you get plenty, you don't need no psyllium husk, okay? So, don't be taking it thinking it's going to make super poops. It's not.

We're using it because we have medical issues, so we have to, and we can't use normal food to make– to make the difference, okay? So, don't everybody be running out to get some psyllium husk, please. Okay, now I'm done.

Perfect. And I– I do like the easing in as well because I've talked to people with probiotics who've done the same thing where it's like more is better and then they– they are very under a lot of distress because it's not something– our body isn't geared for anything just as a huge influx into our system.

Also, here– here's the other thing about probiotics, Jeff. There's 72 million types of probiotics. We don't know what the hell we're supposed to get!

I mean, we're just going in there and going, "Oh, the cheapest one," or, "Oh, the most expensive, that must be better." There's certain strains, that's a whole thing to research for gut microbiome, all that stuff. This is so brand new, people. Some people are saying now it's not probiotics, it's prebiotics, it's– so that is so new in the– in the nutrition world, digestive world, that there's so much research that still needs to be done.

I'm not saying don't do any of that, I'm just saying know that things get in the media, but lots of times it's so new, there's not enough research, okay? And we're– we, like I said, even me, look at the probiotics or pre-, I'm like, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. That takes a whole PhD to figure it out, so, you know.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, thank you so much for your question. That was very valuable I think for a lot of people. Yeah, Teresa, yeah, thank you so much.

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So, I think with that, we will wrap for this week and we will see you next time.

Thanks, Teresa. I loved your question.