# You won’t prevent kidney stones until you do this Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/ep/you-wont-prevent-kidney-stones-until-you-do-this/ Published: 2025-09-02 --- [Embedded content](https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/2WUFO0ctZ8nBlUHHXqeKPW) [![Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Podcast-1-1024x1024.jpg)](https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/podcast/) [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-wont-prevent-kidney-stones-until-you-do-this/id1528474326?i=1000724567883&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WUFO0ctZ8nBlUHHXqeKPW)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) September 2, 2025 --- ![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 of the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, hosts Jeff Sarris and Jill Harris discuss the critical aspects of preventing kidney stones, emphasizing the importance of hydration over oxalate reduction. Jill explains that many people focus too much on oxalate while neglecting adequate fluid intake, which is essential for preventing stone formation. They also touch on the variability of individual responses to dietary changes and the resources available for managing kidney stone risk. [You won’t prevent kidney stones until you do this](https://kidneystonediet.com/you-wont-prevent-kidney-stones-until-you-do-this/) **Takeaways** - You won’t prevent kidney stones until you do this. - Lowering your oxalate is the least important part. - Drinking enough water is really, really important. - You want those out of your body. - Water is the most important thing. - The kidney stone diet goals are essential. - You have to dilute your urine. - Everybody’s different with change. - Nutrition always changes, products change. - The goal is to lower the amount of crystals. ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Personalizing Dietary Change for Individual Needs - 00:01:48 Evaluating Timeframes for Sustainable Behavior Change - 00:03:00 Prioritizing Fluid Intake Over Oxalate Reduction - 00:09:09 Kidney Stone Diet Goals and Resources ## Transcript ### Personalizing Dietary Change for Individual Needs 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris You won't prevent kidney stones until you do this. 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. 00:00:20 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. That's a lot of words, kidney stone prevention nurse, isn't it? 00:00:24 Jeff Sarris It really is. Yeah, we need to, streamline that in some way. 00:00:31 Jill Harris Yeah, one day, one day. 00:00:32 Jeff Sarris 259 episodes in, it's about time to streamline it. Isn't that crazy? Like, we have done so many, but it's endless. That is the thing. You've done this for 30 years nearly. It's endless. 00:00:45 Jill Harris It is endless. There's always something to talk about, and, you know, people will say, "How could you do this so long?" I get that a lot. And, you know, as anybody who does something a long time, I'm a I'm a routine kind of person. It I don't mind doing the same thing. That's how you get good at stuff. But here's the interesting part: I always am learning new stuff. Nutrition always changes, products change, mostly the science doesn't change from kidney stone prevention, but I mean, you know, people are always asking different things. A lot of the same things, obviously. Always about oxalate. But, you know, there's a lot of things that come up, and also, mostly what I'm doing is helping people change. That's different for every single person. How do we change? What is the right way for that specific person? Because I don't believe in a general right way. You've got to figure out what is going to help somebody change, and it's different for each person you talk to. So, that's why I love what I do because I always get I always have to think about new ways to teach. So, that's super cool, you know? ### Evaluating Timeframes for Sustainable Behavior Change 00:01:48 Jeff Sarris Yeah, like you said, the science doesn't change, but the people do. So, like the culture and where people are in their life is always going to be different. 00:01:57 Jill Harris Yep, it's true. And listen, maybe science does change in the kidney stone world. It absolutely can. I'm just saying it's it's basically been the same for all these years. But yeah, I mean, how people change is very individual. I hate those studies that say 21 days, that's how long it takes to need change, you know, until you change. But what happens if it takes somebody 30 days till they finally click? And by the 21st day, if they're going by that research study, then they're like, "Well, it's been 21 days. I guess I can't do it," and they give up, you know? So, there's always different time frames. Some people take a lot longer to change. Some people are changing that night. That's rare, but it does happen. If I tell somebody something, they're like, "Jill, you tell me what to do, and I'm changing it right now." And some people do. Everybody's different with change. Everybody. 00:02:47 Jeff Sarris Definitely. So, overall, "You won't prevent kidney stones until you do this," is how we led into this episode. So, what is the this? What's the thing that people do struggle with that is keeping them from preventing future stones? ### Prioritizing Fluid Intake Over Oxalate Reduction 00:03:00 Jill Harris I think the thing that people struggle with that keeps them from preventing kidney stones is they're so overly focused on the oxalate part. I'll hear this every single day: "Jill, I've lowered my oxalate, I'm still making stones," because lowering your oxalate is the least important part of the Kidney Stone Diet. I think that a lot of people are always so drawn to it because, number one, they've never heard of oxalate, so that must be something really important, right? And if doctors say anything, they do say, "Here's a list. Don't eat these foods," and those lists are different every time they send a new one. So I think that the oxalate thing's really, it people focus on that much too much. The number one thing you need to do to prevent kidney stones, you can give up spinach and almonds, but if you're not drinking enough water every day to lower your urine saturations, you will still make kidney stones in most cases. So, drinking enough water, enough fluids—all fluids count, water is best, but if you have a cup of coffee, that counts. If you have a glass of wine, that counts. All fluids count, but water is best because there's, you know, alcohol, if you drink too much alcohol, you'll be dehydrated. If you drink too much caffeine, you'll be dehydrated. So, if you are having coffee, limit it to a couple cups a day. If you're having tea, limit it to a couple cups a day. Real cups, not 12 oz cups, real cups. But oxalate is the least important part. Drinking enough water is really, really important because the more you drink, the more you're going to take these crystals out of the urine in your kidney and dump it. You're going to dump these crystals so they're in your toilet bowl, not in your kidney. So, the goal is to lower the amount of crystals that are in your kidney. And if you keep peeing all day long, you're going to pee all these crystals out, and then they don't get a chance to sit around and hang out with each other. So then the question is, the Kidney Stone Diet goal says 2 and a half liters to 3 liters needs to come out of you every day. And then the then the question after that is, "Well, how much do I need to drink to get that output?" And everybody's different. If Jeff and I drink the same amount, I may pee more than him simply because I eat a lot lower salt than he does. So, I won't retain water. He may. Jeff doesn't eat a high salt diet, but I'm just using that as an example. So, the other things that you're doing with your diet will also matter when you're peeing fluids out. So, some people will say, "Well, I drink all day, Jill. Why Nothing's coming out of me." Because you're eating too much salt and you're also eating too much sugar. Sugar will also bloat you. Eating too many carbs will bloat you. So, a lot of people lose weight on low-carb diets because they're not retaining water anymore at first, okay? Then your body adjusts and that. But, so how much water do you need to drink? I would say anywhere between 80 and 100 oz depending upon your body size, depending about depending upon how much you sweat, how much you exercise, your salt, your sugar, your diet, all of that. Do you live in a hot climate as opposed to a cold climate, cuz again, you'll sweat more, right? So, anywhere between 80 and 100 oz typically will get you 2 and a half liters of urine out of you a day. So, and then people will say, "Well, how do I know what's coming out of me?" A lot of people save those orange jugs that they do urine collections with, and once in a while, they'll pull it out of their cabinet and they'll pee in it just to see, "Am I really doing what I think I'm doing?" The other just, you know, that's kind of invasive, but the other way to know if you're hydrated enough is if your urine looks like water coming out of you, meaning it's clear, then you're fairly hydrated, okay? So, I know a lot of people, they weigh only 100 lbs and they're drinking 120 oz, and then they lose more weight because they're not eating cuz they're drinking so much. So, if your urine looks clear when it comes out of you, you're doing a good job being hydrated. But bar none, folks, I've had a lot of people say, "I'll do the diet. I'm not going to drink enough fluids." Most of you will continue making kidney stones. You have to dilute your urine so these crystals aren't sitting in your kidney forming stones, looking for each other like little magnets, okay? That's how I describe it. They're like little magnets looking for each other, and they're going to form stones. You want those out of your body. We all have We all have some crystals floating around us. That's just part of general metabolism. The goal is to get them out of your kidney. Your kidney filters your blood of waste, and you want to get rid of that. When your urine looks dark, that's all kinds of cock-a-doodle-doos. You want it out of your body, okay? So, keep your kidneys running well by drinking enough fluid to flush those crystals out every day. I would say the low end of drinking, 80 oz. The high end, 100 oz. If you have no problem drinking 100 oz, it doesn't disrupt your sleep, you're eating fine, I say get 100. If you're like, "Listen, I'm getting 95 oz, but I'm having a hard time eating," then I would say drop a little. Don't forget also, eating fruits and vegetables, that's a lot of fluid you're eating, actually. So, a diet high in low-oxalate fruits and vegetables will also increase your fluid output. So, all of those things matter. Water is the most important thing. I have plenty of patients that still make kidney stones if they don't stay hydrated, and they learn the hard way that really is the most important thing. That's it. ### Kidney Stone Diet Goals and Resources 00:09:09 Jeff Sarris Yeah. And if you're new here and this is new news to you, if the urine collection is news to you, go to kidneystonediet.com. We have all six Kidney Stone Diet goals right there on the website, and you'll see increase fluid intake is number one for a reason and number six is lower oxalate. There's a reason it's this way, and we dive deep into it. On the podcast, of course, we can only touch on it, but you find everything you need on the website: the free weekly email, you can join the All-Access Pass for the deep dive through the course and the meal plans, and every tool you need to prevent future kidney stones. 00:09:47 Jill Harris That All-Access Pass is $48 a month. Cancel it at any time. So, you have every paid service plus 20% discount on private consultations for $48. That's the course, that's the meal plan, that's the group calls. That program is flying out the window because it's it's like, "Is this real?" It's real, folks. $48 a month, cancel it at any time, and you have access to every paid service, every cookbook, the smoothie book, the protein bar recipe book, the dessert and snack book, everything. Everything is on the website, $48 a month. Go ahead. 00:10:23 Jeff Sarris Yeah, and it grows every month. So, with that, we will wrap for this week, and we'll see you next week. 00:10:28 Jill Harris Everybody, have a great week. Bye!