In this conversation, Jeff Sarris and Jill Harris discuss the best dietary practices for preventing kidney stones. They emphasize the importance of understanding the role of calcium and oxalate in the diet, the need for balanced meals, and the significance of moderation in food choices. Jill provides insights into how certain foods can contribute to kidney stone formation and offers practical advice on how to structure meals to minimize risk.
Takeaways
- The best foods for kidney stones depend on individual dietary needs.
- Calcium is essential for lowering oxalate levels in the body.
- Fruits and vegetables should make up a significant portion of your diet.
- Moderation is key; more of a good food isn’t always better.
- Avoid extreme diets that may increase kidney stone risk.
- Aim for a balanced plate: half fruits and vegetables, a quarter protein, and a quarter complex carbs.
- Hydration is crucial in preventing kidney stones.
- Educate yourself on food choices to prevent kidney stones effectively.
- Listen to your body and adjust your diet accordingly.
- Consult reliable sources for dietary advice regarding kidney stones.
00:00 Introduction to Kidney Stone Prevention
02:45 Understanding the Best Foods for Kidney Stones
05:28 Balanced Diet for Kidney Stone Prevention
08:18 Moderation and Food Choices for Kidney Stones
Jeff Sarris (00:00)
What are the best foods to prevent kidney stones? Let’s talk about that.
We’ve talked about the worst foods for kidney stones, but what are the best? Like what can people really be doing? How can people change and develop their diet and maybe their palette even to prevent kidney stones?
Jill (00:19)
Well, okay, so the best foods, I want to really hone in on this phrase. The best foods for fill in the blank. The Kidney Stone Diet, paleo, carnivore, booboo kitty, lulubaba, whatever diet, Atkins, South Beach, that’s how old I am, keto, whatever. The best foods for fill in the blank, whatever lifestyle you’re trying to attain.
That’s how we get in trouble in the kidney stone world. It really is because the Mediterranean diet, what are the best foods for the Mediterranean diet? It’s going to say nuts. It’s going to say spinach. It’s going to say meat. It’s going to say all these things, right? Or what’s the best food for the keto diet? It’s going to talk about meat, meat, meat, cheese, cheese, cheese, whatever, higher fat foods, pork rinds, you name it. Okay.
Whenever we see the title, what are the best foods? This is how people get kidney stones because the best foods in a lot of diets are spinach and nuts. Whether it’s keto, whether it’s Atkins, whether it’s low carb, whether it’s diabetic, whether it’s Mediterranean. And so what people extrapolate from that is, those are the best foods. So more of those foods must be better.
So common, right? So we as human beings, if someone says, you should lower it to about this much, human beings will say, well, she said this, so I’m going to go even lower and that’ll be better. Or she said this is a great food, so I’m going to eat a ton of it because that must be better and more of that healthy thing will be more health. That’s how people got kidney stones. We’re eating spinach and almonds.
So, Jill, why’d you name this video? What are the best foods for the kidney stone diet? Because I’m going to tell you, all food is great for the kidney stone diet. You know what’s especially the best food for the kidney stone diet? Foods that have calcium. Food and drinks that have calcium so you can lower your oxalate. Fruits and vegetables best for kidney stones. Just take away the high oxalate ones. Okay?
But the best thing to know about the kidney stone diet, if you want to lower your oxalate, you have to get your calcium needs met because that lowers oxalate. Okay? Let me explain why. Very simple version of this. When we eat oxalate, if we just eat it by itself, we eat it, it goes to our belly, the belly turns it around, what it doesn’t, then it goes to the small intestine. And then what happens there is, our nutrients from the small intestines get sucked up into the blood. And the oxalate, if it’s not taken in with calcium, can get sucked up back into the blood. And then we can get higher oxalate levels.
Now, if you ate that same meal that had a little bit extra oxalate, but you had a glass of plant-based milk or milk, then you had it with some calcium. What happens in the small intestine now is calcium and oxalate are bound together, and it’s too big of a molecule to get sucked up into the blood. So then it gets brought down to the colon and after the colon it leaves through the stool. So that oxalate does not get reabsorbed and that’s why we want you to eat it at the same time. Not four hours later, not two hours before, at the same time. What are we talking about Jeff? I’m kidding. Go ahead.
Jeff Sarris (04:07)
Yeah, like all, yeah, yeah, yeah, just, yeah, just looking at what’s the, what do we want to do? How do we want to actually look at it? Because we all do want best. We’re always looking for the solution. Ideally the magic pill, the everything that we’re always promised. So what, what direction could we take? How can we look at foods maybe a little differently for kidney stone prevention?
Jill (04:19)
Yes. I want people to eat balanced meals. While I have people’s attention, now they’re scared, they had a kidney stone, they had a stent, they had pain, they had a surgery, and they have a huge bill. So they are very motivated not to go through that again. So what I get is I get to people call me or they take the course or whatever they’re doing, or they’re just going on my website or listening to YouTube. Lots of free stuff, folks. You don’t have to pay for a damn thing.
But I get to start teaching people how to eat better. So the best foods for kidney stone is it’s more likely the best way to eat to prevent kidney stones. Fruits and vegetables should be half your plate. One quarter of your plate should be a protein source. And if you want the other quarter of your plate, a complex carb. Complex carb means you may have a little protein, it will definitely have fiber. It’s a healthier carb than just say white rice. Doesn’t mean you can’t have white rice, especially if you have half a plate of vegetables that are filled with fiber. Not a problem. Of course, if you’re diabetic, you have to pay attention to all your carbs. But you get what I’m saying.
I would say nine out of 10 people that I talk to are not getting enough vegetables. So many are not getting enough fruit. The minimum for vegetables is three cups of vegetables a day, one cup of fruit a day. One cup of fruit, three cups of vegetables a day. Nobody’s getting that, that I talk to. That’s the minimum. So the best foods for kidney stones is everything in moderation, fruits and vegetables. You take away a couple high oxalate foods.
You have protein because you need it for your muscles, you need it for your skeleton, you need it for energy, you need it to feel full. If you’re diabetic, you really want to make sure you’re getting your protein needs met to stop that sugar rush. You want fiber at every meal. That’s why the vegetables are so important. We should be aiming for 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day slowly over time until your stomach gets used to it. But everyone is overeating and over snacking because they don’t have fiber and protein with every meal. And when you have those two things, you’re not starving all the time and your blood sugar is not going up and down. So it’s really important.
All food matters here. We take away just a few things. The best foods to eat on the kidney stone diet are foods that are lower in added sugar and salt. Because if you’re eating tons of that, that means the food you’re eating is less nutritious. That makes perfect sense, right? So, broccoli is not going to have added sugar, cake sure is. So, it’s eating within moderation. It’s not excluding all the foods you think you can’t have anymore. And I do suggest going to kidneystonediet.com and go to the blog so you can start reading. And it’s about eating within portion size.
So, all the foods on the kidney stone diet should, the food on the kidney stone diet should be get enough protein every day, best. Get fruits and vegetables every day, best. Get your calcium needs met every day, that’s the best. And make sure you get enough calcium every day because you need that to lower oxalate and you need that for your bone health. So that’s super important too. So the best foods for kidney stone prevention are healthy, portion size is in moderation, and you’re paying attention to the goals because those specific goals are going to lower your kidney stone risk and the goals are found at kidneystonediet.com.
So the best foods are really fruits and vegetables. Get enough protein. It could be vegan, vegetarian protein, or it could be meat protein. It doesn’t matter, but everything in moderation. There’s really no best foods for the kidney stone diet, but there are food groups that you’re eliminating. And everybody who’s saying that, you know, people are so worried about the oxalate portion of this that they start going to carnivore diet because there’s people on the internet that say carnivore diet is the best for kidney stone prevention. And I have just as much of carnivore diet people coming to me with new kidney stones than I do with plant eating people. So please heed my warning with that. I’m seeing it more and more because of what’s going on in the internet. Carnivore diet will, and it’s well documented, increase kidney stones in people that are prone to kidney stones. I have to get that in there because it’s really becoming very prevalent.
And again, all these extreme diets, they don’t work long term for most people and they certainly can cause an increased risk of kidney stones. So know who you’re getting your information from people. Everything in moderation. The least sexiest thing in the world. If you have something that went out of your goals for a day, just get right back on track. No problem. Okay?
So I would say fruits and vegetables, getting all your protein needs met, getting your calcium needs met, that’s the best thing to prevent kidney stones. Getting enough water too, Jeff!
Jeff Sarris (09:56)
Yeah. And if you want to know exactly what you can eat, all the opportunity of what you can eat, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, we have kidney stone diet meal plans at kidneystonediet.com where seven days a week you get four recipes of inspiration of exactly what you can eat. Not exactly what you should eat, but to show the diversity of everything that is still available while preventing kidney stones. So I think with that, we will wrap and we will see you next week.
Jill (10:16)
That’s right. Yes. Thanks everybody, have a great day.
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