Brief Summary
This video addresses and debunks five common myths about kidney stones, offering evidence-based insights. It clarifies misconceptions around beer, lemon juice, tea, calcium intake, and olive oil, providing viewers with accurate information to manage and prevent kidney stones effectively.
- Beer does not dissolve kidney stones.
- Lemon juice is not a long-term solution for kidney stones.
- Tea does not increase the risk of kidney stones.
- Eating less calcium does not help prevent kidney stones.
- Olive oil does not help pass kidney stones.
Dr. Blake Shusterman introduces the topic of kidney stones, highlighting their painful nature and potential for long-term kidney damage, hospitalizations, and infections. He emphasizes the importance of relying on scientifically-backed, doctor-approved information rather than unverified advice found online. The video aims to debunk five common untrue beliefs about kidney stones that he frequently encounters in his practice.
Dr. Shusterman addresses the prevalence of misinformation regarding kidney stones and stresses the importance of consulting reliable sources for accurate information. He cautions against following advice from individuals without medical training who may promote unscientific remedies or supplements. The video aims to clarify common misconceptions and provide viewers with evidence-based insights for managing kidney stones.
The myth that beer dissolves kidney stones is addressed and debunked. Despite a small study suggesting beer drinkers might be slightly less prone to kidney stones, there's no evidence that beer dissolves existing stones or aids their passage. Beer, essentially becoming water by the time it reaches the kidneys, can worsen the situation by causing urine backup behind a stuck stone, increasing pain due to pressure.
The idea that lemon juice can cure kidney stones is explored, noting its basis in the half-truth that lemon juice contains citrate, which can bind to calcium and prevent stone formation. However, a 2021 study showed that while initial improvements in stone recurrence were observed with two ounces of daily lemon juice, many participants couldn't tolerate this amount long-term due to stomach issues. The study concluded that it's not a sustainable solution, and a higher dosage may be needed. Dr. Shusterman recommends consulting a doctor about potassium or sodium citrate pills or considering drinks like Moonstone, developed by a nephrologist, to provide sufficient citrate without adverse effects.
The claim that tea increases the risk of kidney stones due to its high oxalate content is examined. While it's true that teas, especially black teas, contain oxalates, a 2021 study challenges this idea. The study found no difference in urinary oxalate levels between men who consumed fruit tea (no oxalate) and those who drank black tea (high oxalate). This puts into question the belief that oxalate teas increase kidney stone risk, unless consumed in very large quantities.
The idea that eating less calcium helps prevent calcium stones is refuted. Eating less calcium can worsen the condition by increasing oxalate absorption, paradoxically raising the risk of oxalate stones. Adequate calcium intake is necessary to prevent calcium stones from forming.
The notion that olive oil can grease the ureters and help pass kidney stones is dismissed as ridiculous. There is no mechanism by which olive oil could enter the urine and create a slippery passage to facilitate stone passage.
Dr. Shusterman summarizes the five debunked myths about kidney stones. He advises viewers with kidney stones to consult their doctor and recommends Melanie Betts at thekindeydietitian.org for up-to-date information. He also promotes his book, "The Cooking Doc's Kidney Healthy Cooking," as a resource for preventing and managing kidney disease through diet.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “Foods for Kidney Stone Treatment and Prevention | Myth vs Fact | The Cooking Doc®”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 what have you heard are the best treatments for kidney stones olive oil beer lemon juice cherries well stay tuned and I'm going to tell you why many of the things you've heard about kidney stones are probably wrong thank you all so much for watching today make sure you subscribe to my video click that like button and hit that Bell so you never miss a new recipe or a new health tip my name is Dr Blake Shusterman and I'm a board certified kidney doctor I've met many of you all before thank you so much for joining in remember this if you've never watched me before everything that we talk about today is just information nothing that we talk about here is medical advice so don't confuse it for that last week on my show we talked about kidney stones and I want to hit them again this week
0:46 because they're a very popular subject among people who ask me questions and from my patients I also want to hear from you what are the craziest things you've ever heard about kidney stones or what questions do you have about kidney stones I know this kidney stones can be incredibly painful they can also lead to long-term kidney damage and they can lead to hospitalizations and infections I've seen many people have all of these things from kidney stones so kidney stones are a big problem for my patients and for hundreds of millions of patients around the world now look if you're one of those people or you're caring for somebody who has kidney stones then you want scientifically based doctor approved information to listen to you want to take the advice of someone who knows what they're talking about honestly not
1:32 just some shirtless muscular know-it-all who has no medical training but somehow has developed all the confidence in the world so they can give dead wrong medical advice on the internet without any consequences you don't want that and they're probably going to be trying to sell you some supplements on the side gotta love the internet so much of the kidney stone information on the internet fits into the category of unscientific nonsense so today I want to tackle the top five untrue things that you may have heard about kidney stones on the internet and then I get questions about every single day in my practice you've probably come across these things as well or had someone tell you to try them and here's what I want you to do today first before we go on comment and tell me what the craziest thing you've
2:17 ever heard as a treatment for kidney stones or just kidney disease in general I want a list of these and I want to tackle them all in a future video number one beer dissolves kidney stones have you heard that I'm sure it was invented by somebody who loves beer right another was a small study that showed beer drinkers were a tiny bit less likely to get kidney stones there is absolutely no truth to the myth that drinking beer will dissolve stones or help you pass them by the time that beer gets into your kidneys and through the ureters to try to help those kidney stones pass it's essentially just water and in fact if you have a stone that is stuck it gets stuck between the kidney and the bladder and that little tube meaning it's too big to go through that little ureter and you keep drinking and
3:04 drinking beer to try to force that stone out that six pack of Budweiser may actually make you feel worse because it can create a backup of urine behind the stone ends up like a blocked pipe with pressure behind it and the more pressure sometimes the more pain now you definitely don't want that a beer will not dissolve your kidney stones number two a little lemon juice will cure your kidney stones like most medical myths this one is based in half truths so here's the theory lemon juice is full of citrate and the theory is that by drinking a little bit of citrate it will lock onto that calcium and prevent that calcium from binding with the oxalate and the phosphate that it usually binds to to create stones
3:51 now in previous videos I've talked about how calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate are the most common types of zones so anything that prevents the calcium from being there combined would obviously be helpful key is how much lemon juice you would actually need to produce a change in the pH or the acid-base balance in the urine to prevent those stones from forming the answer in 2021 a study was done and it compared people drinking two ounces of lemon juice each day to people who maintained a regular diet the study was small but I think representative of the literature that's why I'm going to share with you though there was a small Improvement initially in stone recurrence so people having a second set of stones for the people who tolerated the lemon juice
4:37 by the end of two years less than half of the people could actually drink that much lemon water and many more people who were drinking that lemon water didn't feel good that stomach aches or nausea all that lemon juice just doesn't sit well naturally in people's stomach the authors of the study conclude that it wasn't a long-term solution to drink a lot of lemon juice and that you probably need even more than two ounces of lemon juice every single day that's the juice of two full lemons every single day and it's really hard to drink that much lemon juice oh my God I don't think I could do it the answer instead talk to your doctor about a potassium or sodium citrate pill if this is what you need to prevent kidney stones from
5:23 forming that will do the job instead of drinking all that lemon juice or look at drinks like something called Moonstone moonstone is a drink that was actually developed by a nephrologist just like me and that's specifically designed to provide enough citrate to lower your stone risk without making you sick number three tea has a high oxalate content and will increase your risk of kidney stones again this is something I would call a half myth it is true that teas have increased oxalate especially teeth like black teas but listen to this study a study in 2021 put this whole idea into question it looked at 10 men small study good study first these 10 men consumed one and a half liters of fruit tea every single day and fruity has no oxalate zero grams of oxalate
6:10 shouldn't impact the amount of oxalate in your urine right so then these men spent the next five days drinking black tea which has lots and lots of oxalate and surprisingly or unexpectedly if you believe in the idea that tea increases the risk of kidney stones there was no difference in the urinary oxalate between the two meaning when the men were drinking all that black tea they had the same urinary oxalate as when they were drinking the fruit tea if that's the case then it puts into serious doubt the idea that oxalate teas increase your risk of kidney stone unless you're guzzling tons and tons of them so we're still learning about this but it's not a done deal that high oxalate teas are a risk factor for people who have kidney stone now don't change anything you're doing based on what I just said we're still learning
6:55 number four eating less calcium will help prevent you from forming calcium Stones survey says X if you eat less calcium you might actually make those stones worse even if those stones are made of calcium this is why we science and this is why we do research so if you eat less calcium you may actually absorb more oxalate when you absorb more oxalate into your blood you may increase your risk of oxalate Stones forming so eating less calcium is not the answer and in fact you need to eat calcium to prevent calcium stones from forming lastly olive oil will Grease the ureters and help you pass kidney stones this one is just ridiculous there is just no way
7:42 that olive oil gets into your urine and creates slippery passages to prevent those stones from sticking and just helps Grease the passages so those stones go through that's ridiculous not even close so there you have it five things that you may thought about kidney stones that probably aren't entirely true if you have kidney stones and want to learn more about them talk to your doctor or actually instead first check out one of my friends Melanie Betts at thekindydietition.org Melanie has some of the most up-to-date and accessible information about kidney stones on our website She's also on Instagram so check her out you will learn a ton she's awesome thank you so much for watching today my name is Dr Blake Shusterman I hope you enjoyed the program I'm a board
8:30 certified kidney doctor and I'm also the cooking doc if you are interested in more information go to my website the cookingdoc.co subscribe to my channel I even wrote a book about diet and kidney disease to cooking docs kidney healthy cooking a modern 10-step guide to preventing and managing kidney disease check that out today and we will see you next week foreign [Music]
