Kidney stones are composed of calcium oxalate, and a research paper published in the journal European Urology in 2012 estimated that 8.8% of women and 10.6% of men have kidney stones. They’re more prevalent in obese people, though many non-obese people get them too.
How Do Calcium Oxalate Stones Form, and What Foods Can Contribute to Their Formation?
Jean is one of those people who get calcium oxalate stones. She said, “I’ve had five sitting in my kidneys for five years.” Where do calcium oxalate stones originate?
They happen when a common plant toxin, oxalates, binds with calcium. If the concentration is high enough, which happens if we don’t drink enough water or eat oxalates, stones result.
Foods such as spinach, rhubarb, rice bran, buckwheat, almonds, and miso are very high in oxalates. These foods can rob the body of needed calcium, as our bodies use calcium to excrete poisonous oxalates. The result is lower calcium levels and potentially also the formation of oxalate stones.
How Does Jean Manage Her Kidney Stones?
Jean said, “My urologist monitors them with either x-ray or CT scan annually. I’ve been keeping those same five stones the same size & adding no more stones by limiting my oxalates, taking K2 daily, and drinking lots of water ever since a bad 4-day hospitalization in 2012 with two lithotripsy procedures for a 10mm stone.”
How Painful Is Passing a Kidney Stone?
Passing a kidney stone, even after lithotripsy (using ultrasound to crush the stone into smaller bits), is one of the most painful things a person can experience. Patients commonly describe it as “urinating broken glass with rocks in it.”
Can a Carnivore Diet Help with Kidney Stone Disappearance?
Jean has been working on helping her body not make more stones and get rid of the ones she has by avoiding oxalate-rich plant foods and drinking enough water. Sounds like it’s working: “Well, I never dreamed I’d be able to make them “disappear“! (Now, I did have strep throat about 2.5 months ago, which led to temporarily decreased water consumption and a stone one week later that took me to the ER for pain meds. And I passed that stone later that next day. So…down to 4 stones.)”
As Jean continued to work with her diet and focus on meat-based foods while avoiding plant-based foods, she began to see some evidence of the healing magic at work: “Today, my CT showed only two stones! Whaaaat?!?!? I honestly don’t know if they dissolved or if my body just painlessly passed them.”
Jean credits her carnivore diet with the magical disappearance of her kidney stones: “I’ve been a stone sufferer for 9+ years, keto for 8+ years, and Carnivore for 1.5 months. The only change that I made that correlates with this kidney stone miracle is Carnivore!”
Even her doctor was happy and encouraged her to keep going: “My doctor was thrilled, said my kidneys looked so much better, and to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Jean is grateful: “Thank you, God, for leading me to this WOE, cause those spiky jokers hurt worse than childbirth!!”
