The Kidney Dietitian

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The Kidney Dietitian

Kidney stones ARE preventable! The Kidney Dietitian is your go-to resource for all things kidney stone prevention.

We've helped thousands of people prevent stones via our educational content, online courses and private dietitian appointments.

10/31/2026

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻

What would YOU add to this list?

10/29/2026

Still floating from getting to talk about kidney stone nutrition on one of the BIGGEST stages in nutrition eatrightPRO with my friend and first mentor in kidney stones, Dr. Anna Zisman from UofC Kidney Stone Program

So many of you asked what my talk was about, so here are some of the highlights! If you attended FNCE, definitely check out my slides in the app 😉

10/27/2026

Halloween is coming up this weekend! And....yes! PLEASE just enjoy WHATEVER is your favorite Halloween candy today. My personal fav is Almond Joy! 🥜

Sure, eating too much sugar can increase the risk of kidney stones. BUT, NOBODY formed a stone from a single day of enjoying their favorite candy. In fact, that guilt you might feel from eating candy and being "bad" is probably WAY more likely to negatively impact your health than having your fav sweet treats!

Planning on totally avoiding candy because you feel "out of control"? I'd rethink this approach too. Feeling out of control around a specific food is a SURE sign you should work on your relationship with food. Telling yourself something is "off limits" is actually more likely to result in binging that food (and feeling "out of control") than simply allowing yourself to enjoy all foods (without that side of guilt 😉)

Bottom line: Just ENJOY your favorite treats on Halloween, and ALL other holidays and celebrations. Kidney stone prevention is about what you do MOST of the time for MOST of the food you eat. Having a handful of candy today does not "undo" all the amazing changes you've already made.

Happy Halloween! 👻

10/26/2026

Thanks for talking about kidney stones - a couple clarifications.

The "stone belt" is a real thing! But it isn't the midwest - its the southeast, and is certainly due to diets high in salt, meat and low in fruits and veg (although this is an issue ALL OVER the country). The bigger issue in the stone belt is it is SOO HOOTTT! Warmer weather = more sweating = more concentrated urine = more stones! PMID: 28830242

I also SO wish the immediate default to connect diet with stones wasn't oxalate. This is just TRULY not the issue for 99.9% of people. The bigger diet concerns for stones generally are NOT eating enough fruits/veggies (scaring people from oxalate makes it awfully hard to eat fruits and veggies...) or calcium, and eating too much meat, salt and sugar.

I'm willing to bet the "stone belt" eats LESS oxalate than areas with fewer stones...

And yes, certainly not drinking enough water is a big deal too.

Make sure to follow along with for endless tips for how to stop kidney stones with food!

10/23/2026

Hey dietitians! Who will be at eatrightPRO this weekend in San Antonio?!

I’m so pumped this year! I’ll be SPEAKING on my fav topic

Also can’t wait to connect with Renal Nutrition Practice Group and Amy Gorin, MS, RDN | Media Coach and so many other amazing groups - and MOST importantly, dietitian friends and colleagues from every stage of my career!

It’s basically the dietitian Olympics 😂

Let me know if you’ll be there and make sure to come say hello! 👋

10/22/2026

Michael was one of the FIRST students to work with me in Kidney Stone Nutrition School - nearly 5 years ago! 🤯

He went from passing stones regularly to not having a SINGLE stone since working with me. Prevention IS possible! No matter WHO you are or WHY you are making stones, there are things you can do to (at the VERY least) reduce the risk of making more - and in many cases, stop them completely.

➡️Comment 160 to listen to Michael's entire story on the Eat Away Kidney Stones Podcast!

10/21/2026

Is “oxalate dumping” real? And should everyone with high urine oxalate be on a low-oxalate diet? ⁠
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I joined to answer the question: your patient has elevated oxalate… now what?⁠
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Spoiler: the first thing I ask about isn’t spinach. Swipe through for a sneak peek, and read the full article for the approach I actually use with patients ➡️⁠
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https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/your-patient-has-elevated-oxalate-now-what-2026a10012xr?form=fpf⁠
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And to help debunk a lot of the information your patients may be bringing to you about oxalate, be sure to check out my review of the infamous book "Toxic Superfoods" on the blog: https://www.thekidneydietitian.org/toxic-superfoods/⁠
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10/20/2026

So close - but not quite.

This reel is SO typical of pseudoscience and misinformation online. There are BITS of truth and "science", but it completely misses the bigger picture and context, usually to sell you some sort of supplement...

This type of content is perhaps especially dangerous. Because it sounds SO LEGIT. Unless you have a very thorough understanding of kidney stones and renal calcium handing, it is easy to watch this video and assume this is all true and science-backed.

Yes. Calcium "dysregulation" is a big deal for many people with stones. But, we need to be looking specifically at how we can reduce URINE calcium levels since, ya know, that is where kidney stones form. DIET (specifically how much salt, meat and possibly sugar) you eat are a BIG deal - and can get urine calcium levels down to normal for many people. PMID: 42529981 The "cofactors" she mentions are poorly to NOT studied for kidney stones.

Yes. The gut microbiome is a BIG deal for stones. But it is more about its oxalate-degrading abilities that matters, not "bad" bacteria producing oxalate (although this does happen to a small degree). PMID: 36127409

For an over 2-minute reel about stones, prevention and calcium levels to NEVER mention urine testing (and mention irrelevant other tests)...is a pretty big 🚩

Make sure to follow along with .kidney.dietitian for evidence-based, PROVEN strategies to prevent stones - based on YOUR urine chemistry.

10/19/2026

Have you heard of the "DASH" diet?⁠
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DASH is a fancy acronym that stands for "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension". Eating more DASH-style meals are associated with a TONNNNN of benefits:
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🩺 Improved blood pressure⁠
🌞 Slower progression of kidney disease
🫘 Less likely to GET kidney disease
🪨 LESS KIDNEY STONES!⁠
💞 Better heart health⁠
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A HALLMARK of a DASH-style of eating is a TON of fruits and veggies. 9-10 servings a day!⁠ That is a LOT - about 5x more than the average person.

A GREAT place to start focusing on kidney health, no matter WHO you are, is to be sure you are eating a MINIMUM of 5 servings of produce each day! 🍉🫘🥦
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PMID: 19679672
PMID: 36648844
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