Kidney Stones on a Ketogenic Diet | Does Keto increase Kidney Stone risk?

Are you at a higher risk of developing kidney stones on Keto compared to a high-carb diet? You can actually expect quite the opposite, since a Ketogenic Diet is naturally low in all kinds of sugar and keeps insulin levels down. We know since 1967 that the breakdown of fructose can raise uric acid levels very quickly. Table sugar for example is 50% fructose, corn syrup has an even higher percentage and many fruits, especially dried fruits have a high fructose content as well. Apart from being more easily stored as fat than glucose, eating more fructose also increases your risk of developing a fatty liver, higher blood pressure and higher triglycerides. Alcohol also raises uric acid levels. And when your uric acid level builds to a level higher than 6mg/dl, you run the risk of a formation of kidney stones. The hormone insulin also plays an important role. While your kidneys want to get rid of some uric acid by pushing it out through urine, high insulin levels force your kidneys to reabsorb uric acid into the blood instead and your uric acid levels stay elevated. Here is the problem with typical ‘anti kidney stone diets’ that are prescribed when someone is at risk for kidney stones: You’re told to reduce purine rich foods like sardines, mackerel, organ meats, meat in general and vegetables like spinach, asparagus and cauliflower, which coincidentally are some of the most nutrient-dense foods out there and to replace them with some foods that barely have any nutritional value. Bread, cereal, fruit & fruit juice, fat-free dairy or even sugar and sweets. They also ask you to maintain a healthy weight at the same time, which is pretty much impossible when you start replacing protein with more sugar which can also cause a lot of other metabolic diseases. Also, dietary purines don’t actually contribute to total uric acid levels by more than 1mg/dl. The protein in many so called “high purine foods” actually helps eliminate purines through the urine and can therefore actually lower uric acid levels. And lets not forget what I mentioned before, when your insulin levels are elevated because you’re now eating bread instead of spinach and you replace protein & fat with more carbs, your kidneys have to reabsorb the uric acid into your blood instead of helping you get rid of it. So you’re likely not lowering your risk for kidney stones by doing that and instead causing many more problems. There are drugs that lower uric acid levels successfully, but they don’t solve the actual, underlying problem either. Here’s the interesting part – a well-formulated Ketogenic Diet, that naturally lowers insulin levels and raises ketones, is a fantastic way to decrease uric acid levels without the need for meds. And you don’t have to give up your sardines, bacon, grass-fed beef, spinach or other nutritious food that is higher in purines. So Keto doesn’t put you at higher risk for kidney stones but actually helps to prevent the creation of...

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