Patient journeyONGOING

My Litholink results and what to change in my diet

Stone Fighter #9CC827Sep 2, 2026👁️ 2.1k❤️ 168

My Litholink results and what to change in my diet — photo 1 — 1 photo · swipe to view · shared via the HydrHealth app

Strategy: Patient journey

I had an ultrasound for something unrelated and they happened to find two kidney stones by accident. I saw a urologist and she ordered a litholink. I did the litholink and got the results back, but my follow-up appointment isn't for a few weeks. Right now I'm not having any kidney stone symptoms.

Based on my test results, my stones could apparently be either calcium oxalate or uric acid, since both are elevated. I was probably dehydrated too, because my pee was pretty dark on a regular basis. Since finding out about the stones, I've made a point to drink a lot more during the day. I produced over 3L of urine for my litholink and I've been consistent about staying hydrated.

I'm just not sure where to go from here with my diet, because I already cleaned it up a lot over the past few months. My GERD got worse in July 2025 and I was following a low-acid diet. My weight and blood pressure both dropped a lot as a result. At first I figured the kidney stones were from high oxalates, since I've been eating a ton of spinach, sweet potatoes, and nuts, but my oxalate level looks fine.

The obvious fix is cutting back on salt. My blood pressure got pretty low after I started the GERD diet—it was down in the low 100s/70s for a while—but something happened around February/March and I noticed it creeping back up. That, plus the high sodium, calcium, and chloride, points to too much salt. I'm just not sure where it's coming from in my diet. We cook at home a lot and only order takeout once a week. I'll occasionally grab lunch out for work, but most days I eat leftovers from home.

I don't eat fast food or frozen meals.

A typical breakfast for me is oatmeal with banana, blueberries, and maple syrup—or 2 over-easy eggs and 2 slices of toast from homemade bread.

A typical dinner is chicken, a grain, and a vegetable. We do use soy sauce a couple times a week, which I now know I need to cut back on.

A typical snack is a piece of fruit, or a couple of rye crackers (70mg sodium per 2) plus some cheddar (170mg sodium per 1 oz), or a rice cake with natural no-salt-added peanut butter and a banana.

I do have 1-2 beers a night on Saturday and Sunday.

I'm just not sure what else I can change in my diet. Any help would be appreciated.

Comments (3)

Stone Fighter #14E681May 12, 2026

Sounds like you're already doing a lot—good job! As for sodium, do you add any salt when you cook? I eat mostly home-cooked stuff too, and I tried really hard to use salt substitutes and just more non-salt seasonings. If you use store-bought broth, go for the low-sodium versions (sometimes I had to shop online for those). Also, even though your snacks seem small, both the crackers and the cheddar are higher in sodium- no-salt pretzels (I know, not nearly as yummy) and picking a low-sodium ...

Stone Fighter #28C522May 12, 2026

There's a ton of sodium secretly hidden in tons of food products, and if you're using a nutrition site it won't show up, because they don't always list it. I have either Meniere's disease or vestibular migraines, so I have to stay under 1200mg a day. A tablespoon of ketchup has 180mg, jarred spaghetti sauce is a minimum of 320 and some are nearly 800mg per serving. If you use chili powder—most pre-made spice mixes—you hit that number without any actual food.. Edit: to add, any non-fresh vege...

Stone Fighter #1D3B29May 12, 2026

Yes, I use salt when I cook. Usually a pinch for my own breakfast and several pinches when I'm making dinner for the family. The serving size of the salt I use is 1/4 tsp, 280mg sodium, and it's 4-5 pinches per serving, so roughly 70 mg sodium per pinch. That doesn't seem like a lot if I'm limiting myself to 2g/day, but should I go lower? Thanks for the tip on Swiss. A typical snack would be 4 crackers (140mg) and 1 oz of cheddar (170mg). Again that doesn't seem like a ton, but maybe I'm n...

Stone Fighter #1D3B29May 12, 2026

Thanks. I was actually eating eggs for breakfast this morning and counting the sodium. I did notice ketchup has a lot of sodium, though I don't use a whole tbsp. I figured there was about 400 mg in my breakfast between the eggs, toast, ketchup, and hot sauce. I can definitely cut that down by skipping the condiments. Are you saying boneless chicken breast from the grocery store meat section has that much added sodium per serving? That's surprising, and a pretty big concern if it's true. W...

Stone Fighter #14E681May 12, 2026

Yes, I stopped adding salt entirely when I cook (and my family adds whatever they like at the table). But also, yes to all the added salt in bread, pizza dough, and other stuff you don’t expect. And condiments for sure. We use a lot of soy sauce, and that one was hard to change, but I just use less and always pick the low sodium soy. I don’t eat meat, but I’ve read that salt is often added there too. Rinsing canned things like beans helps, and it’s easier now to shop for low salt canned ...

Stone Fighter #28C522May 13, 2026

In the US, yeah, it's wild. A lot of companies are starting to make it standard practice to drop the sodium levels, so where I live it's only about double the naturally occurring level in chicken. But some companies haven't. Perdue has, Tyson has if it's from their "all-natural line", and my local Food Lion has for most of their store brand. Frozen has come down a good bit in the last decade. Most are more around 240 instead of the 500 plus they used to be. Actually, you can get no-salt-a...

4 more comments hidden

Download the App to See All Comments

Facing a kidney stone right now?

Track hydration, pain and jumping exercises — and share your own story when you pass the stone.

Get HydrHealth Free