I saw a post elsewhere from a woman who said she developed kidney stones directly attributed to the calcium in her protein drinks. While I am by no means an expert I have been around these boards for almost 2 years and have never heard of this before. I also did lots of research on many different boards and sites before I had my sleeve procedure done in June 2008.

I looked at all the protein drinks I had and have used and there does not seem to be overly high levels of calcium in any of them.

Please help me understand how this can happen. I am not worried about myself but am just very curious about calcium in protein drinks after I read that post.

Thanks

I googled it and this is some of what I found

You may have an increased risk of developing kidney stones if you:

• have a family history of kidney stones
  
• are aged between 20 and 50
  
• are taking certain medicines - for example indinavir (in the treatment of HIV infection) and taking too many laxatives or taking them too often
  
• have only one kidney, or an abnormally shaped kidney
  
• eat a diet high in protein
  
• don't drink enough fluids
  

You can get either cacium based stones or uric acid based kidney stones, but its not the calcium in the drinks that cause it.

High Protein diets CAN affect your kidneys, but it generally takes a lot more than what most people can ingest, unless you already have underlying problems. High protein intakes are dangerous from some people. High protein diets can do things like increase the uric acid levels in your body which can lead to kidney stones - AND also high protein low carb always causes that amazing weight loss becuase your body stores carbs with Water, and as you burn all that glycogen up in the first few days/weeks, you lose lots and lots of water, hence the weight loss. That can actually lead to dehydration to a lot of people, which again, can lead to kidney stones in the susceptible.

Its about balance - we need protein, yes and higher levels can have weight loss/lean body tissue advantages, so good for WLS patients, but if you're at all susceptible to kidney problems, you need to know about it.

Despite the fact that shakes come packaged with a lot of crap such as artificial sweeteners, its probably healthier to supplement protein intake with them than to eat loads of cheese, eggs and red meat.

Thanks for the replies. I know about how protein can impact the kidneys what got my curious enough to ask this question was that the poster said it was the CALCIUM in their protein drink that led to the kidney stones.

I am puzzled because

1) I did not think there was that much calcium in protein drinks

2) I had never heard before that there is a link between calcuim in food products (like protein shakes) and kidney stones

would be interesting to know if her doctor actually told her that or she made that "assumption" herself.

That is part of the reason I posted this where I did. I thought the Dr might know as I had never heard of something like this.

It is unlikely that protein drinks cause kidney stones. High protein diets are implicated because of a higher intake of fatty red meats. The low calorie weight loss surgery diet with an emphasis on lean protein is unlikely to be the reason. More likely reasons are dehydration in the early months after surgery and high calcium carbonate intake. Most weight loss surgeons emphasize staying hydrated and using calcium citrate instead of carbonate. Procedures with malabsorption do have a higher incidence of kidney stones because of factors related to the malabsorption

Thanks for responding. I was pretty sure what the poster had said was not medically reasonable. I appreciate the reality check.

Dr Jossart,

Have you ever encountered a traction epiphrenic diverticulum in a post-op VSG patient? What could cause this kind of thing?

Thanks for your response.