Before we get to the good stuff, I feel it necessary to drive home a certain point. That is, the dietary prescription that we follow and share with the rest of you is not a high protein diet. What we advocate at the Fort ends up being a high fat, moderate protein, lowish carb approach. It is true that you may consume more meat than you did in the past, but that does not make your current way of eating high protein. In fact, if you were to look at the numbers, some of you are actually consuming less protein now that you have eliminated the grains, dairy, and soy from your diet. Again, what we are suggesting is absolutely, positively, not a high protein diet.

Now that we have that out of the way, we are free to explore the stones. No, I'm not talking about Mick Jagger and the boys, but rather kidney stones, gallstones, and gout.

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Kidney stones are small, hard deposits that form inside your kidneys.

There are several types of kidney stones based on the type of crystals that form the given stone. The two most common types of kidney stones account for more than 90% of all stones and are composed of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate crystals. A third type, formed from uric acid, accounts for another 5-10%. The remaining miscellaneous types of stones will not be covered in this post.

• Calcium Oxalate - This is the most common form of kidney stones. When calcium and oxalate are ingested, they will bind together in the intestines, forming a compound that is no longer absorbable by the body. However, if there isn't adequate calcium to bond with an excess of oxalate in the intestines, the oxalate will be absorbed into the blood and then excreted through the urine. High levels of oxalate in the urine greatly increases the likelihood of kidney stones. If you suffer from calcium oxalate stones, it is advisable to increase your dietary calcium intake while limiting dietary oxalate intake. In fact, there are 8 foods that have been shown to be most at fault for raising urine oxalate levels. They are beets, chocolate, nuts, rhubarb, spinach, strawberries, tea, and wheat bran. Other foods high in oxalate include legumes, soy products, and grains.
• Calcium Phosphate - Similar to calcium oxalate stones, but the calcium obviously bonds with phosphate in the kidneys instead. Avoiding phosphate rich foods (i.e. grains, legumes, nuts, dairy, chocolate, and sugary beverages) while maintaining adequate calcium levels is advisable.
• Urate - This type of stone is caused by an increased level of uric acid in the urine. Reference my discussion on gout below for what causes an increase in uric acid.

No matter what kind of kidney stone you are suffering from, staying adequately hydrated is very important.

As for gallstones, they occur when bile in the gallbladder becomes over saturated with cholesterol. Naturally, this leads people to wrongly assume that foods which are high in cholesterol and fat should be avoided. In fact, a low-fat diet will actually prevent the gallbladder from emptying, allowing the saturated bile to sit there for a long time and become crystallized, forming gallstones. It is actually the insulin response to the sugars that we eat that causes this super-saturation of the bile. Therefore, a diet that is high in sugar and low in fat is a double whammy of sorts and sets the table beautifully for the development of gallstones. On the other hand, a high-fat diet will result in a gallbladder that will empty on a regular basis and there won't be any over-saturation of the bile.

It is important to also know that once gallstones are created, moving to a high-fat diet will cause the gallbladder to empty, with the stones, and this may be quite painful. Whatever you do, don't misinterpret this pain as being from the high-fat diet. Instead, realize that the pain is from the gallbladder's elimination of the gallstones that a high-carb diet created in the first place. Sticking to a low-fat diet will keep the pain down, but only temporarily as the gallstones continue to increase in both size and number. It is important that you understand this and make the necessary dietary changes sooner rather than later.

If you remember back to February, I explored gout in a post titled, "Your Feet and Meat". In it, I concluded that gout is caused by insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and fructose.

And remember the importance of genotype and phenotype. Some of us are predisposed, genetically speaking, to certain conditions. This cannot be changed and simply limits what you can get away with in terms of your diet. Therefore, if you are someone who is predisposed to any of the conditions above, following a basic Paleo diet may not be enough. You may need to play with further restriction of your nut, fruit, and veggie intake. Either way, it is in your best interest to eat a healthy, high-fat, lowish-carb, animal centered diet.