This channel is super underrated and I've been loving the videos. Question: what "citrate" were you using in the first tests? In my own, completely non-medical related experiments, I found that mixing saturated solutions of calcium chloride and sodium citrate causes calcium citrate to fall out of solution, but switching in citric acid keeps everything in a stable liquid state. I suppose the point was that the acidity doesn't matter once you go as far as the kidneys, but still I wonder if one form of citrate would remain more available at that point to react with calcium and that might be the difference between the effectiveness of various juices.
The reason you got calcium citrate is because the sodium that was previously attached had a higher affinity for the chloride. When you swapped out for citric acid, there was no sodium, and, thus, nothing to pull the chloride ion from the calcium. A similar concept can be demonstrated when a NaOH water solution is added to powdered garden gypsum (calcium sulfate hydride.) The sulfate favors the sodium over the calcium, thereby releasing the calcium, which wants to grab onto that lonely -OH group. The end result is sodium sulfate (a useful drying agent) in aqueous solution and calcium hydroxide. This came in clutch during lockdown when I couldn't get any pickling lime. Going back to kidneys, acidity is a huge factor when it comes to kidney function. Kidney and blood Ph determine which molecules get pulled from the bloodstream. In vivo results will differ wildly among individuals since the content of our urine ions can vary quite dramatically from one another. (We have 100 different acids in our bodies.) In the case of calcium kidney stones, consuming calcium oxalate isn't the problem, since calcium oxalate has poor absorbtion through the intestines. The problem is consuming absorbable oxalates like sodium oxalate. After the oxalate is in your bloodstream, it can then bind to Ca2+ (which is used by every neuron in your body to polarized their actions potentials) and drag it out to your kidneys, where it then deposits the calcium in the kidneys. Evidence suggests that, in general, having more acids like citric or even acetic in your body reduces the potential for calcium deposits to form. However, it seems that hydration is a bigger factor. The less water there is, the more the ions are forced to bounce into each other. In your experiment, you mentioned having it at high concentration. At lower concentration, these ion swaps are less likely to occur. The same can be said for the volume of water in your bloodstream, which is one reason chronic dehydration wrecks the body. Fruit juice can contain lots of different acids, tartaric and malic being two common ones. Varying results may follow. Hope this helps.
Hey, thanks! We're big fans of your channel. I was using sodium citrate, but your results from the citric acid are interesting! You are probably very right that here, without all of the filtering and separation that happens in the body before these things get to the kidney, the acidity may be playing a role. These tubes are also not at the well regulated physiological pH that blood would be, so it’s hard to know how much citric acid is being converted to citrate.
Kidney stones run in my family. I’ve suffered them getting stuck three times requiring surgery to remove. Lithotripsy is not an option for me because I have a spinal cord stimulator over my problem kidney. My stones are calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate stones. Im also hit with a double whammy of having a genetic mutation that my body does not take in enough calcium, so it all gets shunted to my kidneys. This genetic marker might be why stones run in the family. Anyhoo, after my last kidney surgery a few years ago, the urologist suggested I start taking potassium citrate supplements. I started doing that, but then I switched to club soda, which contains potassium citrate. Recently, I started drinking an amino energy drink to coincide with my workouts. The amino drink also contains high potassium citrate. These last few years have been the only occasion out of over 20 years where my stones have not increased. I still have numerous small stones deep within my kidney, but they have not gotten larger. The potassium citrate has prevented the calcium coalescing into bigger stones. Yes, this stuff works for calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate stones!
Awesome video, thanks!!! My dad had kidney stones when he turned 50 y/o. People recommended fresh pineapple juice. He drank a few glasses of it a day, for about 2 - 3 weeks... and it seemed to have helped reduce the size of the stones, based on before and after ultrasound imaging of the stones. His doctor was actually surprised. I wish you tried pineapple juice along the other ones... oh well, next time! Thanks for an awesome video!
Before the development of procedures like shockwave therapy, PCNL, etc. a solution of citrate+gluconolactone - Renacidin was used to for bladder irrigation to break down urinary stones as a way to avoid open surgery
There's one tangential point that wasn't covered in the video: Vitamin C can be metabolized into oxalic acid in vivo, which means foods high in VitC i.e. citrus fruits may be less effective than just straight citrate in the kidney. IIRC, the studies suggesting VitC's kidney stone risks tend to look at massive megadoses of it, rather than the relatively meager amount you can get from some lemon juice.
I first discovered the channel thanks to Tom Scott's newsletter, and I've loved pretty much every video and short since. A great balance of well scripted and broken down science, with lovely personalities and the odd joke :) keep up the good work !!
Calcium Chloride and Sodium Perborate Tetrahydrate combined together in an aqueous solution will produce Calcium Perborate that will precipitate out of the solution. The sodium and chloride ions stay in the solution. Perborates are oxidizers and aren't the most friendly things to be working with.
I'm surprised cranberry juice wasn't mentioned. I hear it pretty often that people should drink cranberry juice if they suspect a UTI or kidney stone coming. Probably for a similar principle since it is also high in citric acid.
Wow, nice! I wish you had been my chem teacher in high school (back in the ancient days of 199x). You explain it very well and I would probably have been a lot more interested in the subject.
The explanation of the chemical reactions and how they relate to preventing kidney stones is both clear and fascinating. Who knew lemons and orange juice could make such a big difference.
This is amazing! I grew up eating Spinach that was well boiled/cooked and always ate it with lemon or lime. But later in my 40s I tried making Spinach smoothie. Big mistake: I didn't put lemon or lime. Got kidney stones in 2 months. Terrible. I love spinach but now I can't eat it 😟
My kidney stones stopped when I learned how to support my stomach acid and fat digestion. Low stomach acid, which is common, inhibits pancreas function which inhibits fat digestion. Improper fat clings to calcium and now the oxalates are free to be absorbed. Lack of proper stomach acid and fat digestion can eventually lead to various metabolic issues. I consider kidney stones a canary in the coalmine sort of thing. Great video, thank you
Good to know, I had bile flow issues that I'm currently in the process of fixing and was pretty sensitive to oxalates meaning if I eat chocolate or other high oxalates food(without binding it with calcium) the next day I wake up with eye boggers, I think I'm a lot less sensitive to them now.
I developed gall stones some years ago. The "attack" announcing their presence was very painful. I began drinking 32 ounces of apple juice (not from concentrate) a day. I experienced relief within hours and passed all my stones five weeks later. They were really pretty, I wish I'd kept them.
Legendary investor Warren Buffet of the Berkshire Hathaway mega-fund drinks a can of Coke every day which contains a small amount of Citrates keeping his kid-stones in check. I drink a can of tonic water which has the same and love the biter taste. heh
lots of other complexing agents - important to consider the controversy of the use of Vitamin C which some claim helps form kidney stones, but other studies say the opposite. While not having the carboxylic group discussed in the video it still is considered an acid and it forms Calcium ascorbate - sold and used as source of vitamin C
The most efficient way to avoid having kidney stones is avoiding or minimizing consumption of oxalate containing foods. For example, if you frequently snack eating nuts, that can be a big source of oxalates.
Legendary investor Warren Buffet of the Berkshire Hathaway mega-fund drinks a can of Coke every day which contains a small amount of Citrates keeping his kid-stones in check. I drink a can of tonic water which has the same and love the biter taste. heh
@@Flaystrayabsolutely can, but not gauranteed. Carboxylic acid formed from the carbonation bubbles loves calcium, rapidly forming calcium carbonate, the material of eggshells.
While oxalates can be made by your body processing certain chemicals, they are also really common in plants, especially those green leafy ones like spinach. Tea and coffee also contain oxalates. A really simple thing to do is add a calcium source to your oxalate source before consumption, it prevents the calcium or oxalate from being absorbed. You just "excrete" it later. Really common examples: adding milk to coffee or tea, creamed spinach, etc.
That's better than absorbing the oxolates but those crystals will still roll around in your digestive track and that can cause problems. It's like eating needles or glass shards. Best solution is to stop eating high oxolate foods.
Excellent video demonstrating kidney stone formation chemistry visually. The vinegar is especially of practical interest as a common dietary ingredient. Only that these single experiments may not capture the full reality especially given the numerous variables of both chemistry and physiology.
I saw that you guys made a video about why mosquitoes are attracted to you. They eat me up too. However, I've noticed a strange phenomenon where bees (yellow jackets, etc.) do not sting me. Also, cats love me. I've been in multiple situations where bees and similar were aggressively stinging a child for disturbing the hive/nest by accident. Knowing I won't bee stung, I can walk in and get the child out of harms way. With the cats I've noticed that they follow me if I'm walking outside or if I'm in someone's home, or they will come to my home and hang around for days meowing loudly outside. One time I was sleeping next to my wife at a friend's house and they had a pregnant cat. The owners made a safe space for the cat away from everyone that was dark and comfortable. The cat left its bed and crawled into mine. I woke up feeling a wet ess on my arm and chest. The cat had crawled under the covers and had the babies in my arms while I was asleep.
Citrate is good, but I think magnesium helps as well. I'm not sure about the mechanism of magnesium helping, if it lessens excretion of calcium or if it helps dissolve calcium oxalate directly or something else
38 lithotripsies over 33 years, hundreds of kidney stones passed. Tried everything, from calcium deprivation to citrate supplements and so many other meds both prescribed and otc. My body just compensates and I generally create more kidney stones when we try to change body chemistry. Walking regularly and drinking 1 -2 gallons of water a day has kept them to 4-5 a year with just two lithotripsy over the last 8 years.
If they are oxalates stones, have you tried avoiding high oxalates foods? Or at least consume them with cheese to bind some of them. Also you could have some gut issue, people with gut permeability absorb more oxalates and if I remember correctly people with SIFO generated more oxalates on their own without needing to consume them.
I remember hearing about Lithotripsies on "Science International" a Canadian show, about 40 years ago. Back then they were brand new developments and not yet available to the public. Amazing stuff, but sorry to hear of your suffering, have you seen the comment from Genh13 below?
Great video It's just great to have someone who really knows their stuff. Even to the level that you can korenornless improvise when things don't go as planned because of some false shipment
What I want to see more of? Reactions Videos! Might be my favourite learning channel on youtube overall! I used to have bad chemistry teachers in school, but I didn't want to miss out on such a large subject, so these videos on youtube really help me understand the world better :)
This video is great. Is there a way someone can get citrate (or a equivalent effect) without damaging their teeth? From what I understand, acid not only weakens enamel, but promotes an environment where Streptococcus Mutans can thrive and cause plaque, tartar, and cavities.
Thank you and occurred to me that limes were missing. I'd love to see a follow up including limes and your thoughts on what might be inhibiting the crystallisation buffering of citrate (eg sugars and the different citrus fruit esters) 🙈🙉🙊
there is a industrial recipe for making lemonade that uses sugar and citric acid. no lemon juice. since i read that i started making my home made (with lemon juice) lemonade with a few table spoons of citric acid thrown in. for stone prevention. i drink a gallon of it atleast once a month.
I'm even more confused now because the OJ didn't seem to show any improvement yet you recommended it and that lemonade either but the citrate did and that was like the only thing that did so how do we get our hands on citrate?
This is interesting because we learnt in our medical school that Ca Oxalate crystals are recognised by its mail shape or as you said tetrahedral. Awesome and such an interesting video!!
yes but its an equilibrium reaction. that means both reactions do happen but normally the equilibrium would be on the oxalic acid + CaCl2 side like you said but the fact that Calcium oxalate is poorly soluble shifts the reaction constantly towards the Ca-Oxalate + HCl side because the Ca-oxalate gets thrown out of the equation.
Awesome! I have had Awful kidney stones in the past. (One time I had to have surgery and a stent for two weeks! 😫) As it turns out, I drink a ton of citric acid already! Maybe that's why I haven't had kidney stones for over a year!
Citrate is the conjugate base of Citric acid. In this definition, Acids donate hydrogen ions and bases accept them. Since Citric acid donates hydrogen ions, that means Citrate becomes a negative ion that can accept those hydrogen ions back acting as a base, or it can act as a chelator binding to positive metal ions like calcium.
a while back I had Gall stones,and believe me, that's no walk in the park either it feels like someone punched you, full force in the solar plexus, but the pain doesn't subside. ended up in the ER, and the Dr Said, that if it flares up again, I would have to have my gallbladder out. and I don't think that the Citrate would work on these. unfortunately...
Proanthocyanidin is the chemical in cranberry that inhibits the migration of E. coli bacteria, and can reduce the risk of urinary tract infections in women. It is definitely not an overall urinary tract panacea. It’s much more specific than people think.
damn thats crazy, for once one of those home remedies that kinda sound like bull (cuz they tell you to drink lemon juice for everything) turn out to be true and have some very good science behind it lmfao, love this
Just wondering how much of the citric acid gets past the stomach and the intestines, before getting to kidneys. It’s obviously not going to be the same as putting orange juice directly into your kidney.
Speaking of alcohol, you _can_ disassociate it's proton. But alkoxides are *very strong* bases and therefore alcohols are very weak acids. It has it's uses, mostly for reagents. Resonance is weird, yo.
Could anyone inform us about professional reference books in a professional chemist researcher lab. Regards. Please make videos on how to build personal professional chemist lab in personal private settings and video on survey of chemistry subject historically along with it's evolution. Thanks
How much do you expect your audience to be non-us? Or rather, pbs? Regardless, amazing video as always, this is an amazing channel and you're all so great! 🎉
good to know that while i was on magnesium citrate i was also potentially blocking some amount of kidney stone formation. if only my kidneys could’ve pumped out all the magnesium fast enough lol. one should probably get their citrate another way
Don't you need baking soda to turn citric acid into sodium citrate? I know when you digest food that your body neutralizes stomach acid with bicarbonate. So maybe citric acid plus your body's own bicarbonate might make citrate?
The citrate used in the medicines you spoke of , is to make them soluble! It's not part of the treatment. At least, not meant to be. Based on how much citric acid is involved in normal metabolism, I strongly question how much one ingests changes your serum blood levels of citrate. Please show me some evidence in that regard.
10:18 can a tetrahedron be projected to show 4 corners like it does. This looks like an octahedron or something else. And is most likely an impurity. Should have filtered the juice - the acids would go through the filter.
You asked for comments... Science is cool (one of the many interesting subjects in life). I'm a begin with the end in mind kind of guy though. I think it's better to tell everyone the solution at the start of the video and then give everyone the explanation. Start with the bottom line and then explain the big picture. I know people think they won't keep people's attention as long if they do that and I'd ask why do you have a right to people's attention and why wouldn't people want to know more once they know the answer? If you know the answer before you know the explanation, the explanation makes more sense and can be understood in context as you're explaining it.
Of course, orange juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice don’t actually get intact into your urinary tract. So the thing you need is just citrate. Lemons are the fruit with the most citrate. I always hear “this will dissolve kidney stones“, yeah, maybe in a test tube. But drinking that isn’t gonna put it into your urine.
Runner's bursitis on a heel. Calcification of any kind. I mean just a 1km distance in bad heel , one can't feel a thing until its too late. Angiogenesis can eat cancer, but Medusa's bubble stones no. Even sound is weak. And don't ask how painful is cutting tendon to physically remove those crystals. It amazes me how water vapor needs to get warm like mantle hot to make crystals and minerals in nature. Unlike human body where minutes are enough. Interesting to compare illumination from the Sun to a small mitohondria( bacteria), 1:10 000. Idk why noninvasive methods are not yet discovered. Or at least taught of.
And you can also get them in your private parts, and yes it is as painful as it sounds, look up Dr. Sally Norton for an example, fortunately because of her experience now knowledge of oxalates has gone mainstream.
You know I looked into buying some online (my search history is a mess) and turns out William Shatner's was once for sale! A bit out of our budget, unfortunately.
But don't exchange it with Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid. I got kidney stones from my self experiment of Vitamin C over load. Those stones where black like almost copper oxide black or ventablack black and they where sharp cornered/edged tetrahedron/octahedron in shape. Urinating was a real pain it felt like extruding liquid sandpaper 😖😵💫☹️😭
Next time, instead of "I'm not a doctor" you could say "I'm not a medical doctor" :) This was interesting, though! It seems like the various drinks did help compared to nothing at all so that's something at least.
Too many uncontrolled processing done in between, results inconclusive. :P As so many things that goes through the meat machinery. xD Never had kidney stones, and hoping I never do... but I also don't really do much in prevention because I dunno what is good. Other than regular hydration that is. Nice topic! Hopefully we find something in the future to prevent this.
I am a little disappointed of this video. 1. Trying to get artificial kidneystones in a 5 min reaction? Why you haven't waited a day? 2. Were the solutions fully dissolved? My guts tell me no. 3. Calciumoxalate monohydrate and dihydrate were/are the most common types in Germany. 5 years ago i worked at a lab and determined the kidneystones via IR (KBr tablets). Mostly a mix of Calciumoxalate Mono and Dihydrate. Third in rank were struvit. 4. I am still waiting for the frozen food vs hot oil video 😅.
I only drink coffee. Lots of coffee. There are no stones here to report. Not sure about the science though. I was kinda waiting for your video on that. No hurry, I can wait, there's coffee.
I think there are studies showing caffeine has no impact on kidney stones. Energy drinks are associated with some increased risk of kidney stones because of the high sugar content, so the same is true for sodas and other drinks high in sugar.
This is good chemistry education, but not so good biology/medicine education. The correct statement is citrate supplementation may help in reducing new urinary stone formation and prevent increase in size of already existing stones. But the quality of evidence for those claims is poor. DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD010057.pub2 DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD011252.pub2
And there will never be good evidence, because in medicine, we have a "do no harm" clause. No one would fund an actual human RCT showing / proving we can cause kidney stones. Next, based on diet, kidney stones might take years to form. No one would volunteer to be locked in a metabolic ward for years. There will never be "long term" human randomized controlled trials for any..... And of course if not controlled, little to no value in the findings. Just how it is.
This channel is super underrated and I've been loving the videos. Question: what "citrate" were you using in the first tests? In my own, completely non-medical related experiments, I found that mixing saturated solutions of calcium chloride and sodium citrate causes calcium citrate to fall out of solution, but switching in citric acid keeps everything in a stable liquid state. I suppose the point was that the acidity doesn't matter once you go as far as the kidneys, but still I wonder if one form of citrate would remain more available at that point to react with calcium and that might be the difference between the effectiveness of various juices.
really? I think it's overrated
The reason you got calcium citrate is because the sodium that was previously attached had a higher affinity for the chloride. When you swapped out for citric acid, there was no sodium, and, thus, nothing to pull the chloride ion from the calcium. A similar concept can be demonstrated when a NaOH water solution is added to powdered garden gypsum (calcium sulfate hydride.) The sulfate favors the sodium over the calcium, thereby releasing the calcium, which wants to grab onto that lonely -OH group. The end result is sodium sulfate (a useful drying agent) in aqueous solution and calcium hydroxide. This came in clutch during lockdown when I couldn't get any pickling lime.
Going back to kidneys, acidity is a huge factor when it comes to kidney function. Kidney and blood Ph determine which molecules get pulled from the bloodstream. In vivo results will differ wildly among individuals since the content of our urine ions can vary quite dramatically from one another. (We have 100 different acids in our bodies.)
In the case of calcium kidney stones, consuming calcium oxalate isn't the problem, since calcium oxalate has poor absorbtion through the intestines. The problem is consuming absorbable oxalates like sodium oxalate. After the oxalate is in your bloodstream, it can then bind to Ca2+ (which is used by every neuron in your body to polarized their actions potentials) and drag it out to your kidneys, where it then deposits the calcium in the kidneys. Evidence suggests that, in general, having more acids like citric or even acetic in your body reduces the potential for calcium deposits to form. However, it seems that hydration is a bigger factor. The less water there is, the more the ions are forced to bounce into each other. In your experiment, you mentioned having it at high concentration. At lower concentration, these ion swaps are less likely to occur. The same can be said for the volume of water in your bloodstream, which is one reason chronic dehydration wrecks the body.
Fruit juice can contain lots of different acids, tartaric and malic being two common ones. Varying results may follow.
Hope this helps.
Fancy seeing you here. I agree!
Hey, thanks! We're big fans of your channel.
I was using sodium citrate, but your results from the citric acid are interesting! You are probably very right that here, without all of the filtering and separation that happens in the body before these things get to the kidney, the acidity may be playing a role. These tubes are also not at the well regulated physiological pH that blood would be, so it’s hard to know how much citric acid is being converted to citrate.
Subscribed within the first 2 minutes of the video, read your comment, and immediately went back to hit the bell.
Kidney stones run in my family. I’ve suffered them getting stuck three times requiring surgery to remove. Lithotripsy is not an option for me because I have a spinal cord stimulator over my problem kidney.
My stones are calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate stones. Im also hit with a double whammy of having a genetic mutation that my body does not take in enough calcium, so it all gets shunted to my kidneys. This genetic marker might be why stones run in the family.
Anyhoo, after my last kidney surgery a few years ago, the urologist suggested I start taking potassium citrate supplements. I started doing that, but then I switched to club soda, which contains potassium citrate. Recently, I started drinking an amino energy drink to coincide with my workouts. The amino drink also contains high potassium citrate. These last few years have been the only occasion out of over 20 years where my stones have not increased. I still have numerous small stones deep within my kidney, but they have not gotten larger. The potassium citrate has prevented the calcium coalescing into bigger stones.
Yes, this stuff works for calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate stones!
Awesome video, thanks!!! My dad had kidney stones when he turned 50 y/o. People recommended fresh pineapple juice. He drank a few glasses of it a day, for about 2 - 3 weeks... and it seemed to have helped reduce the size of the stones, based on before and after ultrasound imaging of the stones. His doctor was actually surprised. I wish you tried pineapple juice along the other ones... oh well, next time! Thanks for an awesome video!
Before the development of procedures like shockwave therapy, PCNL, etc. a solution of citrate+gluconolactone - Renacidin was used to for bladder irrigation to break down urinary stones as a way to avoid open surgery
There's one tangential point that wasn't covered in the video: Vitamin C can be metabolized into oxalic acid in vivo, which means foods high in VitC i.e. citrus fruits may be less effective than just straight citrate in the kidney. IIRC, the studies suggesting VitC's kidney stone risks tend to look at massive megadoses of it, rather than the relatively meager amount you can get from some lemon juice.
Thank you for the medical advice Dr. Alex Dainis PhD
No no no no no wrong doctor!! 🤣
I first discovered the channel thanks to Tom Scott's newsletter, and I've loved pretty much every video and short since. A great balance of well scripted and broken down science, with lovely personalities and the odd joke :) keep up the good work !!
Calcium Chloride and Sodium Perborate Tetrahydrate combined together in an aqueous solution will produce Calcium Perborate that will precipitate out of the solution. The sodium and chloride ions stay in the solution.
Perborates are oxidizers and aren't the most friendly things to be working with.
You also asked the ai overlord
@@AmmMoorra-dn9rw that may actually be the AI overlord 😮
isn't sodium perborate the active ingredient in OxyClean?
I can't think of anything that starts with per- that I would consider friendly to be around. They're all oxidizers.
@@superdupergrover9857oxiclean is sodium percarbonate, but perborate is used as an chlorine-free "oxygen bleach", too.
I'm surprised cranberry juice wasn't mentioned. I hear it pretty often that people should drink cranberry juice if they suspect a UTI or kidney stone coming. Probably for a similar principle since it is also high in citric acid.
Wow, nice! I wish you had been my chem teacher in high school (back in the ancient days of 199x). You explain it very well and I would probably have been a lot more interested in the subject.
First video I am watching from this channel. Instantly subscribed
Same here !!😊
Excellent video. Thank you.
6:15 very subtle editing on that -
I thought I was going crazy
wait, what?
Jeff sat at his desk sending random chemicals around tsk
great video!
The explanation of the chemical reactions and how they relate to preventing kidney stones is both clear and fascinating. Who knew lemons and orange juice could make such a big difference.
What a great YT recommendation
Instant subbed🎉
This is amazing! I grew up eating Spinach that was well boiled/cooked and always ate it with lemon or lime. But later in my 40s I tried making Spinach smoothie. Big mistake: I didn't put lemon or lime. Got kidney stones in 2 months. Terrible. I love spinach but now I can't eat it 😟
I like how she pairs the topic with jokes, that makes the video very engaging
Loved the going off script with cool resonance chemistry...
My kidney stones stopped when I learned how to support my stomach acid and fat digestion. Low stomach acid, which is common, inhibits pancreas function which inhibits fat digestion. Improper fat clings to calcium and now the oxalates are free to be absorbed. Lack of proper stomach acid and fat digestion can eventually lead to various metabolic issues. I consider kidney stones a canary in the coalmine sort of thing. Great video, thank you
Penonomnal. What a beauty! Content is on point as well.
Ok, but how did you actually supported your stomach acid?
Good to know, I had bile flow issues that I'm currently in the process of fixing and was pretty sensitive to oxalates meaning if I eat chocolate or other high oxalates food(without binding it with calcium) the next day I wake up with eye boggers, I think I'm a lot less sensitive to them now.
I developed gall stones some years ago. The "attack" announcing their presence was very painful. I began drinking 32 ounces of apple juice (not from concentrate) a day. I experienced relief within hours and passed all my stones five weeks later. They were really pretty, I wish I'd kept them.
57 years of kidneystones, since I was a 5yo, and no "doctor" could explain anything to me.
Thank you.
Legendary investor Warren Buffet of the Berkshire Hathaway mega-fund drinks a can of Coke every day which contains a small amount of Citrates keeping his kid-stones in check. I drink a can of tonic water which has the same and love the biter taste. heh
It's your diet. Google "oxalate-rich foods" and then figure out which of them you are consuming the most.
Where has your channel been all my life ?
Not that type of doctor. Love it!
lots of other complexing agents - important to consider the controversy of the use of Vitamin C which some claim helps form kidney stones, but other studies say the opposite. While not having the carboxylic group discussed in the video it still is considered an acid and it forms Calcium ascorbate - sold and used as source of vitamin C
The most efficient way to avoid having kidney stones is avoiding or minimizing consumption of oxalate containing foods. For example, if you frequently snack eating nuts, that can be a big source of oxalates.
... and spinach and other greens, and beets, and soybeans/miso, and grains and .... All from plants 😒
Legendary investor Warren Buffet of the Berkshire Hathaway mega-fund drinks a can of Coke every day which contains a small amount of Citrates keeping his kid-stones in check. I drink a can of tonic water which has the same and love the biter taste. heh
@@BillAnt Soda breaks down kidney stones?
@@Flaystrayand teeth and bones and frogs and car engines
@@Flaystrayabsolutely can, but not gauranteed. Carboxylic acid formed from the carbonation bubbles loves calcium, rapidly forming calcium carbonate, the material of eggshells.
While oxalates can be made by your body processing certain chemicals, they are also really common in plants, especially those green leafy ones like spinach. Tea and coffee also contain oxalates. A really simple thing to do is add a calcium source to your oxalate source before consumption, it prevents the calcium or oxalate from being absorbed. You just "excrete" it later. Really common examples: adding milk to coffee or tea, creamed spinach, etc.
That's better than absorbing the oxolates but those crystals will still roll around in your digestive track and that can cause problems. It's like eating needles or glass shards. Best solution is to stop eating high oxolate foods.
Excellent video demonstrating kidney stone formation chemistry visually. The vinegar is especially of practical interest as a common dietary ingredient. Only that these single experiments may not capture the full reality especially given the numerous variables of both chemistry and physiology.
I saw that you guys made a video about why mosquitoes are attracted to you. They eat me up too. However, I've noticed a strange phenomenon where bees (yellow jackets, etc.) do not sting me. Also, cats love me.
I've been in multiple situations where bees and similar were aggressively stinging a child for disturbing the hive/nest by accident. Knowing I won't bee stung, I can walk in and get the child out of harms way.
With the cats I've noticed that they follow me if I'm walking outside or if I'm in someone's home, or they will come to my home and hang around for days meowing loudly outside. One time I was sleeping next to my wife at a friend's house and they had a pregnant cat. The owners made a safe space for the cat away from everyone that was dark and comfortable. The cat left its bed and crawled into mine. I woke up feeling a wet ess on my arm and chest. The cat had crawled under the covers and had the babies in my arms while I was asleep.
Citrate is good, but I think magnesium helps as well. I'm not sure about the mechanism of magnesium helping, if it lessens excretion of calcium or if it helps dissolve calcium oxalate directly or something else
38 lithotripsies over 33 years, hundreds of kidney stones passed. Tried everything, from calcium deprivation to citrate supplements and so many other meds both prescribed and otc. My body just compensates and I generally create more kidney stones when we try to change body chemistry. Walking regularly and drinking 1 -2 gallons of water a day has kept them to 4-5 a year with just two lithotripsy over the last 8 years.
You must have an absurd pain tolerance
If they are oxalates stones, have you tried avoiding high oxalates foods? Or at least consume them with cheese to bind some of them. Also you could have some gut issue, people with gut permeability absorb more oxalates and if I remember correctly people with SIFO generated more oxalates on their own without needing to consume them.
@@Gengh13 Bingo 💯
I remember hearing about Lithotripsies on "Science International" a Canadian show, about 40 years ago. Back then they were brand new developments and not yet available to the public. Amazing stuff, but sorry to hear of your suffering, have you seen the comment from Genh13 below?
I do avoid high oxalate foods, no coffee, tea or sodas, red meat (mostly) has been out, etc. for many years. It has probably helped a lot.
Great video It's just great to have someone who really knows their stuff. Even to the level that you can korenornless improvise when things don't go as planned because of some false shipment
What I want to see more of? Reactions Videos!
Might be my favourite learning channel on youtube overall! I used to have bad chemistry teachers in school, but I didn't want to miss out on such a large subject, so these videos on youtube really help me understand the world better :)
This video is great. Is there a way someone can get citrate (or a equivalent effect) without damaging their teeth? From what I understand, acid not only weakens enamel, but promotes an environment where Streptococcus Mutans can thrive and cause plaque, tartar, and cavities.
Super interesting, great work!
I have never clicked on a video so fast!
Great video!
I didn't know stroopwaffle stones were a thing but I think I'm doomed.
Thank you and occurred to me that limes were missing. I'd love to see a follow up including limes and your thoughts on what might be inhibiting the crystallisation buffering of citrate (eg sugars and the different citrus fruit esters) 🙈🙉🙊
there is a industrial recipe for making lemonade that uses sugar and citric acid. no lemon juice. since i read that i started making my home made (with lemon juice) lemonade with a few table spoons of citric acid thrown in. for stone prevention. i drink a gallon of it atleast once a month.
I'm even more confused now because the OJ didn't seem to show any improvement yet you recommended it and that lemonade either but the citrate did and that was like the only thing that did so how do we get our hands on citrate?
This is interesting because we learnt in our medical school that Ca Oxalate crystals are recognised by its mail shape or as you said tetrahedral. Awesome and such an interesting video!!
How would the extra acidity in the oxalic acid setup change things as opposed to the original experiment design that wouldn’t have introduced acid?
Why does oxalic acid mixed with calcium chloride produce hcl? I thought weak acids generally can't produce strong acids in reactions.
yes but its an equilibrium reaction. that means both reactions do happen but normally the equilibrium would be on the oxalic acid + CaCl2 side like you said but the fact that Calcium oxalate is poorly soluble shifts the reaction constantly towards the Ca-Oxalate + HCl side because the Ca-oxalate gets thrown out of the equation.
Le Chatelier's Principle ftw!!
Wow can you try Chanca Piedra?
Miss my organic and analytic chemistry lessons...
Thank you.
This also makes citric acid with a little baking soda a great de-rusting agent :)) tell us more about chelation!
To be fair to Jeff Bozo, you're already making HCl as you stand there anyway.
Awesome! I have had Awful kidney stones in the past. (One time I had to have surgery and a stent for two weeks! 😫) As it turns out, I drink a ton of citric acid already! Maybe that's why I haven't had kidney stones for over a year!
So how is citrate different from citric acid?
Citrate is the conjugate base of Citric acid. In this definition, Acids donate hydrogen ions and bases accept them. Since Citric acid donates hydrogen ions, that means Citrate becomes a negative ion that can accept those hydrogen ions back acting as a base, or it can act as a chelator binding to positive metal ions like calcium.
a while back I had Gall stones,and believe me, that's no walk in the park either
it feels like someone punched you, full force in the solar plexus, but the pain doesn't subside.
ended up in the ER, and the Dr Said, that if it flares up again, I would have to have my gallbladder out.
and I don't think that the Citrate would work on these. unfortunately...
What about Cranberry juice? I've always heard that cranberry juice is the go-to for urinary problems.
Proanthocyanidin is the chemical in cranberry that inhibits the migration of E. coli bacteria, and can reduce the risk of urinary tract infections in women. It is definitely not an overall urinary tract panacea. It’s much more specific than people think.
damn thats crazy, for once one of those home remedies that kinda sound like bull (cuz they tell you to drink lemon juice for everything) turn out to be true and have some very good science behind it lmfao, love this
Store bought magnesium citrate powder might work.
You can think sodium perborate as just borax and peroxide combined.
Just wondering how much of the citric acid gets past the stomach and the intestines, before getting to kidneys. It’s obviously not going to be the same as putting orange juice directly into your kidney.
Speaking of alcohol, you _can_ disassociate it's proton. But alkoxides are *very strong* bases and therefore alcohols are very weak acids. It has it's uses, mostly for reagents.
Resonance is weird, yo.
Thank you
Could anyone inform us about professional reference books in a professional chemist researcher lab. Regards. Please make videos on how to build personal professional chemist lab in personal private settings and video on survey of chemistry subject historically along with it's evolution. Thanks
How much do you expect your audience to be non-us?
Or rather, pbs?
Regardless, amazing video as always, this is an amazing channel and you're all so great! 🎉
Grapefruit juice interferes with drug metabolism and I think would just generally not be recommended for most people.
What about K-Citrate as a preventative or potential cure?
good to know that while i was on magnesium citrate i was also potentially blocking some amount of kidney stone formation. if only my kidneys could’ve pumped out all the magnesium fast enough lol. one should probably get their citrate another way
Don't you need baking soda to turn citric acid into sodium citrate? I know when you digest food that your body neutralizes stomach acid with bicarbonate. So maybe citric acid plus your body's own bicarbonate might make citrate?
The citrate used in the medicines you spoke of , is to make them soluble! It's not part of the treatment. At least, not meant to be.
Based on how much citric acid is involved in normal metabolism, I strongly question how much one ingests changes your serum blood levels of citrate. Please show me some evidence in that regard.
I feel like this could be a collab with NileRed
10:18 can a tetrahedron be projected to show 4 corners like it does. This looks like an octahedron or something else. And is most likely an impurity. Should have filtered the juice - the acids would go through the filter.
Wish i discovered your channel sooner Subscribed
You asked for comments... Science is cool (one of the many interesting subjects in life). I'm a begin with the end in mind kind of guy though. I think it's better to tell everyone the solution at the start of the video and then give everyone the explanation. Start with the bottom line and then explain the big picture. I know people think they won't keep people's attention as long if they do that and I'd ask why do you have a right to people's attention and why wouldn't people want to know more once they know the answer? If you know the answer before you know the explanation, the explanation makes more sense and can be understood in context as you're explaining it.
Good video and ... Bonus: no distracting costume change every few seconds!
Of course, orange juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice don’t actually get intact into your urinary tract. So the thing you need is just citrate. Lemons are the fruit with the most citrate. I always hear “this will dissolve kidney stones“, yeah, maybe in a test tube. But drinking that isn’t gonna put it into your urine.
6:13 - 6:20 So sneaky with the shared (-) edit.
You're awesome 👍
Runner's bursitis on a heel. Calcification of any kind.
I mean just a 1km distance in bad heel , one can't feel a thing until its too late.
Angiogenesis can eat cancer, but Medusa's bubble stones no. Even sound is weak.
And don't ask how painful is cutting tendon to physically remove those crystals.
It amazes me how water vapor needs to get warm like mantle hot to make crystals
and minerals in nature. Unlike human body where minutes are enough.
Interesting to compare illumination from the Sun to a small mitohondria( bacteria), 1:10 000.
Idk why noninvasive methods are not yet discovered. Or at least taught of.
I still don’t know what you mean when you say something dissociates.
That was so interesting.i think its kind of my dream to make this cind of videos
Kidney stones are not the only stones that you can form in your body. Fun fact you can get stones in your salivary glands as well.
And you can get “tonsil stones” too (tonsiliths) smell6 little fuckers.
And you can also get them in your private parts, and yes it is as painful as it sounds, look up Dr. Sally Norton for an example, fortunately because of her experience now knowledge of oxalates has gone mainstream.
Grapefruit has lots of weird drug interactions, right?
I seem to remember that with a clients medication
"i don't like where this is going" 😂😂😂
Great video🎉
if you want a rea one i saved mine.
You know I looked into buying some online (my search history is a mess) and turns out William Shatner's was once for sale! A bit out of our budget, unfortunately.
love it
30+ years, people will you drink some lemonade. make it cheap with citric acid. then you don't have to get cut open.
trust it.
this rocks!
But don't exchange it with Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid. I got kidney stones from my self experiment of Vitamin C over load. Those stones where black like almost copper oxide black or ventablack black and they where sharp cornered/edged tetrahedron/octahedron in shape. Urinating was a real pain it felt like extruding liquid sandpaper 😖😵💫☹️😭
Avoid bran cereal would get me everytime .....oxalates
Next time, instead of "I'm not a doctor" you could say "I'm not a medical doctor" :)
This was interesting, though! It seems like the various drinks did help compared to nothing at all so that's something at least.
Very interesting comparisons. Now everyone will remember lemon juice, and sales of grapefruit juice will plummet 😁
So I should drink more lemonade? Say no more
Too many uncontrolled processing done in between, results inconclusive. :P As so many things that goes through the meat machinery. xD
Never had kidney stones, and hoping I never do... but I also don't really do much in prevention because I dunno what is good. Other than regular hydration that is. Nice topic!
Hopefully we find something in the future to prevent this.
Chemistry podcast
Or stop eating foods high in oxolates.
I am a little disappointed of this video. 1. Trying to get artificial kidneystones in a 5 min reaction? Why you haven't waited a day? 2. Were the solutions fully dissolved? My guts tell me no. 3. Calciumoxalate monohydrate and dihydrate were/are the most common types in Germany. 5 years ago i worked at a lab and determined the kidneystones via IR (KBr tablets). Mostly a mix of Calciumoxalate Mono and Dihydrate. Third in rank were struvit. 4. I am still waiting for the frozen food vs hot oil video 😅.
Calcium metaborate - don't make it if you want kids.
I only drink coffee. Lots of coffee. There are no stones here to report. Not sure about the science though. I was kinda waiting for your video on that. No hurry, I can wait, there's coffee.
I think there are studies showing caffeine has no impact on kidney stones. Energy drinks are associated with some increased risk of kidney stones because of the high sugar content, so the same is true for sodas and other drinks high in sugar.
Eeehhhhh...you do know filtration is a common process for chemistry right?🤭
"god" created problems so as to be able to destroy them.
Hmm. We need a better universe without problems.
3:27 that one electron suddenly deciding to follow the Valence shell electron pair repulsion theory is so funny.
This was a FANTASTIC video!!!! GREAT JOB!!!! satire, comedy, chemistry, AWESOMESAUCE!!!! 👏👏🤘👊👍🫶
This is good chemistry education, but not so good biology/medicine education. The correct statement is citrate supplementation may help in reducing new urinary stone formation and prevent increase in size of already existing stones. But the quality of evidence for those claims is poor.
DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD010057.pub2
DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD011252.pub2
And there will never be good evidence, because in medicine, we have a "do no harm" clause. No one would fund an actual human RCT showing / proving we can cause kidney stones. Next, based on diet, kidney stones might take years to form. No one would volunteer to be locked in a metabolic ward for years. There will never be "long term" human randomized controlled trials for any..... And of course if not controlled, little to no value in the findings. Just how it is.