Best advice: Follow your thirst

.

Dear Dr. Gott: Your recent column on fluids and urination appears to directly conflict with the pamphlet given to me by my urologist after my lithotripsy for a kidney stone.

From the pamphlet: “… Drink enough water to keep your urine colorless – two to three quarts a day should do. Make sure you drink a tall glass of water when you get up in the morning, then another glass every two hours during the day and at bedtime.

“If possible, you should get up at least once during the night to urinate and drink more water. …”

Do you have any comments?

Dear Reader: My suggestion that people need not consume fluids over and above the thirst level is based on valid scientific documentation but is appropriate only for healthy individuals without kidney disease.

For example, kidney stones form more readily if calcium, uric acid and other products of metabolism are not diluted; therefore, your urologist is absolutely correct. Patients with (present or past) kidney stones should consume enough fluids to keep the urine relatively colorless – that is, consistently dilute, thereby reducing the risk of stone formation.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my health report “Kidney Disorders.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: I have decided to try your no-flour, no-sugar diet. I love it because it’s very simple.

If the ingredients say the word flour or sugar, it just does not pass my lips. Simple.

But today I had farina for breakfast and a corn tortilla at lunch, and I thickened gravy with cornstarch for dinner. My husband says that even though it does not say flour on the ingredients, they are all some form of flour.

I say no way. Who is right?

Also, you told a reader it’s OK to eat Rice Krispies, yet sugar is listed in the ingredients. You also say fructose is OK. What if it has the word “high” in front of it? I am still going to keep it simple.

Dear Reader: Your concerns are valid.

I have tried to keep my diet simple: no flour, no sugar. So if those words are listed on the package, I prohibit that product.

If “flour” does not appear – for example, in cornstarch or cornmeal – that food is OK. You are correct. I flunked the test on Rice Krispies. Sorry.

High fructose is interesting because it is a natural sugar in fruits, a food I encourage my readers to consume. So fructose, in moderation, is OK.

Restrict your consumption of corn syrup, a high-powered commercial sweetener.

Because you and other readers have posed many questions about my diet, I have been encouraged to write a book about it in which I go into more detail and offer meal plans for those who wish to lose weight the easy way.

You can order a copy directly from the publisher by calling (800) 605-7176 or online at www.quilldriverbooks.com.