You eat too much meat


High-protein diets are all the rage these days, and some of these eating plans encourage eating loads of animal protein—of any kind—while cutting back on carbs. But all that protein can raise the level of uric acid in your blood, and that can cause kidney stones. (Uric acid can also cause gout.) A high-protein diet also reduces levels of citrate, the chemical in urine that helps prevent stones from forming. “If you are healthy and eat a steak once in a while, it’s likely not an issue, but if you overdo it, it may affect your kidney function,” Dr. Agarwal says.