High Oxalate Foods to Avoid for Kidney Stones

Were you recommended a low oxalate diet to deal with your kidney stones? Calcium oxalate stones form when calcium binds with oxalate. High levels of oxalates can be the cause of kidney stones or simply exacerbate existing issues. The first step of making sure your diet is on the right path is to be aware of the high oxalate foods you need to avoid.

The High Oxalate Food List

First of all, you can eat beef, chicken, eggs, and fish as long as you limit your intake to 6 ounces a day or less. Protein is not oxalate but protein does reduce citrate in your urine and citrate helps stop stone growth. Limiting animal protein is primarily recommended for uric acid stones because animal protein can lead to elevated levels of uric acid.

For high oxalate foods in the vegetable category, you certainly want to avoid beets, spinach, rhubarb,

and sweet potatoes. Many green leafy vegetables, unfortunately, contain oxalates but there are plenty with moderate to low oxalate levels. You just need to try to avoid those that contain over 10mg per serving. There are a fair number of alternatives that you can enjoy without any problems.

For high oxalate foods in the fruit category, you have to avoid all kinds of berries. This includes blueberries, cranberries, and raspberries. Fortunately, many other fruits such as apples, bananas, avocados, oranges, lemon, lime, and peaches can be part of your diet. Keep in mind that some of these fruits, just like vegetables, do have moderate amounts of oxalate, so you have to control your portions and try to consume less than 10mg per serving.

For grains, you want to avoid cereals, whole wheat bread, cornmeal, and millet. Some good alternatives include white rice, hummus, and oatmeal. These grains are easy to prepare and are readily available. You often won’t miss the other form of carbs you were used to.

Some other foods that you should avoid include soy products (miso, tofu, soy milk, etc.), nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, and teas. The best thing you can do is to compile a thorough list of foods with high oxalate content (over 10mg per serving) so that you don’t accidentally consume these foods.

Everything is About Moderation

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you cannot eat foods in the high oxalate category every once in a while. But you do have to think about making sure your oxalate consumption is controlled. To prevent the formation of stones, it’s recommended that you consume no more than 50 to 100 mg of oxalates. If you are very susceptible to calcium oxalate stone growth, then your doctor may even recommend a diet with less than 50mg of oxalates per day.

You should look up the number of oxalates for each food. The reason is that many foods that are not on a high oxalate foods list may have moderate levels of oxalates. You need to make sure you’re consuming a mix of foods with low and moderate oxalate content to balance out your diet.

It should also be mentioned that overeating will contribute to you developing kidney stones. Just because the food has a low to moderate amount of oxalate content doesn’t mean you can go overboard. You’re still consuming a high amount of oxalates if you go above the normal portions.

You also have to be aware of eating certain foods. For example, you can still consume nuts every once in a while. The problem with foods like these is that it’s easy to over consume nuts. You can end up eating a fistful of nuts without realizing it. 

The bottom line is that you really have to be aware of foods with high oxalate content. It’s usually better to focus more on foods that you can eat and enjoy if you want to stick to a low oxalate diet. And again, portion control should be an important part of your diet. The goal is to keep your daily oxalate consumption levels low rather than just eating foods low in oxalate content.