Meat, chicken and fish are not sources of oxalate. Milk, hard cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, buttermilk, custard and pudding do not contain oxalate.
This makes them useful for preventing obesity -- another factor that guards against kidney stones. Low-oxalate vegetables which are also low in calories, include cabbage, chives, cauliflower, cucumbers, endive, kohlrabi, mushrooms, radishes and water chestnuts. Peas, which are legumes, are also low-oxalate.
Some plant foods extremely high in oxalates include, but not limited to: Leafy greens – spinach, Swiss chard, kale, collard greens, celery, parsley, endive, beetroot greens, dandelion greens, and turnip greens. Root crops – beets, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and parsnips.
Blueberries and blackberries have only 4 milligrams of oxalates per cup.
All varieties of apples are low oxalate. By themselves, apples are the perfectly portioned portable snack!
Foods highest in oxalate
Spinach: cooked or raw, contains over 500 mg of oxalate per serving. Rhubarb: over 500 mg per serving. Rice bran and buckwheat groats: 100 mg to 300 mg per serving. Almonds: 120 mg per serving.
Low oxalate protein and dairy include eggs, meat, poultry, fish, yogurt, cheese, milk, and butter. In addition, coffee, water, and fruit juice are considered low oxalate.
Food Processing Techniques to Reduce Oxalates
Because oxalates are water soluble, they can be reduced by blanching, boiling, or steaming with the liquid discarded. Fermentation reduces oxalates. Cooking in milk or macerating in whey can also mitigate oxalate exposure. Sprouting can help too.
Naturally occurring gut flora bacteria Oxalobacter formigenes break down oxalates as a food source.
Cauliflower, corn, cucumber, mushrooms, onions, peas, scallions, squash and zucchini are all fine. Tomatoes are fine, too; it is only the sauce that is high. Broccoli and green pepper are moderately high so watch the portion size.
White or wild rice. White bread, cornbread, bagels, and white English muffins (medium oxalate) Saltine or soda crackers and vanilla wafers (medium oxalate) Brown rice, spaghetti, and other noodles and pastas (medium oxalate)
Avocados contain a low amount of oxalate and are highly alkaline-forming in the body. Like most foods, portion size matters. A whole avocado has around 19 milligrams of oxalates, which absolutely categorizes it as a high-oxalate food. However, a single serving of avocado is 1/4 of the fruit.
Bananas may be a particularly helpful remedy against kidney stones, as they are rich in potassium, vitamin B6 and magnesium and low in oxalates.
This study confirms that the oxalate contents of ready to eat green and gold kiwifruit are low and unlikely to significantly increase the daily intake of oxalates in the diet.
Low Oxalate (1 cup raw strawberries = 4 mg oxalate)
Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cherries are all wonderful low oxalate fruits for a healthy kidney stone diet. Raspberries are the one berry exception, coming in at 48mg oxalate per cup. Strawberries make a great addition to yogurt in the morning.
As chocolate is considered as a high oxalate food (Williams and Wilson, 1990, Massey et al., 1993, Noonan and Savage, 1999, Mendonça et al., 2003), The Oxalosis & Hyperoxaluria Foundation (OHF, 2004) recommends that affected persons should avoid eating chocolate.
The main sources of oxalate in diets were regular tea and coffee (80-85%). Only 15-20% of oxalate was derived from other plant foods.
Adding calcium-rich foods to meals helps reduce oxalate levels. Calcium naturally binds to oxalate; eating calcium-rich foods at meals helps with this binding and removal of oxalate through the stool rather than through urine.